Does it boot when you choose either of those 2 options at the boot screen?
Did you do a parallel install of Windows, so now you have 2 copies of Windows OS on the hard drive?
You will probably have to edit the boot.ini file manually to remove 1 of the 2 functional boot options.
Note: The only way you can fully remove 1 copy of Windows after a parallel install is by a clean reformat/reinstall (or using PC Restore if still available). You can manually delete the extra files, but that's risky and you could prevent the system from booting if you delete the wrong file(s).
Be sure to back up personal files on external media first, whichever way you proceed. ;)
Also, if i look at the boot.ini file, i'll have two lines similiar to the one below (this is an example and not the actual line). the first will reference Windows XP Media Center and the other will be Windows XP Media Center Edition.
do i simply edit the file to delete the one?
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
Since they are both functional boot paths now, you'll have to manually edit the Boot.ini file to remove one of them. Follow the instructions in that link to microsoft.
My original problem was a corrupted hal.dll file and i followed the instructions pasted below. for step 9, I typed the info from number 3.
now every time i reboot, it gives me the choice of 'windows xp media center' or 'windows xp media center edition'. they both will boot up but i would like to eliminate one. that said, i don't think i have two copies of the OS but then again, i don't know much about it. it appears i have two paths to get to the same operating system.
thanks for your help.
Repair the Windows Boot Configuration
The error hal.dll is missing or corrupt can usually be resolved by repairing the Windows boot configuration. Click the button below that corresponds to your version of Windows to view the repair instructions.
Windows XP Repair the boot configuration using the Windows XP Recovery Console
Note: The Windows XP CD is required to perform the following steps.
Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD drive and restart the computer.
Press the when prompted Press any key to boot from CD.
At the Welcome to Setup screen press to start the Recovery Console.
If prompted, select the number corresponding to the Windows installation you want to log into (usually C:\WINDOWS) and press .
Enter the Administrator password, if any, and press .
At the C:\WINDOWS> prompt, type cd \ and press . There is one space between cd and \ (the backslash).
Type bootcfg /rebuild and press . There is one space between bootcfg and / (the slash) and no space between / and rebuild.
When prompted Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All), type y, and press .
When Enter Load Identifier appears, type one of the following that best describes your operating system and press :
Windows XP Home Edition for Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Professional for Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Media Center for Windows XP Media Center
When Enter OS Load Options appears, type /NoExecute=OptIn /fastdetect and press .
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 30th, 2008 16:00
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 30th, 2008 16:00
Start>run
Type in: msconfig
Click OK
Click BOOT.INI tab
Click "Check All Boot Paths" button
Accept the offer to remove the invalid boot path.
Ron
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 30th, 2008 16:00
You're welcome.
Did that fix it?
Ron
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 30th, 2008 16:00
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 00:00
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 16:00
Does it boot when you choose either of those 2 options at the boot screen?
Did you do a parallel install of Windows, so now you have 2 copies of Windows OS on the hard drive?
You will probably have to edit the boot.ini file manually to remove 1 of the 2 functional boot options.
Note: The only way you can fully remove 1 copy of Windows after a parallel install is by a clean reformat/reinstall (or using PC Restore if still available). You can manually delete the extra files, but that's risky and you could prevent the system from booting if you delete the wrong file(s).
Be sure to back up personal files on external media first, whichever way you proceed. ;)
Ron
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 17:00
Ron,
Also, if i look at the boot.ini file, i'll have two lines similiar to the one below (this is an example and not the actual line). the first will reference Windows XP Media Center and the other will be Windows XP Media Center Edition.
do i simply edit the file to delete the one?
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 17:00
Since they are both functional boot paths now, you'll have to manually edit the Boot.ini file to remove one of them. Follow the instructions in that link to microsoft.
Ron
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 17:00
jsimon818
7 Posts
0
October 31st, 2008 17:00
Ron,
My original problem was a corrupted hal.dll file and i followed the instructions pasted below. for step 9, I typed the info from number 3.
now every time i reboot, it gives me the choice of 'windows xp media center' or 'windows xp media center edition'. they both will boot up but i would like to eliminate one. that said, i don't think i have two copies of the OS but then again, i don't know much about it. it appears i have two paths to get to the same operating system.
thanks for your help.
Repair the Windows Boot ConfigurationThe error hal.dll is missing or corrupt can usually be resolved by repairing the Windows boot configuration. Click the button below that corresponds to your version of Windows to view the repair instructions.
Windows XP Repair the boot configuration using the Windows XP Recovery ConsoleThere is one space between cd and \ (the backslash).
There is one space between bootcfg and / (the slash) and no space between / and rebuild.