Removing XP / Vista Dual Boot
I have had windows XP installed for ages and when testing Vista just made a little extra space and labeled it “vista”. When Vista installed it replaced my boot information with new (updated) information to allow the user to select the “old” or “new” system. For the inexperienced, here is how to remove Vista and fix your boot information to work with just your plain old Windows XP.
Firstly you need to delete the old partition. Right-click “My Computer” and select “Manage”, then select the “Disk Management” item on the left. You will see a set of controls which represent the partitioning information on the local hard disks. Without going into any detail … delete the one which currently has Vista on it.
Now reboot and load Partition Magic, or whatever tool you use for partitioning. I’m sure The Ultimate Boot CD has something for partitioning.
Next you will need to boot to a Windows XP install disk. Wait for all the drivers to load, then select the option which allows you to get to the “Recovery Console”. When the console loads you will select which XP installation you want to fiddle with, normally just put “1″ and hit enter here. After that you will need to use the “fixboot” command which takes only one argument, the partition letter which has windows installed. For me “fixboot C:” did the job just fine. The operation took a fraction of a second, rebooted and my system was back to the way it originally was.
