Windows XP Remove Windows 7 from boot or change default to boot to

[pnolans]

When W7 was still in evaluation mode, I did a dual boot thing on one of my XP boxes. Later, I bought W7 and installed it on it's very own computer.

Now, I have an XP system that BY DEFAULT tries to boot into Windows 7. Which is no longer there. I don't MIND the dual boot questions that much, if the default could be "boot into older OS'es" (or however it's worded). I'd like to hit RESTART when I'm running in XP, which is the only OS on this system. Right now, if I forget, I come back and I have a weird error msg on the screen; because it tried to boot W7. Which I believe I've already said , 1k times, is not there.

In other words, I can't run W7 on this computer, so I don't THINK I can run EasyBCD.
Does anyone know how to get rid of this stuff? I'm quite happy with w7 on the computer I'm running it on.

Will I have to use my XP disk and do a "repair" or some junk like that?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Pat

 

[patcooke]

You should have a file on your XP drive called boot.ini.

Before starting this make a copy of the file to some other place. If you open boot.ini with Notepad it should read something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

but with additional entries relating to Windows 7. Alter the "default" line (line 3 in my example above) so that the values in brackets for multi, rdisk and partition correspond to the values on the line for XP (line 5 in my example above). Delete any lines relating to Windows 7.

 

[pnolans]

I wish it was that easy. I installed it on my one system drive, my "c:\" drive. Thus WY modified my C drive.

And my boot.ini has nothing related to W7. When W7 was installed, it appears it moved a lot of files that WINDOWS XP expects to find. There is a BOOTSECT.BAK there now. There wasn't one there before. There used to be an NTLDR file, and several others. I'm in a class right now, and this computer is at home. Else, I would make a list of the files that used to be on the root of the c:\ drive that aren't there anymore. There is a boot* file there, a "boot" folder also.


Thanks for your help.

Still looking.

 

[patcooke]

May be just me being thick but don't quite understand how you ran a dual boot with just a single drive C. Maybe when you get back to the machine you can show us just what system(s) are where on the drive.

 

[pnolans]

May be just me being thick but don't quite understand how you ran a dual boot with just a single drive C. Maybe when you get back to the machine you can show us just what system(s) are where on the drive.

As I said in my earlier note, AT THIS TIME there are NO other OS'es on that drive. But for some period of time , while I was evaluating Windows 7, both of them ran off of one partition. There are STILL vestiges of that OS on the C:\ drive, and it comes up in the Windows 7 boot mgr.

So... IF i start to reboot, and am not there to pick "boot older OS'es", I come back to an error on the screen. Because it can't boot Windows 7, because it is NO LONGER there.

I do NOT remember how it was removed. I did it a couple of years ago.

I WILL post a directory listing of the C:\ drive root , and the boot folder.

 

[Trouble]

Additionally an image of Disk Management might be helpful as well. Use the built in snipping tool and attach it to your next post.

 

[stayboogy]

i don't know if you ever got your problem solved but it's very simple to fix your problem and apparently not many here know how which makes me question other things here

here's how:
insert your windows xp install cd / xp recovery console cd, press R for repair after the blue screen. then type the number of your OS--usually 1, then it will ask for administrator password, type it if you know (can not leave it blank--if you don't know it you have to reset it and change it using any freeware you can find for such as there are plenty that do this)

then type map
then type fixboot C: (if C: is where your XP is installed--which most of the time it is)
press enter type y press enter again
then look at the map command results
find the one that is your XP partition
then type fixmbr \device\harddisk0\partition1 (if your XP is on the first hard drive and on the first partition--otherwise use the proper description from the map command output)
hit enter type y
done
type exit to restart

 

[pnolans]

Yeah, thanks a lot. I figured a way to do it.... I simply re-installed W7, then used bootmgr to change the default boot , and then blew away the w7 partition !

I agree with some of your comments.

Appreciate the work.

i don't know if you ever got your problem solved but it's very simple to fix your problem and apparently not many here know how which makes me question other things here

here's how:
insert your windows xp install cd / xp recovery console cd, press R for repair after the blue screen. then type the number of your OS--usually 1, then it will ask for administrator password, type it if you know (can not leave it blank--if you don't know it you have to reset it and change it using any freeware you can find for such as there are plenty that do this)

then type map
then type fixboot C: (if C: is where your XP is installed--which most of the time it is)
press enter type y press enter again
then look at the map command results
find the one that is your XP partition
then type fixmbr \device\harddisk0\partition1 (if your XP is on the first hard drive and on the first partition--otherwise use the proper description from the map command output)
hit enter type y
done
type exit to restart

 

[stayboogy]

glad i could help even though it was so long after the fact,

i just joined and mainly to give you some advice because it's a simple problem to fix and no one had offered you a real solution which i thought was ridiculous.

will probably have to share some of knowledge other places here as well it looks like.

at any rate, you will know what to do next time if you set up dual boot with 7 or Vista with XP.

i'm currently running dual with XP and 7 myself...

 

[pnolans]

actually, yes I do. Of course, when I set it up the first time, I knew then too!

At this time, I'm not dual booting anywhere. I have w7 machines, and XP machines. also, linux, os x and even (shudder!) Vista.
Again, thanks for your help.

 

[OldTimer]

For a desktop computer, running two or more OS's is very easy, , , just put each OS on it's own hard drive and at boot select the one you want to boot from. If there's not room inside the PC case for multiple HD's then connect them as needed beside the PC.
I've done it both ways on my own PC, using the boot menu from the BIOS on boot, (F11) and by just plugging in the drive I want to boot from to the first SATA port.

There's a lot to be said, for only having one boot drive connected to your system at a time.
Then there's NO possibility of interaction between drives or OS's.
And, there's NO problem with reformatting one drive and installing another OS to it, or just
using it as a Backup/Storage drive.

Just a thought......

 

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