Delete Windows98SE from dual boot?

Yzzim

Lifer
Feb 13, 2000
11,990
1
76
I've got Windows2k Pro and Windows98SE on a dual boot.
I wanna uninstall Windows98SE and only boot into Windows2k. How do I do that? I hate when it boots up and asks me what OS I wanna boot into.

Thanks
 

Yzzim

Lifer
Feb 13, 2000
11,990
1
76
Err...the point of posting is to find the answer
I've looked already but all I can find is how to uninstall the upgrade of Windows 98

^^^^
 

andylawcc

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
18,183
3
81
meanwhile, 3 men was shoot to death in the middle of nowhere.


lol! that's a great way to bump...
 

jaywallen

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2000
1,227
0
0
Yzzim,

If you want specific instructions on this, specify exactly how you have your dual boot set up. In other words, how many partitions / drives (logical and physical), which OS is on which partition, do the operating systems share software installations / locations, where is the data, do you have any third party boot manager software installed, etc.

Regards,
Jim
 

thereaderrabbit

Senior member
Jan 3, 2001
444
0
0
Hmmm...

I'm not 100% sure, but I think this should work... I have a dual boot system with WinMe on my C drive and Win2k on my G drive.

There is a hidden file on the hard drive from which you boot off of called "boot.ini". The contents of my file are as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition"

See too it that your default is the OS you want to use (a.k.a. WINNT). Then set the timeout to zero (as done above). This will boot you into Win2k without even having an option to load Win98.

Now I think it's safe to remove the Windows directory on your Win98 partition.

I don't have a clue about removing or formatting that partition/drive while keeping Win2k access. If it's a drive you might just want to pull it and see if you can get Win2k to boot on its own.

-Reader
 

Yzzim

Lifer
Feb 13, 2000
11,990
1
76
Win2k and Windows98SE are both on my C drive
What I was going to do was do a clean install and format the drive and then install Win2k but that didn't happen. No third party boot manager installed, Win2k is in the WinNT folder while Windows98 is in the Windows folder. NOTHING is installed in Windows98SE....I installed that to install Windows2k since I couldn't install Win2k from DOS or by booting from CD.
 

jaywallen

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2000
1,227
0
0
Yzzim,

In that case thereaderrabbit's advice is just about spot on, though you should remember that thereaderrabbit's advice is based upon the premise that you were using two different partitions rather than a common one. You can delete the Win98 (\Windows) directory. Unfortunately, there will be other 'debris' left by that OS on your C partition, mostly in some of the "\Program Files" sub-directories. But the system should be as okay as it's going to get at this point. (I don't know if running the W2K install routine from within Win98 compromises the registry or not. I hope it didn't interfere with enumeration and the power management setup. I've never heard of anyone having to install NT 4.0 or W2K from within a previous version of Windows, even on a machine that couldn't be booted from CD. Why couldn't you use the W2K boot diskettes / CD install method?)

If W2K is set in your default boot line, all you really need to do to boot.ini is to remove the lines which reference the other OS and set the timeout value to 0. Should something go wrong and you run into any boot-time problems at this point, you should just perform the boot sector repair function from the W2K install CD. Once it analyzes your system (after removal of the other OS) it will set up boot.ini appropriately.

Regards,
Jim
 

thereaderrabbit

Senior member
Jan 3, 2001
444
0
0
jaywallen,

"boot sector repair function from the W2K install CD". Wow, sounds interesting! I have a feeling I'll need this when I split my drives over 2 CPUs soon (dual boot to two single booting systems). Thanks for the info :)

-Reader
 

jaywallen

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2000
1,227
0
0
thereaderrabbit,





<< I have a feeling I'll need this when I split my drives over 2 CPUs soon (dual boot to two single booting systems). Thanks for the info >>



Now THAT's an interesting idea. The possibilities make my head hurt! Hope you'll let us know how you implement it! (And what you're doing with it.)

Regards,
Jim