Dual installation; same partition; both windowsXP; How do I delete one?

chrisdab · #1 Oct 17, 2006, 09:11 AM

Hi, I installed two installations of windows xp on accident on my laptop hard drive. I tried to do a repair install but the cd I used was a silent install cd for windows and I forgot it was. So I ended up with two windows XP installs on my hard drive, both on partition C.

The folders on the C drive are C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS.0. Both load with its own set of programs for it, one has games and other software on it, the other has basic software on the install CD. Both had firefox on it which caused problems with firefox losing my settings/links and not keeping them. I have thunderbird email on my 2nd installation but I cant access it with my first windows install.

What I want to do is delete the 2nd version of windows which I dont use. I am not sure if its C:\WINDOWS or C:\WINDOWS.0. The newer one shows up first in the OS menu when I first boot my computer. Whats the best way to do this?

THanks
Chris

Curlyben · Oct 17, 2006, 12:26 PM

OK my advice would be to back up all your important data, grab your install cd's and some coffee and bite the bullet and go for a complete reinstall.

Dual installs of Windows on the same partition will cause serious problems, so you might as well wipe your box and start over.

chrisdab · Oct 18, 2006, 10:05 AM

Here is a link someone else gave me. It fixed my problem.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#020
FAQ #20

I am sure a fresh install would be best, but this fixed the issues I been experiencing.



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