Removing OS from dual boot?

[Humboldt]

I've been running 98SE and XP for almost a year and haven't found myself using 98SE at all. They're both on separate partitions on the same physical drive.

How can I remove 98SE from the partion and have it available as blank hard drive space?

Thanks

[Zuma]

Win XP can do that for you, in My Computer/control panel/admin tools/storage I believe

[Humboldt]

I'll look into that.

Thanks for the tip:)

[Humboldt]

OK, so that's similar to Partition Magic and makes sense.

But do I just erase everything on the drive, then tell the system not to dual boot any more?

Or do I reformat the drive and tell the system not to reformat any more?

[Sid]

Before you wipe the files off that partition you need to back some of them up. Grab the files ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini and copy them to a floppy. If these files get deleted XP won't boot. These files will be on the boot partition(c:\) and will need to be copied back for it to boot.

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Sid
Before you wipe the files off that partition you need to back some of them up. Grab the files ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini and copy them to a floppy. If these files get deleted XP won't boot. These files will be on the boot partition(c:\) and will need to be copied back for it to boot.

Thanks for the advice.

So I copy those 3 files to floppy and use them to reboot after I format the drive?

It's not automatically booting from that drive now though (set to choose between OS's and I always choose XP on the E drive) ...and I'd like to just use it as storage.

Specifically, I have 2 physical HDD drives, C & D.

Drive C has been split with Partition Magic into drives C & E.

Drive C has 98SE on it, drive E has XP on it.

Right now it's set to dual-boot, with XP as the default.

I'd like to remove the 98SE OS from the C drive. Do I copy those 3 files you mentioned, reformat that partion, and reboot with the floppy to get it back to a normal storage hdd partition?

[Sid]

Those 3 files must reside on the boot partition which would be drive c: If you format the drive you will have to boot to the XP cd and use the repair option to enter recovery console then copy them back to c: Also make sure the files have no attributes set before you copy them.

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Sid
Those 3 files must reside on the boot partition which would be drive c: If you format the drive you will have to boot to the XP cd and use the repair option to enter recovery console then copy them back to c: Also make sure the files have no attributes set before you copy them.

ohhhh, you just just confused the hell out of me.

Maybe part of my confusion is that I'm not sure whether to think of drive C as a physical drive or just as a partition.

When the system boots as it's set up now...it access those 3 files in the root directory of the C: drive in order to begin booting, then reaches the point at which the actual OS is chosen?

So if I reformat partition/drive C: those files will be gone and it can't boot without them...so even if I had them copied to floppy I'd have to use the XP cd anyways in order to get the system to boot at all )and from which I could restore those 3 files)?

Why copy them to floppy at all then?

I've tried reading up on this on my own, and the sites I find simply advise to open the C: boot.ini, remove the line referring to the OS you no longer want, and make sure the default= line points to the OS you wish to keep. They don't mention anything like what you're talking about.

Not that I doubt you at all, I'm just wondering which steps to take.

This is one of the sites I'm referring to:
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=109

Thank you for your time and help Sid, I appreciate it:)

[Sid]

Ok, you can install XP to any partition you want. Your's is installed on partition e:\ (first drive on IDE 0) correct? The boot files for XP are sitting on partition c:\ on IDE 0(your 98 partition). When you format the 98 partition your going to loose those files and XP will no longer start. ntdetect.com and ntldr can be found on the XP cd in the i386 folder but the boot.ini is not there and if its deleted you will have to create it manually. You will have to edit the boot.ini file after you format the c: drive, windows provides a gui screen for this or you can edit it manually.

Trust me on this, back these files up first

[Humboldt]

edit the boot.ini after I format the C: the way they mention in the link I posted?

So that I open the C: boot.ini, remove the line referring to the OS I no longer want (98), and make sure the default= line points to the OS I wish to keep (XP)?

[Sid]

The easiest way to edit the file or modify it is in XP. Go to system properties and clcik the advanced tab then startup and recovery. You can either edit the boot.ini file or set it to boot to XP and not display the list.

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Sid
The easiest way to edit the file or modify it is in XP. Go to system properties and clcik the advanced tab then startup and recovery. You can either edit the boot.ini file or set it to boot to XP and not display the list.

And I do this just before I reformat the C partition?

