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Windows XP Dual Boot Problem

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by john57103

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I have a small problem. A few months ago, I had to bring my laptop into Gateway service to get repaired. After it was returned, unbeknownst to me, the technician forgot to leave out two small screws holding the modular hard drive in place. After a month and a half it began to work its way out causing hard drive havoc. The hard was there, then it wasn't, it would boot then in wouldn't. A customer service tech thought I would have to reinstall XP Home so I started the process. That worked but I was still having problems, until a smarter technician said it sounds like something's loose. So, I checked the drive...located under the battery...and viola! the drive was essentially loose in the bay. However, due to XPs "smartness" I have a dual boot drive. How do I get rid of the boot that I don't need? It takes up HD space and gives me a boot prompt on power up.

2 replies

by joe_beasley

Edit the boot.ini in the root directory of your C: drive. It is a hidden file. If you re-installed into a new directory, you can remove these files.

by widgey woo

Your problem is easy to fix

You need to show hidden files and folders and clear the check box marked hide extensions for known file types in the view tab of Tools, Folder Options, in my computer. Double click the boot.ini file and it will look something like this:

example:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect

You will have 2 entries for the XP Home installation. Delete one of the lines:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect
then cilck save then re-boot. this should stop the dual boot scenairio.

If I can be of any further help, just email me.
Regards
Neo

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