Fixing The Boot Sector After Removing Windows
Last Updated: 31 Jan 2003
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*** PLEASE NOTE: Link(s), If Provided, May Be Wrapped ***
If you decide to get rid on one of the operating systems
in a dual-boot (NT/2000 and Win9x/ME) configuration, you
may need to straighten out your boot loader process.
Here are some procedures for fixing your boot sector,
depending on the OS you want to keep:
REMOVING WINDOWS 9X/ME, KEEPING NT
1. Boot from the NT CD
2. Choose "Repair"
3. Select "Inspect Boot Sector"
4. Reboot
5. Remove the HID, SYS and R/O attributes from BOOT.INI
6. Edit BOOT.INI and remove old entries for Win9x/ME
7. Remove the Windows9x/ME files & folders
- MSDOS.SYS
- IO.SYS
REMOVING WINDOWS 9X/ME, KEEPING 2000/XP/2003
1. Boot from the 2000/XP/2003 CD
2. Choose "Emergency Repair Console"
3. Logon as Administrator
4. Type: FIXMBR
5. Type: EXIT
6. Remove the HID, SYS and R/O attributes from BOOT.INI
7. Edit BOOT.INI and remove old entries for Win9x/ME
8. Remove the Windows9x/ME files & folders
- MSDOS.SYS
- IO.SYS
REMOVING WINDOWS NT/2000/XP/2003, KEEPING WINDOWS 9X/ME
1. Boot from the Win9x Startup Disk
2. Type: FDISK /MBR
3. Type: SYS C:
4. Reboot
5. Remove the Windows NT/2000/2003 files & folders
- Pagefile.sys
- Boot.ini
- Ntldr
- Ntdetect.com
- Ntbootdd.sys
REMOVING ONE INSTANCE OF WINDOWS NT/2000/XP/2003
1. Boot into the instance of Windows you wish to keep
2. Delete the appropiate WINDOWS folder (and subfolders)
3. Edit C:\BOOT.INI to remove the old reference
4. Whatever you do, DON'T format C:
WHITEPAPERS & TECH DOCUMENTS
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=103049
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=149258
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=285480
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=253951
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=250456
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=238359
• http://www.budja.com/w2k/uninstall_w2k.html
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ADDITIONAL SEARCH OPTIONS (MS KB)
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/
• http://www.microsoft.com/
EXACT PHRASE ........... "Remove Windows"
ALL WORDS .............. "Remove Windows"
ALL WORDS .............. "Uninstall Windows"
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PERSONAL NOTES
• For maximum effect, Win9x/ME and NT/2000 should be
installed on different partitions, which eliminates
operating issues, and greatly simplifies the removal
process.
• You can also use the FIXMBR option in the Recovery
Console in Win2K or XP
• If you're only FIXING your boot menu, but you don't
want to get rid of the other OS, just stop before
the Removal instructions begin.
RELATED TOPICS (ALSO IN THIS ARCHIVE)
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=BOOTINI.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=BootDisk.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=BootRepair.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=BootMgr.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=MultiOS.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=FDISK.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=DiskPart.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=RepairNT.TXT