Thanks

[Sid]

doesn't matter, the most important thing is to back those files up.

[Humboldt]

No go.

It won't let me format either a system or a boot volume, and the C:/ I want to format is a system volume. Do I have to modify the boot.ini file first so it's not seen as a system volume any more? I know I need to format this but am not sure how.

And I'm getting a bit confused about what that should look like. Right now it points to XP and the reference to 98 has been removed (there's also a custom boot screen sequence that loads). Do I need to do anything else?

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NewKrnl.exe
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="OS for testing new boot screen" /fastdetect /KERNEL=NewBoot.exe

[Humboldt]

Can I just format the C:/ from Windows Explorer (since my current OS is on the E:/)?

[Sid]

I think some partition magic trickery is going to be needed to fix this issue. Your going to have to delete the partition then extend it to where c: was and then have it rewrite the reg file.

[Humboldt]

I could try PM if you think that's needed.

Will Windows Explorer work though, or will I run the risk of somehow losing access to that partition for good? It's just giving me the warning about losing any info on there by formatting, but nothing about not being able to do it.

If I should use PM, what do you mean by "Your going to have to delete the partition then extend it to where c: was and then have it rewrite the reg file."

I understand deleting the partition, but what would I then "extend", my current E:/ (so that it reclaims the space where C:/ used to be)?

So then I'd have drives D and E, and E:/ would only have 1 partition?

[Sid]

Do you still want the c:\ drive?

Drive c: and e: are on the same physical drive so if you remove drive c: then extend drive e: to where c: was you would still have a drive c: just no drive e:

I guess the question is do you still want a drive c: if so then just leave it as is and delete all the files from it but the one needed to boot.

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Sid
Do you still want the c:\ drive?

Drive c: and e: are on the same physical drive so if you remove drive c: then extend drive e: to where c: was you would still have a drive c: just no drive e:

I guess the question is do you still want a drive c: if so then just leave it as is and delete all the files from it but the one needed to boot.

LOL.

If I keep the C: and E: then just delete everything except the boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect files?

Or just delete the C: partition, extend E: to where C: was, then rename the partition C (using PM)?

[Humboldt]

Egads, I completely screwed up and now my system won't boot.

On my laptop right now:(

I deleted everything on the C: partition, everything is still good.

Realized that if I could use Partition Magic's drive mapper to help me change things around later I could just format C:, then extend the E: partition to where C: used to be and have 1 drive again.

I copied the C: boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com onto floppy and onto the E:, formatted C: from within Partition Magic...

and am now totally screwed. When the system tries to boot I get the following error:
"Verifying DMI Pool Data
Invalid System Disk
Replace the disk and then press any key"

I've tried setting the boot sequence in BIOS to boot from CDROM and that doesn't work (doesn't XP boot from disk).

At this point my computer is useless as it won't boot, and this is exactly why I tried asking so many questions in an attempt to avoid this.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[SeedOfChaos]

Do I understand correctly that your WinXP CD isn't booting? From the error message it looks like your computer is trying to boot from the harddisk. Make sure the CD-Rom is above the hdds in the boot sequence. Once it gets to the hdd it won't look further, at least that's my experience.

If you have partition magic, did you ever create a rescue disk with it? I'm not quite sure, but I think you can create a boot floppy with pm that has some tools to fix such problems. Maybe worth looking into?

[Humboldt]

I've tried setting the boot sequence both to CDROM and to the actual drive letter that the CDROM is assigned to.

And yes, I created the 2 Rescue disks with PM. They worked the first time until I tried rebooting again and now they don't seem to work any more.

[Humboldt]

whump

[Joe]

Yes you can just delete/format the other partition from within windows... (id use FDISK to make it faster)

As for the dual boot you will have to get rid of the boot loader you installed unless you used the built in windows one in wich case you can easily turn it off from my computer properties.

[EDIT]

I just read your post about messing up...

Try to fdisk the boot record..

fdisk /mbr

[edit]

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Joe
Yes you can just delete/format the other partition from within windows... (id use FDISK to make it faster)

As for the dual boot you will have to get rid of the boot loader you installed unless you used the built in windows one in wich case you can easily turn it off from my computer properties.

[EDIT]

I just read your post about messing up...

