How to remove a multiboot option

  • Thread starter Thread starter ms
  • Start date Start date
M

ms

W2K, SP4

I ran a small BootXP250 utility that had a feature I did not intend. It
created a multiboot screen on bootup, now have to select on bootup to
start W2K. So basically, this created a multiboot option, I don't want
it.

I want to remove this program, unable to do it so far.

Actions to date:
The program after install does not show a screen where I can uninstall.

It does not show in my uninstall utility.

It does not show in an autorun utility.

It does not show in a startup utility.

Search does not show it in C:

I reverted to a 9/18 registry, rebooted, still there.

Searched in registry, found 3 keys, deleted them, shut down. Cold boot,
still there.

How to get rid of this option?

ms
 
ms said:
W2K, SP4

I ran a small BootXP250 utility that had a feature I did not intend. It
created a multiboot screen on bootup, now have to select on bootup to
start W2K. So basically, this created a multiboot option, I don't want
it.

I want to remove this program, unable to do it so far.

Actions to date:
The program after install does not show a screen where I can uninstall.

It does not show in my uninstall utility.

It does not show in an autorun utility.

It does not show in a startup utility.

Search does not show it in C:

I reverted to a 9/18 registry, rebooted, still there.

Searched in registry, found 3 keys, deleted them, shut down. Cold boot,
still there.

How to get rid of this option?

ms
Click to expand...

The registry is first processed when Windows starts up. Since Windows hasn't
even started when you see your boot selection menu, there is no point in
playing with the registry in order to remove the multi-boot option.

There are several ways to restore the original boot environment. The
standard method requires you to boot the machine with your Win2000
installation CD, then select "Repair" and "Recovery Console". Now type the
commands "fixboot" and "fixmbr.

When I experiment with such intrusive things like boot managers then I
usually start by exploring the existence of a back-out path before going any
further. This could be an uninstall option or perhaps creating a restorable
disk image.
 
The registry is first processed when Windows starts up. Since Windows
hasn't even started when you see your boot selection menu, there is no
point in playing with the registry in order to remove the multi-boot
option.

There are several ways to restore the original boot environment. The
standard method requires you to boot the machine with your Win2000
installation CD, then select "Repair" and "Recovery Console". Now type
the commands "fixboot" and "fixmbr.

When I experiment with such intrusive things like boot managers then I
usually start by exploring the existence of a back-out path before
going any further. This could be an uninstall option or perhaps
creating a restorable disk image.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response.

I normally have no problems with W2K, so seldom post here. But this AM,
issues.

I started to follow your advice. I have autorun disabled so booted up,
put the OS CD in the drive, browsed to it- now get message "K: is not
accessable, function is incorrect" (K is CD drive).

The CD drive has never been a problem before, maybe somehow related to
the boot utility, but I dunno.

I looked in Device Manager, the CD drive looks perfectly normal, is
enabled, no question mark.

What could cause the CD drive issue, and how to enable it again?

ms
 
ms said:
Thanks for the response.

I normally have no problems with W2K, so seldom post here. But this AM,
issues.

I started to follow your advice. I have autorun disabled so booted up,
put the OS CD in the drive, browsed to it- now get message "K: is not
accessable, function is incorrect" (K is CD drive).

The CD drive has never been a problem before, maybe somehow related to
the boot utility, but I dunno.

I looked in Device Manager, the CD drive looks perfectly normal, is
enabled, no question mark.

What could cause the CD drive issue, and how to enable it again?

ms
Click to expand...

You missed an essential step. If you want to boot your machine from your
Win2000 CD then you must instruct your BIOS to select the CD drive as its
primary boot device. If you don't then you're booting from the hard disk
instead of the Win2000 CD.
 
ms said:
W2K, SP4

I ran a small BootXP250 utility that had a feature I did not intend. It
created a multiboot screen on bootup, now have to select on bootup to
start W2K. So basically, this created a multiboot option, I don't want
it.

I want to remove this program, unable to do it so far.

Actions to date:
The program after install does not show a screen where I can uninstall.

It does not show in my uninstall utility.

It does not show in an autorun utility.

It does not show in a startup utility.

Search does not show it in C:

I reverted to a 9/18 registry, rebooted, still there.

Searched in registry, found 3 keys, deleted them, shut down. Cold boot,
still there.

How to get rid of this option?

ms
Click to expand...


Hey MS.

Is this just a thing where you have more than just Windows 2000 as a listed
boot option when you turn the computer on, such as where you can multi-boot
between one operating system or another? Perhaps I'm just misreading your
question but, if not, did you check the boot.ini file to make sure there's
not more than one entry in there?

