Removing Win10 from a dual-boot with WinXP

F

Fabrice_C

Member
Hi !

I have a PC with two HDD : first one has WinXP installed, second one has Win10 installed ; Win10 was installed while WinXP was already there, making a dual-boot.
At startup, I have a "Win10 / Older Windows" boot menu : if I choose Win10, it starts almost instantly ; if I choose Older Windows, my computer restarts, then WinXP starts.

I would like to change that into a "HDD selection" boot menu, which is possible with my motherboard : I would like to choose the HDD I want to boot, thus starting immediately WinXP or Win10 depending on my choice.

I downloaded EasyBCD 2.4 for that purpose, but the amount of options frightens me a little... :sunglasses:
Could someone help me with this ?
 
Read this to find out why W10 goes through an apparent double boot when you opt for an alternative, and how to stop it.
After fixing that, you don't need to do anything but you can use EasyBCD to change the "older..." description to XP (or whatever else you want)
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Thank you for your answer.
However, I still want to change the boot to "HDD level" instead of "Win10 level" ; could I get some advice on how to do so ?
 
One of your PFKs, if tapped repeatedly as you power up, will take you to the Boot Device Override Menu, where you can choose a temporary change in the boot device sequence. Normally PF8 or 12 iirc (haven't used it for years), but I think it may be OEM specific.
Try them till you find it.
 
Terry60 said:
One of your PFKs, if tapped repeatedly as you power up, will take you to the Boot Device Override Menu, where you can choose a temporary change in the boot device sequence. Normally PF8 or 12 iirc (haven't used it for years), but I think it may be OEM specific.
Try them till you find it.
Click to expand...
Hi !
I already found it : pressing F8 at boot start brings up a selection menu.
But my point is, I would like each of my HDD to be independent ; it is not like that right now, as Win10 has installed his own boot manager on WinXP drive.
I would like to be able to boot on any of my HDD as it it were alone ; in other words, I would like to be able to remove any of my HDD, and have the remaining HDD / Win boot correctly.
 
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Changing the Boot Partition

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Will copy the boot files back from XP to the W10 partition and enable booting of W10 without the other HDD being involved.
(It's non-destructive, so all the original files will still be on the XP drive. Note that the BIOS will still route you via XP until you change it to start directly in W10))
 
Terry60 said:
neosmart.net

Changing the Boot Partition

One feature that our users requested quite often for a few years was the ability to easily change the boot partition with EasyBCD. EasyBCD 2.0+ offers the ability to change the Windows boot drive w…
neosmart.net
Will copy the boot files back from XP to the W10 partition and enable booting of W10 without the other HDD being involved.
(It's non-destructive, so all the original files will still be on the XP drive. Note that the BIOS will still route you via XP until you change it to start directly in W10))
Click to expand...
Hi !
Thanks again for your answers.
I understand this will enable me to remove WinXP HDD, and still be able to boot Win10 from its own HDD.
Now, what if I remove Win10 HDD ? Will I be able to boot WinXP through "old" Win10 boot manager ?
Then, is it possible to have the "original" WinXP boot manager back ?
 
The original XP boot files should all be in place exactly as they were when it was installed, but the MBR will have been overwritten on that HDD to look for the later boot type.
You can reset it on that HDD using the "Install ..XP.." option
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Terry60 said:
neosmart.net

Changing the Boot Partition

One feature that our users requested quite often for a few years was the ability to easily change the boot partition with EasyBCD. EasyBCD 2.0+ offers the ability to change the Windows boot drive w…
neosmart.net
Will copy the boot files back from XP to the W10 partition and enable booting of W10 without the other HDD being involved.
(It's non-destructive, so all the original files will still be on the XP drive. Note that the BIOS will still route you via XP until you change it to start directly in W10))
Click to expand...
Hi !
Just did this first step, and it did not work :
- EasyBCD reports that Boot Device is now C: (which is my Win10 HDD), instead of previous D: (WinXP HDD)
- after changing boot order in BIOS, when starting on Win10 HDD, boot fails with the message "Disk read error - Press Ctrl+Alt+Del"
- after reverting to original boot order in BIOS, when rebooting on WinXP HDD, boot is as usual (so it was as you said "non destructive", hopefully !)
 
Afterthought.
This isn't a UEFI PC is it ?
Can you post a screenshot of your Disk Management.
 
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