Try to fdisk the boot record..

fdisk /mbr

[edit]

Thanks for the reply Joe. I'll try the fdisk /mbr if I can get it back to a prompt. What will that do for me btw, open the DOS partitioning? If I can get that to work...what do I set it to do, set up a new one, format...?

What do I need to try to do? CiscoKid suggested trying to put XP on the C: (deleted) partition so that's what I'm downloading XP bootdisks for right now (none of them work well yet and my system doesn't want to boot from cd).

If I can get to a prompt, what would I do, format the unallocated space where C: used to be?

I can use my Partition Magic Rescue disks to get to a crude verion of PM, but am not sure what to do then. Do I try to merge C&E partitions? Do I reformat the C:?

[Joe]

The mbr will get rid of any boot loaders or mess-ups in the boot sector... And you shouldve only had to format the win98 partition/drive and then simpy get rid of the boot loader.

Did you use bootmagic for the dual boot or just the windows boot loader?

I use a win98 boot floppy to use FDISK im not sure if the xp boot disk has those tools..

As for booting to the CD you will most likely need to get into your bios and set the cdrom as the first boot device otherwise it will just go to the floppy and then the harddrive.

but forget booting to the cd just boot the the boot floppy and try the fdisk once... And have you formatted the win98 part already?

[Humboldt]

Hi Ping, thanks for being so prompt:)

Yes, I've set the BIOS to CDROM and it doesn't detect it, I've set it to the CDROM letter and it doesn't detect it.

Same error each time.

Originally I used PM to split C: into C&E, kept 98SE on C: and put XP on E:

I think I used the XP boot manager.

Last night, to get myself into this, I deleted everything in the C: except for boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com.

Everything still worked fine.

I was under the impression I could just copy the files back to the C: later, so I used PM to format the C: partition.

When it rebooted I began getting the error I posted earlier.


Trying FDISK now

[Joe]

I am not exaclty sure what your goal was.. I thought you mearly wanted to get rid of windows 98 and leave the partition in tact.. as for the boot.ini all of its options are easily edited in "my computer" properties under "startup and recovery"

http://www.gamersgarage.com/upimgs/startup.jpg

I no longer have a machine running XP so it may be different than on windows 2K. (where you access 'startup and recovery) but it should be no different.

Just uncheck the option to display a list of OS's .. hopefully after you do the MBR fix you should be able to get into windows... if not tell me what it says to you when you try to boot up. (it may be that your C: was made the active part and since you formatted it its useless) You can also fix this in fdisk.. but just let me know before we get carried away :p

[Humboldt]

My goal was to get rid of the 98SE OS and the partition eventually.

And yes, what happened as far as I can tell is that I deleted the active partition and now it won't boot at all.

I already used XP to modify the boot.ini.

Right now I can't boot at all (getting a Checking DMI Pool Data...Non-system disk, remove disk and hit any key error).

I can eventually get the PM rescue disks to work and get into a crude PM, and once I exit from that I'm sometimes at an A: prompt.

Not sure if I should FDISK /MBR or format the C: again in PM.

[Humboldt]

Good grief.

I can get to an A: prompt (by loading the PM rescue disks and backing out of the program once it loads), but not to the C:.

When I try cd c:\ it says "invalid drive specified"

[Humboldt]

SeedOfChaos, I'd re-install XP on C: if I could...

but as I've been saying all this thread I can't boot at all to start the install.

My system won't boot from CDROM or either of the 2 cdrom drive letters in BIOS...

I've created a boot disk with XP's ntldr, boot.ini, ntdetect.com, io.sys, and msdos.sys. Set BIOS to boot from A:, still get the "Verifying DMI Pool Data, Invalid System Disk, Remove disk and hit any key" error.

Nothing is working, I can't get the system to boot.

[Humboldt]

Where is everyone?:(

I finally got the system to boot using an old 98SE boot disk.
Booted with CDROM support and can now read the XP disk.

Problem: I can browse the XP disk in DOS but when I try to run anything I'm told "can't run this program in DOS"

How can it be an XP setup program if it doesn't run in DOS?

Can I install XP from the disk using the 98SE boot disk in the first place, or do I have to install 98SE again?

[SeedOfChaos]

The problem why XP won't start the install from DOS is because it simply isn't based on DOS anymore, not at all. The CD usually first boots into a very limited core of WinNT 5.1, which XP really is, and the programs that run in it are not DOS based.