Jim
 
Hey MS.

Is this just a thing where you have more than just Windows 2000 as a
listed boot option when you turn the computer on, such as where you
can multi-boot between one operating system or another? Perhaps I'm
just misreading your question but, if not, did you check the boot.ini
file to make sure there's not more than one entry in there?

Jim
Click to expand...
W2K is the only OS present, the new bootup screen shows a choice between
W2K and W2K.

My boot.ini file:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=LOGOOS.EXE
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="(Backup Line) Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

[boot loader]
timeout=30

Is this a normal entry in W2k, or is this the addition that could be
deleted?

ms
 
Autorun has nothing to do with it. The option and boot order are part
of cmos setup. From what you're describing it sounds like the drive
has failed.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/155217
Click to expand...

Please see reply to Pegasus, but now the CD lite is on at bootup, I see the
CD drive in my windows shell program, and can run the setup.exe file in the
folder. IMO, this suggests the CD drive is OK?

ms
 
If it works one minute and not the next then it isn't very reliable. Also
you'll want to boot from it not run setup.exe from windows



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
You missed an essential step. If you want to boot your machine from
your Win2000 CD then you must instruct your BIOS to select the CD
drive as its primary boot device. If you don't then you're booting
from the hard disk instead of the Win2000 CD.
Click to expand...
I finally found the correct key to get into BIOS.

I found Boot Options were HD, then CD, then A drive. The machine was
constructed for me, so maybe this was original, don't know for sure.

I changed it to CD, then A, then HD. Reasoning that normally nothing in
CD or A so it boots up from HD. But in troubleshooting, to look at CD
first.

If this is incorrect, please advise.

Now on bootup, in windows, in my shell I see the CD drive, In the OS CD
folder, I click on setup.exe, the CD drive runs, but again get message
"incorrect function"

So, how to get the CD to really read?

Regarding the original dual boot issue, please see my reply to Jim. Is
that a fix?

I'm a tired senior, so troubleshooting is kind of new to me.

ms
 
ms said:
Please see reply to Pegasus, but now the CD lite is on at bootup, I see the
CD drive in my windows shell program, and can run the setup.exe file in the
folder. IMO, this suggests the CD drive is OK?
Click to expand...

I don't think you are doing what Pegasus asked:

Pegasus said:

"boot the machine with your Win2000 installation CD"

What you appear to be doing (if I'm reading you correctly) is BOOTING
THE MACHINE TO WINDOWS then inserting the Windows installation CD and
running setup. This is wrong (and conceivably could cause you some trouble).

You need to leave the CD in the drive and shut down the machine. Then
power up the machine (with the CD in the drive). It should boot to the
CD (not to Windows). If it doesn't, and you are still booting to
Windows, you need to set your BIOS to boot from the CD drive.
 
ms said:
I finally found the correct key to get into BIOS.

I found Boot Options were HD, then CD, then A drive. The machine was
constructed for me, so maybe this was original, don't know for sure.

I changed it to CD, then A, then HD. Reasoning that normally nothing in
CD or A so it boots up from HD. But in troubleshooting, to look at CD
first.

If this is incorrect, please advise.

Now on bootup, in windows, in my shell I see the CD drive, In the OS CD
folder, I click on setup.exe, the CD drive runs, but again get message
"incorrect function"

So, how to get the CD to really read?

Regarding the original dual boot issue, please see my reply to Jim. Is
that a fix?

I'm a tired senior, so troubleshooting is kind of new to me.

ms
Click to expand...

I'm a senior too but not so tired just yet . . .
When you boot the machine with your Win2000 CD then you see a brief prompt
on the screen that says:

Press any key to boot from the CD (or words to this effect)

You have about 3 seconds to press the Enter key (for example). If you don't
then the machine will attempt to boot into Windows. If your CD is damaged or
if the CD drive is marginal (as suggested by Dave Patrick) then you won't
see this prompt.

About your reply to Jim (who raised a very good point): It does not tell us
enough. Try this:
1. Boot normally into Windows.
2. Click Start / Run
3. Type this: notepad c:\boot.ini{OK}
4. Copy & paste the text you see into your reply.
 
I don't think you are doing what Pegasus asked:

Pegasus said:

"boot the machine with your Win2000 installation CD"

What you appear to be doing (if I'm reading you correctly) is BOOTING
THE MACHINE TO WINDOWS then inserting the Windows installation CD and
running setup. This is wrong (and conceivably could cause you some
trouble).

