windows xp installed 2x on my computer

[aciampi4]

i somehow installed windows xp professional twice on my computer.  when i boot up the computer goes to a dos screen where i can toggle between the 2 operating systems to pick which one i want to use.  

now my anti-virus software scans almost 2x as many files & my computer is considerably slower.  is there a way i can uninstall or delete one of the os?  please let me know.

thanks

[Raptor]

Are these operating systems installed on different partitions and/or Hard Disk Drives?

[Hopester Doofus]

Surprisingly, this problem is not that rare. And there are as many theories on the best course of action as there are people who provide these theories. Your safest bet is probably to reformat the HDD and install a fresh copy of XP, to avoid any conflicts.

[aciampi4]

i'm not sure about partitions but i only have 1 hard drive.

if i have to reformat the hdd, how do i go about doing that?

[Raptor]

i'm not sure about partitions but i only have 1 hard drive.

if i have to reformat the hdd, how do i go about doing that?

Before reformating, you may first wish to determine if the OS are installed on different partitions.

Do you have more than one station? (E.G: C:\, D:\)  Not counting CD/DVD-ROM, FDD or any other removeable media station!

[aciampi4]

just c:

[Raptor]

Then there may be no other alternative than to reformat.

However, if Windows XP is installed in a different folder than C:\Windows, you could simply try to remove the additional folder and see if that solves your problem. Be warned: The operating system can become very unstable!

I will write down the steps you need to take in order to reformat and reinstall Windows XP

1. Enter the BIOS
2. Set the first boot device to CD-ROM
3. Insert Windows XP CD-ROM
4. Press a key to enter setup when prompted
5. Choose to install Windows XP

It will now prompt you that Windows XP is allready installed

6. Choose to continue
7. You will not be given a menu where you can create and remove partitions. Follow onscreen instructions if you wish to create additional partitions.

The partition where you will install Windows XP will be formatted by the installation, any other partitions will have to be reformatted in Windows XP once it is installed.

The following article may be of use:

How to erase my hard disk drive and start over

[aciampi4]

Then there may be no other alternative than to reformat.

However, if Windows XP is installed in a different folder than C:\Windows, you could simply try to remove the additional folder and see if that solves your problem. Be warned: The operating system can become very unstable!

I will write down the steps you need to take in order to reformat and reinstall Windows XP

1. Enter the BIOS
2. Set the first boot device to CD-ROM
3. Insert Windows XP CD-ROM
4. Press a key to enter setup when prompted
5. Choose to install Windows XP

It will now prompt you that Windows XP is allready installed

6. Choose to continue
7. You will not be given a menu where you can create and remove partitions. Follow onscreen instructions if you wish to create additional partitions.

The partition where you will install Windows XP will be formatted by the installation, any other partitions will have to be reformatted in Windows XP once it is installed.

The following article may be of use:

How to erase my hard disk drive and start over

[aciampi4]

1. Enter the BIOS
2. Set the first boot device to CD-ROM


what does this mean?

[Raptor]

1. Enter the BIOS
2. Set the first boot device to CD-ROM


what does this mean?

1. See this for more information
2. This means that the first device the computer will read is your CD-ROM player. So that you can boot from the CD-ROM instead of the Hard Disk Drive. For more information on this subject, see this article.

[SoulFire]

I sort of have the same issue.  (I finally decided to register after getting good help here.  Thanks!)  

I have managed to install two copies of Windows XP, one on each hard drive, C: and D:, so I can get rid of the one on C:.  However, whenever I am prompted to choose which OS to start up and I choose the D: one, the computer just automatically resets itself over.  When I choose the C: one, it works perfectly fine.  

How can I fix the computer so that I can start the Windows XP on D: drive, and delete the one on C:?  

[Raptor]

I do not know if it possible to empty the C drive and use another partition to boot from.

However, you may wish to look into editing the boot.ini file.

More information can be found here

[SoulFire]

I highly doubt it, but will attempting to change up which hard drive is master and which one is slave available?