Dual boot Win7 Pro and XP Pro SP3 problems

[HP8000Elite]

OK this is old hat but It has been frustrating me for some time.

I have a 32bit Pentium P4 on an Intel D865GLC with 3.2Gb RAM, 1Tb SATA Hd,.

A while back, I thought it would be interesting to partition the HDD and have Win 7 Pro as well.

I had bought the 32bit and 64bit package cheaply on ebay, and loaded Win 7, giving me two operating systems on the one computer. When I turned on, there would be an option for Windows 7, and an"earlier version of

Windows".

It turned out that the installation did not work satisfactorily, and I cleaned out the Win7 partition.

After that, when the startup screen appeared, the option to load Win 7 was still there. If I selected it, it required the installation disk to continue.

I decided to ignore this message.

I am investigating a dual boot with Ubuntu, and I want to get rid of the Win7 option. I have used EASeUS to extend the XP partition which now occupies the whole drive.

How do I clear the Win7 junk?

 

[ChatGPT]

Thanks — that’s a common, annoying leftover from a removed Windows 7 install. Below are safe, ordered options you can follow depending on what media/tools you have. Read all steps first, pick the option that fits your situation (and make a quick backup of any important data before changing boot code).
Quick checks (do these first)

1. Boot into XP and open Disk Management: Right‑click My Computer → Manage → Disk Management. Note which partition is labelled "System" and which is "Boot" (the System partition is where the Windows boot files live).
2. In XP Explorer, look on the root of the System partition (usually C for these files:
   • C:\bootmgr
   • C:\Boot\BCD
     If bootmgr and the \Boot\BCD folder exist the Windows 7 boot manager is still present.

If you just want to remove the unwanted Windows 7 menu entry and keep the current Windows boot manager

• Easiest: Use EasyBCD (recommended if you can run software in XP)
  1. Download and run EasyBCD as Administrator (NeoSmart EasyBCD).
  2. Go to “Edit Boot Menu”.
  3. Select the Windows 7 (or unknown) entry and click Delete.
  4. Save settings and reboot — the entry should be gone.
     (EasyBCD edits the BCD safely and is the least disruptive.)

If you want to completely restore the classic XP bootloader (NTLDR) so the PC boots straight to XP and no Windows Boot Manager appears

• Method A — If you have a Windows XP CD (Recovery Console):
  1. Boot from the Windows XP CD.
  2. Press R to enter the Recovery Console.
  3. Select your Windows installation (usually 1) and supply the Administrator password.
  4. Run:
     fixmbr
     fixboot C:
  5. (Optional) Ensure NTLDR and ntdetect.com are on C:\:
     copy D:\i386\ntldr C:\
     copy D:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\
     (Where D: is the CD drive letter shown in Recovery Console.)
  6. Exit and reboot. XP should boot directly (no Win7 menu).
• Method B — If you have a Windows 7 DVD/USB (useful if no XP CD):
  1. Boot from the Win7 DVD/USB → Repair your computer → Command Prompt.
  2. To remove the Win7 BCD entry you could use bcdedit to list and delete the entry:
     bcdedit /enum all
     bcdedit /delete {identifier} /f
     (Replace {identifier} with the GUID or the name that corresponds to the Windows 7 entry.)
  3. To restore NT loader compatibility (if you prefer NTLDR instead of bootmgr), run:
     bootsect /nt52 C:
     Then ensure ntldr and ntdetect.com are present on C:\ (copy from XP CD if needed).
  4. Reboot.

If the System partition is the 100 MB “System Reserved” from the old Win7 install

• Problem: the Win7 boot files probably live on that 100MB reserved partition. If you removed the actual Win7 partition but left that small partition, Windows Boot Manager will still be used. You can:
  1. (Recommended) Use EasyBCD from XP to remove the unused entry; or
  2. Make the XP partition Active and restore NTLDR (use XP Recovery Console fixmbr/fixboot as above). To mark XP partition Active: in Disk Management right‑click the XP partition → Mark Partition as Active (only do this if you are sure the boot files will then be on the XP partition or you will restore NTLDR).

Notes, warnings and troubleshooting

• Always backup important files before changing MBR/boot code.
• If you restore XP MBR (fixmbr/fixboot) and XP doesn’t boot, you can use the same installation media to repair again.
• If bcdedit shows multiple entries and you’re unsure which to delete, post the bcdedit /enum all output here (copy/paste the text) and I’ll tell you exactly which identifier to remove.
• If you don’t have any installation media and don’t want to create one, EasyBCD from within XP is the least risky route.

If you tell me:

• Do you currently boot directly into XP? (Yes/No)
• Do you have a Windows XP CD or a Windows 7 DVD/USB?
• What do you see in Disk Management as the “System” partition? (post a short screenshot or list)

I’ll give the exact commands or point you to an EasyBCD download and walk you through it step‑by‑step.

 

[HP8000Elite]

Method A was successful - fixmbr and fixboot C:

Many thanks.

 

[ChatGPT]

Nice — glad to hear Method A worked and you’ve got XP booting cleanly again, HP8000Elite.
A few quick follow-ups/tips now that the boot is fixed (short and practical):

• Backup: make a quick backup or image of the drive before you repartition/install another OS. If anything goes wrong it saves a lot of time.
• Preparing for Ubuntu on that older P4 machine:
  • Because it’s a 32‑bit Pentium 4, pick a 32‑bit or lightweight distro/build (Xubuntu/Lubuntu or a lightweight Debian spin are good choices). If you want, I can check currently available ISOs for 32‑bit builds.
  • Create a bootable USB (Rufus or balenaEtcher from another PC).
• Partitioning for Ubuntu:
  • From your description you already have space free. During the Ubuntu installer choose “Something else” and create at least:
  • an ext4 root partition ( / ) — 20–50GB is plenty unless you want many Linux apps/data there.
  • optional swap (2–4GB is fine for 3.2GB RAM) — or let modern installers use a swapfile instead.
  • (optional) a separate /home if you want your user data on its own partition.
• Bootloader (GRUB):
  • Let the installer install GRUB to the disk (/dev/sda). GRUB will normally detect XP and add it to the menu so you can choose at startup.
  • If GRUB does not detect XP or something goes wrong, you can either run Boot-Repair from a live USB or restore XP’s bootloader again with the XP CD using the fixmbr/fixboot steps you used earlier.
• After install: test booting both Ubuntu and XP to confirm everything works.

If you want, I can:

• Walk you step‑by‑step through making the USB and the installer choices,
• Check which 32‑bit Ubuntu or lightweight images are currently available,
• Or give exact partition size recommendations based on how you plan to use Ubuntu.

Which would you like next?