SysChat is a free online computer support community. Ask questions, share resources, contribute knowledge and discuss technology. Join our growing community to access all features. Register Now!

SysChat » Tutorials and Tips 'n' Tricks » Tips 'n' Tricks » Remove XP from an XP/Vista dual boot
Tips 'n' Tricks Share your computer hardware, software, games related tips 'n' tricks that you've come across.


Reply
 
LinkBack (49) Tip Tools
 

Remove XP from an XP/Vista dual boot

By William_Wilson
04-13-2007
Finally happy with Vista, and want to remove the old XP from your system? A few changes to the boot loader have been made in vista, but the steps are very similar.

not too difficult, simply load into Vista and format the partition XP is currently installed on. Since the Vista bootloader has control of the boot, there is no need to modify the boot.ini of XP.

Restart your computer with either Vista CD 1 or your Vista DVD in the drive, if you don't you will be prompted to pick an operating system. Once into setup, choose repair console from the first screen (not install).

Now the last option is for a DOS prompt, pick that.

A DOS prompt appears, and type the following:
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
*this will essentially remove XP from the Vista bootloader

bootrec.exe /fixboot
*this will check that XP is no longer present in Vista's boot.ini

Restart and XP is history.
  #1 (permalink)  
By skybob on 04-15-2007, 03:55 PM
Default

Thank you for your post. I have been looking for it all over the Web! Seems like almost everyone can tell you how to set up a dual boot, but it’s very hard to find out how to eliminate it. Although I have been using computers since the 70’s I am definitely not even close to being and IT pro, but hopefully I will be able to follow the very clear instructions you have given. I probably will be ready to cast XP aside by the end of the month but, until now had no idea how to go about it.

My XP Pro is on the C drive and is the System disk 0 and Vista is on my G or #1 drive? Of course they both show as C or D in the dual boot and both are SATA 250gb drives. After removing XP, should I move the Vista drive internally to the 0 position and change it to the C drive or doesn’t it matter? I plan to use what is now the XP drive, for data and backups, using Acronis True Image Home 10.

Once again, many thanks for your post and any further information or advice you may offer.
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
By ch33zer on 05-04-2007, 08:10 PM
Default C:\ is sytem partition

Title pretty much says it all. When I go in to format my xp partition (c:\) it tells me I can't format my system partition. Should I go ahead and do it anyway or what. Please help. I really want XP GONE!
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
By skybob on 05-05-2007, 12:07 AM
Default

ch33zer, You should really post this question on the operating system thread. Perhaps William Wilson will reply. If not, there are many knowledgeable and helpful people there that I am sure will help. I have not tried to remove XP yet and mine is on a seperate drive, so I can not help you. Just scroll to the top of the page and click on forums.

This is not a thread and I posted here in error causing you to follow suit. I obviously will be watching the answer you get because it looks like it will help me too. Good luck!

skybob
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
By Unregistered on 06-07-2007, 08:28 AM
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ch33zer View Post
Title pretty much says it all. When I go in to format my xp partition (c:\) it tells me I can't format my system partition. Should I go ahead and do it anyway or what. Please help. I really want XP GONE!
if you are not sure want you to do first back-up you hardrive and put on a cd in case of you needed someday. now you ready decided to remove your old OS its easy very easy . put a Vista on your dvd. and reboot your system. make sure your BIOS setup is set on DVD in first boot.
on Vista os continue on step by config and delete your partition and make a new partition on your C:\ drive and click format

now your vista is ready to run next time you boot on your pc follow instruction step by step. and your vista is ready used...

but be careful do all your card etc/ is not functioning properly so in that case you must to download all in the internet in order to get back on normal.
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
By Unregistered on 09-28-2007, 03:46 AM
Default

it might be wise to inform folks that this fix is for systems where the original mbr is on the vista drive. Most people already had xp installed and further down the road installed vista in dual boot....this is the recommended way to do it. In that situation you will still be left with an ntldr missing error upon restart.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
By snpaa on 10-12-2007, 12:54 AM
Default god help me

can someone give me some info here i restored some xp files on my vista and i think some of my xp commands, services, or programs are running in the background and interfering with Vista and its saying Access Denied to most of my files
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
By William_Wilson on 10-30-2007, 09:25 AM
Default

Ok, i will try and get all of these answers in one post:
Yes XP is a system partition, since it will detect an OS on the drive, but removable any way.

