Installing XP - and removing Win2000 Professional

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike

I recently upgraded to windows xp - but
it kept my windows 2000 OS - i have
set the default OS to be be XP - but
would prefer to remove win 2000
completely -- does anyone know how to
do this?
 
I would suggest starting over from scratch and perform the installation
of Windows XP correctly:

The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first bootable device".

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete all the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. ==> Immediately after installing Windows XP, turn on XP's Firewall.
==> http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.

9. If you happen to run into any installation difficulties, use the following resources:

How to Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310064

Troubleshooting Windows XP Setup
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

|
| I recently upgraded to windows xp - but
| it kept my windows 2000 OS - i have
| set the default OS to be be XP - but
| would prefer to remove win 2000
| completely -- does anyone know how to
| do this?
 
Hi, Mike.

As Carey Frisch says, it may be best to start fresh. But maybe not.

When you tell WinXP Setup to "upgrade" from Win2K, it installs WinXP over
Win2K and "migrates" your installed applications to the new WinXP Registry.
But it erases Win2K files in the process, leaving you with ONLY WinXP
installed.

You must have told WinXP Setup to do a "clean install", rather than
"upgrade". I hope you told it to put WinXP into a separate volume (primary
partition, or logical drive in an extended partition), because Microsoft and
nearly everybody else STRONGLY advise against putting two Windows
installations into a single volume.

Whether in the same or different volumes, you apparently now have a "dual
boot" system. It's not that hard to fix. It's a two-step process:

1. Edit C:\boot.ini to delete the extra choice from the boot-up menu.
Either go to System Properties | Advanced | Startup and Recovery Settings
and click the Edit button. Or, after Step 2, run msconfig.exe, click the
Boot.ini tab and click Check All Boot Paths.

2. Delete Win2K's "boot folder", which usually is named either \Windows or
\WinNT (in any volume), to reclaim the GB or more of disk space used by its
files and folders.

While booted into WinXP, open a "DOS" window and type Set. In the long list
of environment variables, the bottom probably says something like:
windir=E:\Windows. This "windir" is the boot folder for the current
operating system; WinXP won't let you delete it. Then find Win2K's boot
folder, probably something like D:\WinNT, and delete that. From "DOS", you
can use the command: rd WinNT /s; the /s will delete all subdirectories and
files after you answer Yes to "Are you sure?".

RC
 
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