Fixing Dual Boot Option Issue on Windows XP

[physics kiddy]

My friend is using Windows XP SP3. Few months ago, he had both Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3. He preferred XP over 7 and so removed Windows 7, just by formatting the drive that contained Windows 7. Now, whenever he starts his computer, he gets the option to choose between Windows 7 and Windows XP even when he doesn't have Windows 7 installed. He wants to get this problem solved. I tried to make everything normal but I could not open the Boot option when the computer starts. Please Help me.

 

[chiro]

My friend is using Windows XP SP3. Few months ago, he had both Windows 7 and Windows XP SP3. He preferred XP over 7 and so removed Windows 7, just by formatting the drive that contained Windows 7. Now, whenever he starts his computer, he gets the option to choose between Windows 7 and Windows XP even when he doesn't have Windows 7 installed. He wants to get this problem solved. I tried to make everything normal but I could not open the Boot option when the computer starts. Please Help me.

You need to modify one of the boot data files.

Maybe something like this will help?

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ddocs/en-us/dm_convert_mbr_disk.mspx?mfr=true

 

[rcgldr]

I would recommend booting with the XP cd-rom, going into recovery console, and running "fixmbr", which should change the boot process back to using NTLDR again. There should be a way to get the Windows 7 boot to default to XP though.

 

[physics kiddy]

I can't boot from CD.

 

[robphy]

Maybe you can try something like
http://www.pendriveapps.com/mbrwizard-mbr-manager/
There may be other tools on that site...some that run off a bootable USB drive.

I have not used this particular tool. So, I can't say whether it works [well].

Possibly useful:
http://www.arsgeek.com/2008/01/15/how-to-fix-your-windows-mbr-with-an-ubuntu-livecd/
(you can get Ubuntu to boot off a USB drive).

 

[physics kiddy]

Please explain the whole process step by step beginning from entering the USB drive to getting the desired result.

 

[physics kiddy]

Let me explain the whole problem once again :

Once I press the Start Button on the CPU to start the computer, I get only two options, one is Earlier Versions of Windows and the other is Windows 7. There's no any other option like PRESS F8 for ... F1 for ... etc. I have to choose only EARLIER VERSIONS OF WINDOWS because only that option works, Windows 7 is just for name. There's no windows 7 OS in the system and I badly want to remove that Windows 7 option from there.

 

[Routaran]

When you install windows 7 on the system, it creates a hidden system partition which contains its own start up information and the boot sector of the HDD points to it. This is why even after formatting the partition that contained windows 7, you still have its boot loader. Windows 7 locks it and tries to prevent any other program from altering it. Its a security feature included in all microsoft OS's Vista and up.

What you need to do is clear all the partitions on your harddrive including the hidden one. To keep it simple, i would suggest that you boot using whatever you used to install Windows 7, when you select the custom install option, when you pick the drive you want to install it to, advanced options will display all the partitions (including hidden ones) delete all the partitions from there then reboot the computer and reinstall XP.

Another solution is, as the previous poster suggested, use a linux live boot CD/USB and destroy all the partitions on your HDD, reboot and then attempt to install XP.

 

[physics kiddy]

Won't the above mentioned process delete all the files from HDD ?

 

[chiro]

Won't the above mentioned process delete all the files from HDD ?

Have a look at rcgldr's advice: it will do what you want and it won't screw with your data (if you do it right).

 

[physics kiddy]

As said earlier, it's not possible to boot from CD

 

[rcgldr]

As said earlier, it's not possible to boot from CD

How did Windows XP get initially installed on this person's system? Usually there's a bios settign that let's you assing boot priority to cd-rom before hard drive.

On the XP bootable cd rom, there set of support tools in directory \support\tools. Run setup.exe from that directory and install all the tools. There may be a fixmbr tool in that set of tools. There are utilities to read / write partition and boot sector (actually 6 or 7 sectors are used on the first track of a partition for booting), that could be used for backup / restore, but it's too late for that now.

 

[physics kiddy]

He's just mad. He installed XP, then 7 but he could not adjust well with 7, so he just formatted the disk containing 7. Here the problem starts.

Well, your ideas are nice and I am going to try whatever works. Again if there's any problem, I would ask for help.