Wiping Windows 2000 from system?

[timers]

I am in Windows XP now, which I was dual booting with Win 2k, but now I want Win 2k removed for good. I have Win XP installed on my C drive, and Win 2k on my D drive. Id like to remove Windows 2000 from drive D so I can get all that space back, since all the program files and what not were all installed there. Anyway I can remove 2k from my system for good? I only want one OS, and thats XP. Thanks

 

[neuralfx]

go into disk administration and delete the partition, and create a new partition, its that simple .. good luck .. or just format the old partition either way ..
-neural

 

[Palek]

Be very careful with removing Win2k from your machine. You should first of all create an Emergency Recovery Disk under both systems just to be safe. You should also make sure that the boot information (files like boot.ini and WinXP system files needed for booting) is on the C: partition, and not the D: partition, because if you accidentally remove this without making a backup, you can completely disable your system.

 

[jcmoran]

I recommend using Norton Ghost and create an image of your C drive. Save this *gho file to another physical hard drive. Then using fdisk you can delete all partitions from your original physical hard drive, create a new primary partition using all the space available, format it, then restore your system from the *gho file. You will end up with one large C drive and only XP as an operating system.
This procedure would require you to install a seperate drive of course, but the benefits would be worth it. You could even get away with using the cheapest slowest drive out there because you would only be using it for a dumping area for your image file. A 10Gb drive is usually enough to hold the image of a 40Gb drive because you won't be backing up the free space, just the data.
When you're using a program like Ghost, it's always a better idea to save the image file to a totally seperate drive rather than partition in case your C drive goes down hard.

 

[timers]

Can you put that in simpler easier terms? I have 3 physical hard drives, if that has any effect on this situation. A c, d, and e. 13, 20, and 40 gigs each. Please help. Thanks.

 

[jcmoran]

My recommendation was based on an assumption that Windows 2000 was on the same physical drive as XP. If Windows 2000 is on a different physical hard drive, then simply reformat that drive. If that's not the answer, perhaps there is another problem I'm unaware of.

 

[timers]

Yes XP is on my C drive, and Win 2k on my D drive. So once I know that all my files I want to keep have been moved to the C or E drives, then all I do is format drive D? Thats it. then Win XP will be all alone and will still work fine. How can I find out if Windows Xp is making any connnections or needs anything from drive D? Anyway to know that. I think I will do this tommoorw, how exactly do I format drive D?

 

[jcmoran]

I'm not near my Windows XP CD so I can't verify this, but you should be able to find "format.exe" on your XP CD or if you have an old boot disk from a previous version of Windows you will find both "fdisk.exe" and "format.exe" on that. Use fdisk to delete all partitions and then create your primary partition on your D drive, then use format.exe to format it.
You are correct about ensuring all the additional data files you have on your D drive are protected. Anything you can't reproduce should be protected by moving them to a different drive. Take a look at whether or not you have any programs on "D" that you can simply reinstall later. No need to protect those but any data you have created with that program will need to be protected. Usually I make two lists. One is programs I can reinstall if need be and the other are programs I need to protect because I can't reinstall because I don't actually own the program. For example I may have gotten it from someone else.
It's early as hell for me right now and I'm hoping that I'm making sense for you.

🙂