Dual Boot Screen at Startup...How do I get rid of it?

I have XP Media Center and I installed Vista RC1 in a dual OS setup and everything thing went fine. A few weeks ago I decided to get rid of Vista and go back to just XP. I got rid of Vista and returned my Hard Drive back to its normal partition with no problems EXCEPT, every time I start my computer it still goes to the dual boot screen and asks which OS I would like to run even though Vista is gone.

So, quite simply, I am just wondering how to get rid of my dual boot screen so I can just go back to normal. Thanks for any help ya'll might have.

 

You'll have to go to Tools > Folder options and enable viewing of hidden files/folder and enable viewing of protected system files/folders. Then edit your boot.ini file to read as follows:
[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
Read your boot.ini file first. You might have to change the last line above to read Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. The other option if you're not comfortable rewriting the boot.ini file, is to change the value at the Timeout command to read zero instead of 30 (or whatever the value is now). That way, the choices will pop up for just a second and the PC will boot to whatever OS is selected by default; for example the OS listed first in the boot.ini file. Also, if your PC has a recovery partition, you may have to edit 'partition(1)' to read 'partition(2)'. Just read your current boot.ini file CAREFULLY before altering it. In this type of situation, I usually rename the current boot.ini to something like 'old-boot.ini' before rewriting it. That way, if my rewrite goes bad, I can just delete the rewrite, and rename 'old-boot.ini' back to 'boot.ini' and I'm up and running again.

hopperdave2000

The boot.ini can be found right on C:. It's not in a folder or anything.

 

Thanks for the response. Since I don't know what to look for in the boot.ini file, I am just posting it below. If you wouldn't mind looking at it and letting me know what you would do, I would appreciate it.

[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="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

I don't think this makes a difference, cuz I figure dual boot screens look the same, but when I do start my computer it goes to a screen that wants me to choose between an "Earlier Version of Windows" or "Windows Vista". Probably doesn't make a difference but I thought I would throw it out there. Thanks again for the help, and let me know what you think I should do from here.

*As far as my system having a recovery partition...I have no idea and I don't know how to find out...*

 

That boot.ini looks fine for Media Center. You need to look at the Vista Boot.ini or it's equivilant and probably make the changes there. If Media Center and Vista are on seperate partitions (and they probably have to be), you'll have to enable all the hidden and protected views in Vista, and then look at the Vista boot.ini (I'm not sure if Vista calls it boot.ini, it may have a different name). Essentially, if two OS's are shown in the boot.ini, you'll edit out the one you don't want.

hopperdave2000

 

Well...XP and Vista were on seperate partitions on the same hard drive but I have already deleted Vista and the partition it was on, and then just resized the partition that XP is on back to its original size like it was before I split the hard drive. So, I don't think that I can get to the Vista boot.ini (or it's equivilant) because there is nothing there anymore...unless for some reason its stored in my XP partition somewhere. I'm just kinda at a loss right now because I don't know what else could be telling my system that it even has the option of trying to boot up another OS. Thanks for your help, and hopefully you got some more advice cuz I got nothin.

 

I noticed that your boot.ini has some extra stuff in the last line. Try removing the '/NOEXECUTE=OPTIN' part (leave the /FASTDETECT) and see if that does it. Other than that, I'll I can think of would be to install a 'virgin' ntldr file and ntdetect.com file for Media Center (basically replace the ones you have with clean new copies). I'm pretty sure a Google search will provide a link to where you can download clean copies of these files (be sure to scan 'em with antivirus and antispyware software to be safe). Media Center XP is almost identical in every way to XP Pro, so you might be able to use XP Pro ntldr and ntdetect.com files. Hopefully someone else will post and shed a bit more light on this for the both of us...

hopperdave2000

 

Hey, I fixed it! You were right earlier and just didn't know it...or maybe you did know and I am the one who didn't. Anyway, when you said I might have to edit the Vista booting files, that didn't make sense to me at the time because Vista is already deleted. I thought about it, did some research and found that only earlier releases of Vista used the traditional boot.ini file but the later ones use a brand new boot loader system that is supposed to offer more options, make things much more stable, and make boot times shorter.

The new boot loader system for Vista actually installs itself on the XP partition when you set up dual booting with these two OS's. So, you were right, I just had to find a way to locate the Vista boot loader system. And I came to find out that there is only one way to locate and delete the boot loader system safely and its with a program called VistaBootPRO 3.1.0. All version before that one do not set your original boot.ini file back to the default boot loader system...they require a few extra steps if want your computer to turn on again. With the 3.1.0 it does it all for you so that all you have to do is restart your computer after you choose the option to delete the Vista Boot Loader. And to my surprise it is freeware!

So, after all my researching for complicated ways to fix the problem...all anyone really needs is a small simple little program that corrects the problem in mere minutes. If anyone is having the same problem that I did, I recommend saving yourself alot of time and heartache by just downloading the VistaBootPRO 3.1.0 program and letting it work its magic. Thanks hopperdave2000 for all your help and sending me in the right direction.

 

Cool! At least I could put you on the right track! :major

hopperdave2000
Gald I could help!

Where did you find this Vista Boot Loader tool? A link would be greatly appreciated! Not only by me, but I'm sure others will find it useful too.

 

Thanks again....the program is pretty damn cool and insanely easy to use. Here is the link: http://www.vistabootpro.org/
I hope somebody finds it as useful as I did, cuz damn it made my little dilema go away really quickly.