Windows XP Dirty install ?????????????????

[Abarbarian]

well I tried to do a dirty install as per instructions (see pic) But , there was no "R" at the bottom of the screen, there was a "press F3 to use Automated System Repair" so I pressed F3 and was asked for a floppy with ASR on it , I don't have one of these and so escaped .Carried on with installing and got to the screen where the partitions on the pc are shown , still no "R" anywhere so pressed enter and XP Pro was dully installed . So now I have 2 XP Pro's when I switch my pc on , a doddgy version that crashes with all me programs on it , and a new version that has no programs on it .
So is it possible to get rid of the new version ??
Whats Automated System Repair and will it help repair me doddgy version and how do I get me hands on the necessary floppy .

Any questions -feel free to ask .

 

[muckshifter]

You goofed ... sorry if my Destruction's were not clear enough, thought they were, here is another Guide with pictures.


http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

OK, a bit late for you, may help others.


"Whats Automated System Repair" ... Something you make before any errors start appearing ... and only XP Pro has it installed as default, in XP Home you need to install it from the XP CD. (it's in the "valueadd" folder).

Right ...
Go to Start, Control Panel, Performance & Maintenance, System
click 'Advanced' Tab, on this tab there is a "Startup and Recovery" field Click the 'settings' option here.
Under "System Startup" field there is an 'Edit' button. Click Edit

Edit out the first Win Xp copy, and "cut and paste" the second copy into the "default=" space.

BEFORE
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

AFTER
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Save & exit out reboot.

 

[muckshifter]

A word of warning ... I just noticed you actually want to keep the OLD version.


If that is so then just delete the second version so your boot looks like this ...

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Save & exit, reboot.

is that Clear ?

 

[Abarbarian]

I goofed , whats new there then must have missed the screen with the info when I was installing , can't quite see how but strange things have been happening here lately .

Followed your instructions and I get (see pic) which is a little different from your version ? So I'm a little unsure as to which one to delete .

When I start up the pc I'm given two options for XP , the top one is the new one and the bottom one is the old one . Sooo what do I delete ? The top line or the bottom line in me pic ?????????

 

[muckshifter]

LoL ... you delete the one you don't want to keep.

What pic ?


I wanna know what you were trying to fix.

 

[Abarbarian]

Goofed again , I always forget the attachments . Trying to fix this ,

https://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-3031813.php

Want to see how this dirty install works though as I've already got a doddgy os might aswell play around with it and see whats what . I was going to do a fresh install sometime soon but I wanted to play with Acronis first, so that when I do the fresh install I can make a OS and programe install CD . Also will try out the Automatic System Repair floopy at the same time as it might come in useful in the future .

 

[muckshifter]

ah, well that's your fault for trying ATI who, in my opinion, have never been able to write a driver.



And you have to be differnt ... I ain't got a clue which one you need to delete.

Usually the Old install will be the first, so if you wanna keep that, delete the second line ... if all else fails, you are going to be doing a Clean-Install.

Have fun ...

 

[Abarbarian]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction mucks . I played around with the "boot loader" file and now me old OS is first in the list and boots automaticaly . Not going to bother with uninstalling the fresh OS as I'm unsure how to do it and do not want to be left having to do a clean install . When I'm ready I'm going to re-format the C partition and start of with a clean slate , I've got plenty of space on the HD so theres no rush .