[scoolboi]

heyz i tried to install windows on a seperate hard disk and it backfired
When i boot at the Os menu there is the windows xp home edition setup and the noraml windows xp home edition im trying to get rid of the windows xp home edition setup option at my boot os menu so i my hard disk doesnt format if my sister or brother use the comp. how do i do this?
THX in advance...

 

[bedderz]

Hi Schoolboi

What you are describing sounds like the Windows Boot Loader.

Before you do anything detailed below i suggest setting a system restore point and backing up all important information on the machine.

If you require instructions on doing this then please post in here.

You need to edit the file C:\BOOT.INI

This file is hidden so go to TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS > VIEW > and tick "Show hidden files and folders"

Locate the file and right click it and choose properties, at the bottom uncheck the read only check box.

OK now you can open the file in Notepad. This is where you need to pay attention. I suggest saving the file elsewhere, naming it something like BOOT.BAK just incase you do something silly and forget what you have done.

Within this file you will see a line looking something similar to below

"multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

You will notice that you have two similar lines, one like above and one including the Windows Setup line.

You want to delete this line.

Restart your machine and this time you shouldn't have any boot loader come up and the machine will boot directly to windows

Hope this helps

Mike Bedford
MCP | MCDST

 

[scoolboi]

Hi Schoolboi

What you are describing sounds like the Windows Boot Loader.

Before you do anything detailed below i suggest setting a system restore point and backing up all important information on the machine.

If you require instructions on doing this then please post in here.

You need to edit the file C:\BOOT.INI

This file is hidden so go to TOOLS > FOLDER OPTIONS > VIEW > and tick "Show hidden files and folders"

Locate the file and right click it and choose properties, at the bottom uncheck the read only check box.

OK now you can open the file in Notepad. This is where you need to pay attention. I suggest saving the file elsewhere, naming it something like BOOT.BAK just incase you do something silly and forget what you have done.

Within this file you will see a line looking something similar to below

"multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

You will notice that you have two similar lines, one like above and one including the Windows Setup line.

You want to delete this line.

Restart your machine and this time you shouldn't have any boot loader come up and the machine will boot directly to windows

Hope this helps

Mike Bedford
MCP | MCDST

i made my c drive so i can read hidden files but cannot find the boot.INI file . So i went to the start menu and went to run and it worked. I deleted the
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Setup"
like you said i believe it would work but im unable to save it because it was a read only file i cant make it not " read only " beacuse i cant find it on the c drive? is there something wrong i even went to search and put in the boot.INI file but still cannot find it
plz HELP!!!

 

[bedderz]

Ok I presume when you say you went to run you mean you typed BOOT.INI into the run box and it opened the file in a text editor (Probably Notepad)

This suggests to me that the file location is actually "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\BOOT.INI"

Check this location for the file and then do the same actions as above to change the file from read only to normal.

Once this is done try and edit the file again

Mike Bedford

MCP | MCDST

 

[Elvandil]

i made my c drive so i can read hidden files but cannot find the boot.INI file . So i went to the start menu and went to run and it worked. I deleted the
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Setup"
like you said i believe it would work but im unable to save it because it was a read only file i cant make it not " read only " beacuse i cant find it on the c drive? is there something wrong i even went to search and put in the boot.INI file but still cannot find it
plz HELP!!!

Right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced tab > Startup & Recovery button > Edit button. Make your changes and close (It will ask if you want to save.). Its being "read-only" will not present a problem there and you won't need to change the file's attributes.