uninstalling XP

[cheaps]

Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2 different
XPs on the system now. I have 2 different HD's and am unsure where these 2
different ones are installed on, anyway of deleting the unused one without
reformatting the whole thing again?

[Ken Blake, MVP]

cheaps wrote:

> Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
> different XPs on the system now


In that case, you did *not* reformat and reinstall. Please explain exactly
what steps you followed.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


> I have 2 different HD's and am
> unsure where these 2 different ones are installed on, anyway of
> deleting the unused one without reformatting the whole thing again?

[Rock]

"cheaps" wrote

> Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
> different
> XPs on the system now. I have 2 different HD's and am unsure where these
> 2
> different ones are installed on, anyway of deleting the unused one without
> reformatting the whole thing again?

Examine the contents of the drives to see where XP is installed. One thing
to try is go to Star | Run, type msconfig, click ok. On the boot tab click
on check all boot paths. If it identifies one as invalid let it remove it.

--
Rock [MVP - User/Shell]

[cheaps]

Ok to start I could not reformat system wouldnt' let me. So I installed xp
again hoping it would over-ride the older one or give me option to delete the
old one I had in there before the new one went in. That did not work it just
gave me the 2 different xp's. So finally in the new one I was able to
reformat my c: thinking both were going to be gone I re-installed XP again,
then I load it up and it had 2 XP's again. Should I just reformat my c:
again, log back on move everything I have on my other HD to the c: then
reformat the extra HD, then re-install? I was hoping there was a simpler way
but I cannot find anything to just un-install while I"m in the extra XP
that's installed.

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

> cheaps wrote:
>
> > Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
> > different XPs on the system now
>
>
> In that case, you did *not* reformat and reinstall. Please explain exactly
> what steps you followed.
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
> > I have 2 different HD's and am
> > unsure where these 2 different ones are installed on, anyway of
> > deleting the unused one without reformatting the whole thing again?
>
>
>

[cheaps]

"Rock" wrote:

> "cheaps" wrote
>
> > Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
> > different
> > XPs on the system now. I have 2 different HD's and am unsure where these
> > 2
> > different ones are installed on, anyway of deleting the unused one without
> > reformatting the whole thing again?
>
> Examine the contents of the drives to see where XP is installed. One thing
> to try is go to Star | Run, type msconfig, click ok. On the boot tab click
> on check all boot paths. If it identifies one as invalid let it remove it.
>
> --
> Rock [MVP - User/Shell]
>
did that said the boot paths were ok for both. Didn't see an option to
remove a one of them.
>

[Ken Blake, MVP]

cheaps wrote:

> Ok to start I could not reformat system wouldnt' let me.


That's because you tried to do it from within Windows. You can't format the
Windows drive from within Windows, since that would leave Windows without a
leg to stand on.

What you should have done was just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the
BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for
a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


> So I
> installed xp again hoping it would over-ride the older one or give me
> option to delete the old one I had in there before the new one went
> in. That did not work it just gave me the 2 different xp's. So
> finally in the new one I was able to reformat my c: thinking both
> were going to be gone I re-installed XP again, then I load it up and
> it had 2 XP's again. Should I just reformat my c: again, log back on
> move everything I have on my other HD to the c: then reformat the
> extra HD, then re-install? I was hoping there was a simpler way but
> I cannot find anything to just un-install while I"m in the extra XP
> that's installed.


If you just did this recently, you shouldn't have any big investment in
what you're done, in terms of creating files, customizing apps. It might
well be simplest just to start over and do it right this time, following the
instructions in the links above.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



> "Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:
>
>> cheaps wrote:
>>
>>> Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
>>> different XPs on the system now
>>
>>
>> In that case, you did *not* reformat and reinstall. Please explain
>> exactly what steps you followed.
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
>> Please reply to the newsgroup
>>
>>
>>> I have 2 different HD's and am
>>> unsure where these 2 different ones are installed on, anyway of
>>> deleting the unused one without reformatting the whole thing again?

[Rock]

"cheaps" wrote

> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> "cheaps" wrote
>>
>> > Hi I just reformatted and re-installed, however there seems to be 2
>> > different
>> > XPs on the system now. I have 2 different HD's and am unsure where
>> > these
>> > 2
>> > different ones are installed on, anyway of deleting the unused one
>> > without
>> > reformatting the whole thing again?
>>
>> Examine the contents of the drives to see where XP is installed. One
>> thing
>> to try is go to Star | Run, type msconfig, click ok. On the boot tab
>> click
>> on check all boot paths. If it identifies one as invalid let it remove
>> it.
>>
>> --
>> Rock [MVP - User/Shell]
>>
> did that said the boot paths were ok for both. Didn't see an option to
> remove a one of them.
>>


So have you examined the contents of both drives to see what's installed
where? Also what is the contents of the boot.ini file. Post it here.

--
Rock [MVP - User/Shell]