You need to leave the CD in the drive and shut down the machine. Then
power up the machine (with the CD in the drive). It should boot to the
CD (not to Windows). If it doesn't, and you are still booting to
Windows, you need to set your BIOS to boot from the CD drive.
Click to expand...

I checked in RegEdit, my Autorun parameter was set to 1, so I was
mistaken, it had not been disabled in the past.

As in my reply to Pegasus, I set BIOS to boot from the CD; And the CD
drive is accessed during POST.

I tried again to boot from the CD, IMO the drive now looks normal, light
is on, drive runs. But no action, then that bootup screen appears and
windows loads normally.

In windows, I can look in the CD folder, open text files, browse to
different files, but when selcting the exe file, get the error screen.

So at the moment, I can neither boot from the CD, or run the CD exe file
in windows.

My CD drive always worked, haven't used it for several months, so maybe
this issue was caused by something before.

ms
 
I'm a senior too but not so tired just yet . . .
Click to expand...

You are very lucky.
When you boot the machine with your Win2000 CD then you see a brief
prompt on the screen that says:

Press any key to boot from the CD (or words to this effect)

You have about 3 seconds to press the Enter key (for example). If you
don't then the machine will attempt to boot into Windows. If your CD
is damaged or if the CD drive is marginal (as suggested by Dave
Patrick) then you won't see this prompt.

About your reply to Jim (who raised a very good point): It does not
tell us enough. Try this:
1. Boot normally into Windows.
2. Click Start / Run
3. Type this: notepad c:\boot.ini{OK}
4. Copy & paste the text you see into your reply.
Click to expand...
I typed *exactly* your statement into RUN, a xint text editor (not
notepad) opens, but a blank screen?

So I copied boot.ini as a text file, this is exactly it:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=LOGOOS.EXE
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="(Backup Line) Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Maybe it is necessary to kill this boot loader first, to get back to a
normal W2K situation, although it is a puzzle why the CD setup.exe gives
the error message.

BTW, on bootup, the CD drive runs as it should as first boot option. But
nothing happens due to that error screen.

ms
 
ms said:
I'm a senior too but not so tired just yet . . .
Click to expand...

You are very lucky.
When you boot the machine with your Win2000 CD then you see a brief
prompt on the screen that says:

Press any key to boot from the CD (or words to this effect)

You have about 3 seconds to press the Enter key (for example). If you
don't then the machine will attempt to boot into Windows. If your CD
is damaged or if the CD drive is marginal (as suggested by Dave
Patrick) then you won't see this prompt.

About your reply to Jim (who raised a very good point): It does not
tell us enough. Try this:
1. Boot normally into Windows.
2. Click Start / Run
3. Type this: notepad c:\boot.ini{OK}
4. Copy & paste the text you see into your reply.
Click to expand...
I typed *exactly* your statement into RUN, a xint text editor (not
notepad) opens, but a blank screen?

So I copied boot.ini as a text file, this is exactly it:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=LOGOOS.EXE
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="(Backup Line) Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Maybe it is necessary to kill this boot loader first, to get back to a
normal W2K situation, although it is a puzzle why the CD setup.exe gives
the error message.

BTW, on bootup, the CD drive runs as it should as first boot option. But
nothing happens due to that error screen.

ms
Click to expand...

Your boot.ini file shows two selections, both of which refer to your
installation of Windows in c:\WinNT. The "Backup Line" is the standard
Windows boot item. The first appears to launch the Logoos.exe file.

If your machine boots normally with the second selection then you can safely
delete the first selection. You may have to unhide and unprotect the file
c:\boot.ini in order to do so. Create a backup of the file before going
ahead.

And when finished, attend to your little CD problem . . .
 
ms said:
So at the moment, I can neither boot from the CD, or run the CD exe file
in windows.
Click to expand...

In order to run the Repair & Recovery Consol as Pegasus suggested, you
DO NOT run the CD exe file from Windows. You MUST boot directly from the CD.

That's why everyone is telling you that the issue of whether you have
autorun enabled (in Windows) is a non-sequiteur. If your machine is
getting as far as booting into Windows, the procedure (as far as running
the Repair and Recovery Consol) has already failed.

