recover HD space from dual boot

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rich Abrams
  • Start date Start date
R

Rich Abrams

I recently upgraded from Win95 to 2KPro as a dual boot set
up. Now, I'm ready to recover the space on my hard drive
that is taken up by the old Win95 system. I read how to
get rid of the dual boot option listed above but before I
do that, is there a way to "erase" all of the files
associated with Win95? Or will I need to access Win95,
remove all the programs, dump the trash first? I only have
safe mode access to Win95, which is why I upgraded. My
options are limited but simply deleting the Windows
folder, as one chap suggested, does not sound like a wise
move.
 
Using third party tools (or win98 startup disk) you can format the
partition. But do not remove the partition and or otherwise change the
active partition. Then boot the recovery console and from a command prompt
fixboot
to repair the Windows 2000 boot sector.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


:
| I recently upgraded from Win95 to 2KPro as a dual boot set
| up. Now, I'm ready to recover the space on my hard drive
| that is taken up by the old Win95 system. I read how to
| get rid of the dual boot option listed above but before I
| do that, is there a way to "erase" all of the files
| associated with Win95? Or will I need to access Win95,
| remove all the programs, dump the trash first? I only have
| safe mode access to Win95, which is why I upgraded. My
| options are limited but simply deleting the Windows
| folder, as one chap suggested, does not sound like a wise
| move.
 
Okay, I've got CDs and boot discs for each OS. So, if I
understand you correctly, I want to format the partition
that contains Windows 95 and this will leave everything
intact on the Win2K side. This is a home computer so I am
the only one using it and have not set an administrative
password. Once I format the partition containing the old
OS, I should see an increase in the amount of free space
on the Win2K side, correct? I have never run a dual boot
system nor set up a computer for multiple users so these
are unknown areas of how they function for me

Does the "fixboot" command at the system prompt to repair
the W2K boot sector accomplish the same result if I were
to start W2K in Safe Mode and manually edit (remove) the
line which reads C:/Windows from the boot.ini? I'm not
use to working in DOS but I have done so when someone was
on the phone talking me through each step.

Please pardon me for asking so many questions however I
have several files and programs that belong to other
people that I can't afford to lose. I just want to double
check my steps before proceeding. Am I to assume that when
I start Win95 from the disc that the partition it will be
asking me about reformatting will be ONLY the Win95
partition or does it mean the entire HD? Right now, my
number 1 concern is getting rid of Windows 95 and
reclaiming the resulting HD space. When I installed
Win2K, it mirrored my C:/ files, which I did not expect
and lost half of the free space I had on the HD..

As you can tell, I do not "work" on computers and want to
be certain that I am understanding exactly what you are
saying to do. I need the information in nearly step by
step instructions including what I should expect to see
with each step, if that is possible. .I'm sure there are
others out there that will benefit from detailed steps in
how to do this procedure. Thanks in advance for your help
and patience.
-----Original Message-----
Using third party tools (or win98 startup disk) you can format the
partition. But do not remove the partition and or otherwise change the
active partition. Then boot the recovery console and from a command prompt
fixboot
to repair the Windows 2000 boot sector.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The
Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Once the password has been
validated, you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access
to the hard disk. You can only access the following folders on your
computer: %systemroot% and %windir%


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


:
| I recently upgraded from Win95 to 2KPro as a dual boot set
| up. Now, I'm ready to recover the space on my hard drive
| that is taken up by the old Win95 system. I read how to
| get rid of the dual boot option listed above but before I
| do that, is there a way to "erase" all of the files
| associated with Win95? Or will I need to access Win95,
| remove all the programs, dump the trash first? I only have
| safe mode access to Win95, which is why I upgraded. My
| options are limited but simply deleting the Windows
| folder, as one chap suggested, does not sound like a wise
| move.


.
Click to expand...
 
One footnote that may make a difference is that my Win95
system is corrupt which is why I upgraded to W2K Pro. All
the boot discs that I have for Win95 do not take into
consideration the current dual boot set up. Will this
emergency disc rewrite the startup files to only one
partition that containing Win95? I would have to work
from either the SAFE mode or DOS for that OS as normal
startup is not possible. Thought I should make clear that
the old OS is buggy and is not working as it should IF
this had been a normal upgrade from one OS to another.
Thanks, Rich
 
:
| Okay, I've got CDs and boot discs for each OS. So, if I
| understand you correctly, I want to format the partition
| that contains Windows 95 and this will leave everything
| intact on the Win2K side. This is a home computer so I am
| the only one using it and have not set an administrative
| password. Once I format the partition containing the old
| OS, I should see an increase in the amount of free space
| on the Win2K side, correct?
*** No, in order to do that you would need to use something like partition
magic.

I have never run a dual boot
| system nor set up a computer for multiple users so these
| are unknown areas of how they function for me
|
| Does the "fixboot" command at the system prompt to repair
| the W2K boot sector accomplish the same result if I were
| to start W2K in Safe Mode and manually edit (remove) the
| line which reads C:/Windows from the boot.ini?
*** No separate issues here.

I'm not
| use to working in DOS but I have done so when someone was
| on the phone talking me through each step.
|
| Please pardon me for asking so many questions however I
| have several files and programs that belong to other
| people that I can't afford to lose. I just want to double
| check my steps before proceeding. Am I to assume that when
| I start Win95 from the disc that the partition it will be
| asking me about reformatting will be ONLY the Win95
| partition or does it mean the entire HD? Right now, my
| number 1 concern is getting rid of Windows 95 and
| reclaiming the resulting HD space. When I installed
| Win2K, it mirrored my C:/ files, which I did not expect
| and lost half of the free space I had on the HD..
|
| As you can tell, I do not "work" on computers and want to
| be certain that I am understanding exactly what you are
| saying to do.
*** The easiest and probably best solution is to backup you data and clean
install.


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect
 
Considering the multitude of complex issues I am looking
at, since this is not a normal "upgrade", I agree with you
that I would be better off to do a clean install. Better
yet, I'm just going to buy a new computer that is in step
with today's technical standards as I read elsewhere that
if upgrading from Win95 to 2K, I will probably have no
success in finding drivers that are compatable. I've
already run into that problem with my CD burner. Thanks
for your patience and time in helping me out. Most
valuable!
 
You're welcome.

--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect


:
| Considering the multitude of complex issues I am looking
| at, since this is not a normal "upgrade", I agree with you
| that I would be better off to do a clean install. Better
| yet, I'm just going to buy a new computer that is in step
| with today's technical standards as I read elsewhere that
| if upgrading from Win95 to 2K, I will probably have no
| success in finding drivers that are compatable. I've
| already run into that problem with my CD burner. Thanks
| for your patience and time in helping me out. Most
| valuable!
 
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