How do I delete an old Windows XP?

Question

Someone installed me another Windows XP because my computer wasn't working OK but didn't delete the old Windows, and now, when I open the computer I have to select the version I want to use. I want to delete the old one and keep the new one. When I go in :C , I find the folders Windows.0 and Windows. Wich one I have to delete? And how I have to do it? I delete it like a normal folder, or I have to do something else? Please explain like for a beginner. Thanks.

Answer 1

There are two methods of resolving this problem and freeing up the hard drive space taken up by the unused installation, but they depend on your level of expertise, the time you have and whether you have a retail version of Windows XP.
If you have a copy of your Windows XP CD, use either of the two methods listed below.
If you do not have a copy of your Windows XP CD, use the "Fast but Awkward" method
Print these instructions out before attempting either method. Read and understand each point before any attempt is made at correcting your problem.

Easy, but Time-Consuming Method
(The "Fast but Awkward Method" is shown below)

The instructions for this method assume that you have a retail copy of XP on CD.

1. Start Windows and choose the installation that is currently working from the Boot Menu and continue into Windows.

2. IMPORTANT: Backup up all your documents because the next steps will completely erase your hard drive, so all data will be lost forever unless you back it up first.

3. Now put your Windows XP CD in the drive and restart the computer.4. You'll see a "Welcome to Setup" page, press ENTER to continue. Then press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. Press ESC (DO NOT REPAIR).

5. Now select a partition with Windows installed and press D to delete an existing partition. You must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this process for each of the existing partitions. When all the partitions are deleted, you can then select the resulting un-partitioned space and then press C to create the new partition.

6. Type the size (in megabytes, or MB) that you want to use for the new partition, and then press ENTER, or just press ENTER to create the partition using the maximum size.

7. Create additional partitions if you want to (if you created two more partitions they will become drive D and E in the new Windows installation but they will be empty).8. Use the arrow keys to select the partition you want to install Windows XP on, and then press ENTER.

9. Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER, i.e. FAT32 or NTFS and continue with the installation. FAT32 is an old file system that came before XP. NTFS is a file system left over from Windows 2000. If you're unsure use NTFS. Windows XP will install on the partition and then you'll be prompted to restart.
Note: If you have an Upgrade version of XP, you will be prompted for qualifying media during the installation process. This means that you will have to insert a CD-ROM with a previous version of Windows on it, i.e. Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows 98 etc. (Windows setup needs to confirm that you own a previous version of Windows in order for you to qualify for the upgrade.) If you do have a CD-ROM with a previous version of Windows then install that first on the new partition (and use FAT32) .

10. After a reboot all should be well!

Fast but Awkward Method
Here's a quick way to replace two copies of Windows XP from your system with one working copy. It may look like a lot of steps, but they are very quick.

1.Start Windows and choose the installation that is currently working from the Boot Menu and continue into Windows.

2. IMPORTANT: Backup up all your documents because the next steps will completely erase your hard drive, so all data will be lost forever unless you back it up first.

3. If you cannot access the files from your previous installation of XP you must take ownership of those files first, then back them up:
4. Open Windows Explorer, click My Computer, and click on the Tools menu, then Folder Options, then the View tab.
5. Under “Hidden files and folders”, chose to Show them. Uncheck the box next to “Hide protected operating system files”, and click Yes to confirm, then OK to exit.

6. Browse the root directory of your C: drive, and make a copy of the boot.ini file in the same area as a backup security. Next, open the original boot.ini file with Notepad.

7. Look for the [operating systems] section. This is the area shown on the Boot Menu and will probably show at least two lines, each reflecting a different installation of Windows XP. It should look similar to this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS2="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Note: If you have XP Home, it will indicate “Microsoft XP Home” above instead. This does not affect any of the subsequent steps.

8. In order to tell the two installations apart, we need to modify the portion in quotes, which is the description you see on boot-up. For example, you might change them to:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional X" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS2="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Y" /fastdetect

Note the “X” and “Y” we’ve added to tell them apart in the boot menu. You can use anything you want in the quotes.

9. Save your changes to the boot.ini and restart your machine. Make a note of which installation of XP you want to keep. In our example, we want to keep the installation “Y” since that’s the one that is working correctly.

10. When the computer reboots, click on Start, then click Run, type in “msconfig”, and click OK. Select the BOOT.INI tab, and note the [operating systems] section again. Select the “good” installation, and click the “Set as Default” button and click OK.

11. Head back to the boot.ini on your C: drive, and edit it again with Notepad. Under [operating systems], delete the line that will no longer be used, leaving only the line reflecting your “good” installation of Windows. Make note of the backslash and folder name of the “bad” installation that you are no longer using before you delete this line (you'll need this information later in step 15). Good idea to print a copy of the boot.ini for reference.

12. In the example below, the bad folder name is “\WINDOWS” since I am now using the installation in the “\WINDOWS2” folder. Again, look for the folder location immediately after the partition number such as in this example:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional X" /fastdetect

13. Save the changes to your boot.ini file, and restart your computer. You should not be prompted with a boot menu and the correct version of Windows XP should load automatically.

14. IMPORTANT: If you have not yet backed up your documents, do so now! If you make a mistake on the next step, you could lose some of your documents.

15. Recall the folder of the “bad” or “old” installation of XP from step 11. This installation is no longer used, and the duplicate Windows files are simply taking up space on your hard drive. Since you are now using a different installation, you are free to delete these files.

16. In step 11, I removed the line that pointed to the “\WINDOWS” installation location. Note that this may vary for you. At this point, I can delete the “Windows” folder since I am now using the “Windows2” folder for Windows XP. This will save a fair amount of hard drive space.
17. Once you've done this, you are done and dusted. Good luck.

EASY WHEN YOU KNOW HOW!!!!

Answer 2

This probably has NOTHING to do with partitions! Check and/or edit the boot.ini file for the list of windows installs...

You can change the file to shorten the time-out necessary for response, or delete the line that refers to the "dead" install if it is annoying you... You do NOT need to delete the old WINDOWS install unless you are tight for hard drive space, as there might be files you still need in it!

See the reference below for more info on the boot.ini file and how to edit it!

Answer 3

Set your computing device to start in risk-free mode and restart it. you additionally can basically initiate your computing device and press the "F8" key whilst it starts off to load. you would be waiting to get right of entry to risk-free mode from the startup utilities. be valuable to sign into the computing device with an account that has administrator privileges. basically the gadget administrator has the authority to uninstall living house windows XP. click "initiate" to get right of entry to the beginning up menu. click on the "administration Panel" icon. Double-click the "upload or eliminate classes" utility. this might load a itemizing of classes which you would be able to % to uninstall. go with "Uninstall living house windows XP" from the upload/eliminate record. this might initiate the uninstallation technique. Reinstall an older version of living house windows or the greater moderen living house windows XP if the "Uninstall living house windows XP" link isn't modern-day interior the upload/eliminate record. notice which you need to backup information, by way of fact the living house windows installation disc won't unavoidably be waiting to locate the information you go with to maintain. .

Answer 4

This means u have to partitions or two hard disks.You select Windows and right click on icon and click format.