If you cannot get your machine to boot directly from the CD (the CD disc
must already be in the drive when you boot) then possible causes are:

- the BIOS is not set up properly to boot from the CD before the HD

- you are failing to hit return in response to the boot message: <Boot
from CD?>

- you have some hardware problem such that the BIOS is failing to see
either the CD drive or the disc within it

- the CD disc itself is faulty
 
ms said:
W2K, SP4

I ran a small BootXP250 utility that had a feature I did not
intend. It created a multiboot screen on bootup, now have to
select on bootup to start W2K. So basically, this created a
multiboot option, I don't want it.

I want to remove this program, unable to do it so far.

Actions to date:
The program after install does not show a screen where I can
uninstall.

It does not show in my uninstall utility.

It does not show in an autorun utility.

It does not show in a startup utility.

Search does not show it in C:

I reverted to a 9/18 registry, rebooted, still there.

Searched in registry, found 3 keys, deleted them, shut down.
Cold boot, still there.

How to get rid of this option?

ms

The registry is first processed when Windows starts up. Since
Windows hasn't even started when you see your boot selection
menu, there is no point in playing with the registry in order to
remove the multi-boot option.

There are several ways to restore the original boot environment.
The standard method requires you to boot the machine with your
Win2000 installation CD, then select "Repair" and "Recovery
Console". Now type the commands "fixboot" and "fixmbr.

When I experiment with such intrusive things like boot managers
then I usually start by exploring the existence of a back-out
path before going any further. This could be an uninstall option
or perhaps creating a restorable disk image.


Thanks for the response.

I normally have no problems with W2K, so seldom post here. But
this AM, issues.

I started to follow your advice. I have autorun disabled so
booted up, put the OS CD in the drive, browsed to it- now get
message "K: is not accessable, function is incorrect" (K is CD
drive).

The CD drive has never been a problem before, maybe somehow
related to the boot utility, but I dunno.

I looked in Device Manager, the CD drive looks perfectly normal,
is enabled, no question mark.

What could cause the CD drive issue, and how to enable it again?

ms


You missed an essential step. If you want to boot your machine
from your Win2000 CD then you must instruct your BIOS to select
the CD drive as its primary boot device. If you don't then you're
booting from the hard disk instead of the Win2000 CD.

I finally found the correct key to get into BIOS.

I found Boot Options were HD, then CD, then A drive. The machine
was constructed for me, so maybe this was original, don't know for
sure.

I changed it to CD, then A, then HD. Reasoning that normally
nothing in CD or A so it boots up from HD. But in troubleshooting,
to look at CD first.

If this is incorrect, please advise.

Now on bootup, in windows, in my shell I see the CD drive, In the
OS CD folder, I click on setup.exe, the CD drive runs, but again
get message "incorrect function"

So, how to get the CD to really read?

Regarding the original dual boot issue, please see my reply to Jim.
Is that a fix?

I'm a tired senior, so troubleshooting is kind of new to me.

ms

I'm a senior too but not so tired just yet . . .
Click to expand...

You are very lucky.
When you boot the machine with your Win2000 CD then you see a brief
prompt on the screen that says:

Press any key to boot from the CD (or words to this effect)

You have about 3 seconds to press the Enter key (for example). If
you don't then the machine will attempt to boot into Windows. If
your CD is damaged or if the CD drive is marginal (as suggested by
Dave Patrick) then you won't see this prompt.

About your reply to Jim (who raised a very good point): It does not
tell us enough. Try this:
1. Boot normally into Windows.
2. Click Start / Run
3. Type this: notepad c:\boot.ini{OK}
4. Copy & paste the text you see into your reply.
Click to expand...
I typed *exactly* your statement into RUN, a xint text editor (not
notepad) opens, but a blank screen?

So I copied boot.ini as a text file, this is exactly it:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=LOGOOS.EXE
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="(Backup Line) Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Maybe it is necessary to kill this boot loader first, to get back to
a normal W2K situation, although it is a puzzle why the CD setup.exe
gives the error message.

BTW, on bootup, the CD drive runs as it should as first boot option.
But nothing happens due to that error screen.

ms
Click to expand...

Your boot.ini file shows two selections, both of which refer to your
installation of Windows in c:\WinNT. The "Backup Line" is the standard
Windows boot item. The first appears to launch the Logoos.exe file.

If your machine boots normally with the second selection then you can
safely delete the first selection. You may have to unhide and
unprotect the file c:\boot.ini in order to do so. Create a backup of
the file before going ahead.

And when finished, attend to your little CD problem . . .
Click to expand...
I want to be very careful here, not risking bootup problems.

Is this the boot.ini file that would be normal for W2K?

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="(Backup Line) Microsoft
Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Also, my boot.ini was not hidden, should it be?

ms
 
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