If you boot with the Win98 boot disk and go into fdisk, which partition does it tell you is active? In case it isn't the one that has XP on it, make the XP one active.

[Humboldt]

OK, booted with 98 boot disk, fdisked and made the partition with XP still there active.

Does this mean I should be able to boot directly to THAT partition and the XP OS that's already there?

I'm just going to sit here and keep fdisk open and not touch anything else till someone tells me what to do:D

[Joe]

yes it 'should'

[Humboldt]

Well, even though it should it doesn't.
Maybe cause it's a logical partition?

I tried installing 98 and was told "Setup Detection Message...Messgae SU0013
Setup can not create files on your startup drive and can't setup 98.
If you have HPFS or NTFS (which I don't) you must create a MS-DOS boot partition."

I tried installing XP and got to the part where it finished copying files to the hard drive and rebooted...and now it freezes at "Verifying DMI Pool Data"

Tried booting with 98 boot disk, sys c:, rebooted, still froze.
Booted from 98 boot disk, fdisk /mbr, rebooted, froze.
Copied boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com from backup copy to c:, still froze.

[Sid]

Lets get this thing to boot to the cd....

Try setting all 4 IDE's in bios to auto. I had a problem with an abit board that wouldn't boot to cdrom untill I set it that way.

Let me know if you can get in so we can continue.

[Sid]

Also if you can get into PM then set the e: drive active and copy the boot files back to e:

[Humboldt]

Right now it's chugging through and removing previous XP files in an attempt to load XP again (I mentioned the errors I got a few posts back).

When that's done I'll try changing the IDE detects to auto, then I'll try getting into PM again. When I tried that earlier with FDISK (making the E partition active) it wouldn't boot. Not sure if this has anything to do with it but doesn't the OS need to be on a primary partition (and it was a logical one)?

I can get to DOS now through the 98 boot up disk just fine. Is there any way to just activate the XP OS that's on the E drive?

[Humboldt]

OK, I'm in PM and have looked at the options it's giving.

XP is on the E: partition, which is a logical partition.

Only a primary partition can be made active.

Is there a problem with using PM to make the partition active? The option is there, but I'm wondering if it will do anything weird to the data on there.

[Sid]

Bare with me for a few min. I'm gonna go into PM through the floppies and see what we can do.

[Humboldt]

Originally posted by Sid
Bare with me for a few min. I'm gonna go into PM through the floppies and see what we can do.

That's cool, thanks.

Not that I don't appreciate your help, I do, I'm just buggy as hell after trying for close to 24 hours to fix something that I didn't have to break in the first place.

That and everything I've tried hasn't worked.

I just want my computer back:D

arrghh.

I tried to convert the logical to primary,was told Windows doesn't support mulitple primaries...

so I tried to convert the c: (primary) to logical and the E: (logical) to primary and it canceled after getting too many lost clusster errors.

Damn.

Trying to get scandisk going now.

[Humboldt]

Cleaned up errors on C: with scandisk.

Used PM rescue disks to make C: logical, E: primary and active.

Invalid system disk error when I try to get it to boot to E: (after setting it to boot to E: in BIOS).

Am back in PM now.

[SeedOfChaos]

Ah, so your XP partition is a FAT32 drive... I had somehow figured it would be NTFS (in which case you should be able to boot to XP by just making it active).

Since you formatted C:... have you tried deleting the C partition, which is the primary? Maybe then you could convert E to a primary one with pm, maybe even enlarge it to take up the entire disk at this stage?

[Humboldt]

Yes, finally got it Seed, thanks to a phone call from Sid:)

People had mentioned making E: (with XP) the active drive to see if it would boot.

It was a logical drive and wouldn't let me make it active as such...
so I had to convert the C: from primary to logical...then convert E: from logical to primary and make it active.

Still wouldn't boot.

Sid called me and had me use the PM rescue disks again to convert everything back the was it was, making C: the active primary disk again.

At some point yesterday I had formatted the C: and copied over boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com. Not sure why it worked when SID told me to do it and not when I tried it myself, but after setting the 2 drives back to their original state and putting the boot sequence back...it booted right up:)

It was like finally being able to piss after holding back for 12 hours or something...what a relief!:D