Thinks it has 2 versions of XP when there's only one?

[MadCow3333]

How do I tell this computer that there is only one installation of Win XP, not two??

I installed a new SATA HD and migrated from the IDE drive to the SATA using the WD Data Lifeguard software. OS is Win XP (Pro) Media Center 2002 w/ SP3 & all updates. The new HD boots & runs fine. The IDE drive has been removed. But, apparently since once were 2 HDs with an OS, the machine stops at every boot or restart and waits for me to pick which OS.

How do I get rid of that? If I knew what to search terms to use, I could probably find the help file at MS, but so far, no luck, lol.

Thanks.

I was former MadCow333, now back as MadCow3333 b/c I no longer had passwords or emails to reactive my old ABX ID. It's great to see this forum revived and is thriving again.

[CrowdAds]

[ctal]

BACK!!

Assuming that your dual boot had been accomplished via XP's built-in dual boot capability (rather than a third party boot manager), you can accomplish that under the boot.ini tab of msconfig. Under the Start button, click "run," and then type in "msconfig" (without the quotes), hit "enter," and go to the boot.ini tab.

The attached jpg shows how mine looks, on a single-boot XP system (the last part of the line which is slightly cut off at the lower right simply says "fastdetect"):

I'm not sure what the "check all boot paths" button does; perhaps if two os's are listed you can simply uncheck one of them. In any event, if it is not 100% clear how to proceed when you open this tab, do a Google search on how to edit the boot.ini file.

If you were using a third party boot manager, you have to overwrite the master boot record on the drive with a standard mbr. That can be done by reformatting, and then reinstalling your image.

BTW, if you send a private message to Maico Shark, our new chief administrator, I believe he can merge your old and new accounts, which would restore your post history, old pm's, etc.

Regards,
-- Al

[MadCow3333]

Aha, so I have a bogus dual boot set up, lol. Where should msconfig.exe reside? This computer doesn't seem to want to run it. I am using the admin account. Search finds 3 listings for it. None runs. I'm running Kopersky Internet Security 2009. Will that block msconfig?

Thanks for the welcome back. I'm still running that old Intel socket 478 equipment that I bought in 2004-2005, except for recent memory and AGP upgrades and to replace a defunct hard drive. No reason to upgrade while stuck on dialup for a few years. The rural place I moved to in 2005 didn't have any wire for either DSL or cable broadband so I was stuck w/ dialup. Now, I have decent broadband. Woohoo! Computers are fun again. Might have to build a new one.

[ctal]

Not sure why it isn't running, or how to call it up other than through Start/Run. Perhaps someone else will respond, or a little Googling might turn up the answer.

I wanted to add, though, that I noticed that under the "General" tab of msconfig, there is a selection provided between "run original boot.ini," and "run modified boot.ini." That just might do the trick, without your having to modify the boot.ini file itself (which of course can be risky, if for instance you were to delete the reference to the existing os, instead of the os which is no longer present).

Good luck!

-- Al

[ctal]

Did some brief Googling, and this is the location of msconfig.exe:

C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Binaries\msconfig.exe

I verified on my own system that double clicking it in that location causes it to run as usual.

Hope that helps,

-- Al

[MadCow3333]

The .exe is where it's supposed to be. The problem is with userid permissions, or perhaps something the Kapersky software is doing to block it. I've tried all combinations of userids and check boxes but msconfig.exe just doesn't run. I'm not going to do anything more with it now. Thanks for the help, though.