Yes, i suppose i should have mentioned that the MBR will be located on a single partition, thus you will need to either be careful about which partition is loaded first. Also running the MBR restoration from the vista disc, should be able to fix this.

It should not matter what drive letter is on the main OS, my laptop runs XP from an E partition. Just be careful to restore the MBR, with no OS on the C: partition, it is good to keep in mind that your boot.ini file will still be there, hidden.
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
By bobcat1238 on 02-08-2008, 02:19 PM
Default XP on System Partition, Vista on Extended Partion, Logical Drive

I also want to get rid of Windows XP Pro, but I'm not sure if this will work for me. I have all of the following on Drive 0: 1) Drive D: Windows XP on a Primary, System, 2) Drive C: Vista Ultimate 64 in an Extended Partition on a logical drive. 3) I have almost all my applications and data on another logical drive E: in the same Extended Partition that Vista is on.

I want to get rid of Windows XP and keep the Vista C: and E: drive. The problem is that Vista Ultimate 64 has a complete system backup I could restore from (if I formatted), but it forces me to backup the XP drive with it. I have 2 other 250G hard drives I use for backups by the way. I don't want to wipe Drive 0 only to be forced to restore the XP C: drive I want to get rid of (and reclaim the space).

Can anyone help?
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
By lloydybwoy on 05-30-2008, 08:49 AM
Default

My situation is similar, but a little more perilous I fear: I accidentally started to install XP onto the same partition as Vista (it didn't give me any other partition options despite my having created a 15Gig primary partition for it, just went ahead and chucked it onto C, and I really need to get rid of it without having to reformat the drive and reinstall Vista - is there any way of doing so?
(I didn't get to the point where I fully completed the XP set-up, but when I boot into Vista there's a folder on the C: drive called Windows.0 which I think is the XP, but I'm assuming there are extra bits and pieces - registry etc - that I'd need to delete as well)

Unfortunately there is currently no system restore point otherwise this would be somewhat easier... help!
Reply With Quote
Reply



Tip Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new tips
You may not post
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On

LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.syschat.com/remove-xp-xp-vista-dual-boot-1927.html
Posted By For Type Date
CD/DVD burning in Windows Vista | Liviu Mihai This thread Refback 05-05-2008 07:58 PM
How move Vista boot MANAGER? - Page 2 - Vista Forums This thread Refback 05-04-2008 09:39 PM
Re: How can I remove XP from my dual boot? - TechNet Forums This thread Refback 04-05-2008 10:09 PM
Dualboot [XP/Vista]: XP verwijderen - Windows Clients - GoT This thread Refback 04-04-2008 04:46 PM
Re: How can I remove XP from my dual boot? - TechNet Forums This thread Refback 04-04-2008 10:13 AM
Vista and XP dual boot? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 04-03-2008 08:36 PM
How to delete xp partition from my pre installed vista laptop? - Yahoo! Answers India This thread Refback 04-03-2008 11:27 AM
How can I remove XP from my dual boot? - TechNet Forums This thread Refback 04-03-2008 02:57 AM
Yahoo! Answers - How to delete xp partition from my pre installed vista laptop? This thread Refback 04-02-2008 11:47 AM
How to delete xp partition from my pre installed vista laptop? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 04-02-2008 09:04 AM
How to delete xp partition from my pre installed vista laptop? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 03-31-2008 12:09 PM
How to delete xp partition from my pre installed vista laptop? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 03-31-2008 08:24 AM
Vista and XP dual boot? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 03-28-2008 07:29 PM
How move Vista boot MANAGER? This thread Refback 03-28-2008 02:29 AM
How move Vista boot MANAGER? This thread Refback 03-27-2008 10:58 PM
Tutorials-Win.com >> Vista >> How move Vista boot MANAGER? - Microsoft Windows Forum This thread Refback 03-27-2008 05:28 PM
How move Vista boot MANAGER? This thread Refback 03-27-2008 11:49 AM
Win-XP.no › Forums › Operativsystem › Windows Vista › Vista og Xp This thread Refback 03-19-2008 03:28 PM
Can I safely format this partition? - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion This thread Refback 03-02-2008 07:55 PM
Tutorials-Win.com >> Windows XP >> How to safely delete XP partition - Microsoft Windows Forum This thread Refback 02-27-2008 10:49 PM
Vista and XP dual boot? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 02-26-2008 12:28 AM
How to safely delete XP partition This thread Refback 02-25-2008 10:41 PM
Re: How to undo a Dual boot system? - Software - Vista - Dell Community Forum This thread Refback 02-02-2008 03:50 PM
How to reformat my XP partition and reinstall XP?? - Halo 2 Vista Forums This thread Refback 01-27-2008 01:50 PM
Dualboot [XP/Vista]: XP verwijderen - Windows Clients - GoT This thread Refback 01-17-2008 02:40 AM
newpower's bookmarks on del.icio.us This thread Refback 12-22-2007 01:17 PM
Removing W2K from dual boot system-help! - Tech Support Forum This thread Refback 12-20-2007 02:45 AM
Dual booting VS and XP need to remove XP - Guru3D.com Forums This thread Refback 12-09-2007 10:09 PM
Delete XP paritition from Dual boot with Vista!!?!! - Kustom PC's Forums This thread Refback 11-22-2007 03:52 PM
Win-XP.no › Forums › Operativsystem › Windows Vista › Vista og Xp This thread Refback 11-16-2007 11:52 AM
Yahoo! Answers - Vista and XP dual boot? This thread Refback 10-12-2007 08:01 AM
Uninstall XP from dual boot with Vista machine « Troubleshooting PC Problems This thread Refback 09-30-2007 06:56 AM
VistaBootPro / EasyBCD Tutorial - Windows Vista Forums This thread Refback 09-29-2007 01:41 PM
TipidPC.com | PC Technician Lounge (Need help? We're here!) This thread Refback 09-14-2007 07:39 PM
how dual boot vista on SEPERATE drives? - Windows - Whirlpool Broadband Forums This thread Refback 09-12-2007 12:34 AM
Vista and XP dual boot? - Yahoo! Answers This thread Refback 09-07-2007 03:24 PM
Yahoo! Answers - Deleting Windows XP? This thread Refback 08-29-2007 11:38 AM
Removing windows XP This thread Refback 08-07-2007 11:26 AM
xp verwijderen bij dual boot vista - Computer Idee Forum This thread Refback 08-02-2007 11:01 AM
Re: Dual Booting Plan - Vista/XP Pro - Will this work? - Desktop - Hard Drive - Dell Community Forum This thread Refback 07-09-2007 12:15 PM
Dual Booting Plan - Vista/XP Pro - Will this work? - Desktop - Hard Drive - Dell Community Forum This thread Refback 07-09-2007 11:39 AM
Win-XP.no Forums: Vis Temaet > Vista og Xp This thread Refback 06-25-2007 04:58 AM
Windows Vista Forums > Uninstall Windows XP and keep Vista This thread Refback 06-18-2007 03:14 AM
Remove XP from an XP/Vista dual boot » Netscape.com This thread Refback 06-12-2007 01:16 AM
Yahoo! Answers - Ive a HP Compaq Pent 4 d330 computer w/ 768 RAM? This thread Refback 05-31-2007 10:30 PM
Uninstall Windows XP and keep Vista - Windows Vista Forums This thread Refback 05-25-2007 01:43 PM
Win-XP.no Forums: Vis Temaet > Vista og Xp This thread Refback 05-22-2007 07:26 AM
Digg - Remove XP from an XP/Vista dual boot This thread Refback 04-15-2007 07:21 AM
Remove XP from an XP/Vista dual boot | tweako This thread Refback 04-13-2007 05:27 PM

» Sponsors
» Subscribe
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

AddThis Feed Button