Formatted... but old OS is still there!!

[firebirdude]

When I want to re-format a PC, I boot off my XP disc and delete all existing partitions. I then use the "long" formating option. It always takes awhile. XP loads as normal. When the desktop finally comes up all my old programs/files/etc are gone. (Obviously) But when I reboot, the PC does it's post then a "select which OS you want to use" screen comes up. It shows the old OS and the new and gives you 30 seconds to choose. This has happened several times on several different PCs. I've even RE-FORMATTED AGAIN and its comes up with THREE OS choices. (Sometimes going from Windows ME to XP home, or XP Home to XP Pro) How do I prevent this?

 

[loup garou]

Right click My Computer>Properties>Advanced Tab>Startup & Recovery Settings>Uncheck "Time to display list of operating systems"

You can also click the edit button and remove the old ME/XP entries, but make sure to remove the right ones!

 

[firebirdude]

Nice. Worked like a charm. Thanks!

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Right click My Computer>Properties>Advanced Tab>Startup & Recovery Settings>Uncheck "Time to display list of operating systems"

You can also click the edit button and remove the old ME/XP entries, but make sure to remove the right ones!

Yep..

The boot.ini retains previous operating system entries, even though they may no longer exist.

 

[Arkaign]

One of the ways I deal with this is to use a boot disk image from bootdisk.com, and use good old fdisk to get rid of existing partitions. For whatever reason, the XP install procedure does NOT truly wipe out existing partitions completely, resulting in the behavior described above.