Why do I get a Dual Boot Option??

I've just reloaded my PC using the CDs that came with it when new. Before loading XP Home I deleted all partitions & formatted (NTFS) the drive. Now when I boot up it goes to a screen asking which OS to load, both say Windows XP Home & it waits 30 seconds for an answer. Very frustrating!

Is there a way to get rid of this as I don't have a second OS to boot from, (in fact it fails if I try to select the second 'Windows XP Home' option). What is making the PC think I have 2 OS's & can it be easily told it hasn't!

Any help would be appreciated...

PS.. I'm far from a geek so I may be missing something simple here.

Thanks,
PJ

 

Yes, There is a way to fix this issue. All you need to do is simply edit you boot.ini file located in the C:\ directory. You can do this by following below:

1) Open My Computer

2) Click on C:\ drive
Note: Be sure you have "Show hidden files and folders" enable as well as "Hide protected operating system files" unchecked.

3) Right click the boot.ini and clear all Attributes, Click Ok!

4) Now open the boot.ini file in "notepad"

5) You should see something like below:

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

Note: Now in your case where it has "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect" you will have 2 lines of this. Remove ONLY ONE!

Be sure that before you save it that you have one line under [operating systems] that looks like the below:

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

Note: If you have Windows XP Home substitute Professional for Home.

6) Save, and exit

7) Reboot and see if problem remains.

Also please see this site, it may be helpful as well
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=289022

 

BJ's method would work but assuming you are not too tech savvy, ;et me suggest this method:

1) Right-click on 'My Computer' icon.
2) Left-click on 'Properties'
3) Left-click on 'Advanced' tab
4) Left-click on the 'Settings' button under 'Startup and Recovery'
5) Make sure the entry you want is displayed on the drop-down menu then simply UNcheck the box next to 'Time to display list of operating systems'.

PS. You could also click on the 'Edit' button and do the modifications (BJ was mentioned) to the 'boot.ini' file from here.

 

Turcoloco & Bjgarrick

Brilliant!!!

That's sorted my problem so a big 'thanks' to you both.

PJ

 

Your Welcome, Glad we could be of assistance!

 

Now that we are on topic I am just wondering...
I had a machine that I reinstalled and formated but it still asked me to choose from 2 old version of Windows 2K.
Why and how is this possible if I wiped everything off the disk?

 

Assuming you did a full format, the MBR(Master Boot Record) was still intact.

Boot to a Windows9x startup disk and at the command prompt type: fdisk /mbr