Trying something, Looked around, Can't find anything

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Nariab

Member
I got EasyBCD when I got a new laptop recently and wanted to do a dualboot Vista with XP, XP I am currently running now. I now want to get rid of Vista, I don't need it anymore, but I can't seem to be able to format the C: drive with the vista and the boot files on it. What steps can I take to get this working for me? It's 47gb gone to nothing, and I'd really like to get rid of it.

Thanks,
Travis

Please HELP! It says my C: Drive is in use when I KNOW It's not. What should I do?!?!?
 
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Copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini over from your Vista partition and set XP's partition as active. Reboot and you should be able to delete Vista's partition.
 
How do I set XP's partition as active?

Addendum:

or, should i use the logical or extended one

well, i used the extended one, which apparently was the wrong choice. now it wont boot at all. does anyone know how to fix this? i could reformat completely, but i'd prefer not to.

Thanks,
Travis
 
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Hi Travis, welcome to NST.
The "active" flag is the signpost which says "go here to find the boot files"
You should never alter it, unless you've previously moved the boot files and you're reflecting that change.
You've just lied to the Initial Program Loader about where to go next, so it's shot down a blind alley and come up against a dead-end.
If you have a bootable partition manager somewhere in your cupboard, dig it out now. If you don't, you can get a free one here.
Set the "active" flag back where it was, and tell us what you want to do that made you change it in the first place.
 
Thanks Terry, I'm downloading that as we speak. I orginally did a dual boot with Vista because I was getting a windows 7 upgrade disc and I wanted to try it out. I decided later that I'm happy with XP, and my dad needs a 7 disc so I'm going to give it to him. I was trying to get rid of the vista partition and reformat it, and then use partition magic to move the space to my XP drive. It's broken right now, but hopefully I will be able to fix it using the software you've given me. We'll see, I'll post back in a little while.
 
When you've put the active flag back where it was before, and the system is booting, attach a screenshot of your disk management (using the paperclip icon from "go advanced" under the quick reply box)

(sorry, I hadn't noticed your 1st post when I answered before, otherwise I would have known what you were attempting)
 
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no worries :smile: i'm downloading the iso, but do you know if there is a way to run makeboot.bat from the windows recovery console?
 
I already got imgBurn, thanks :grinning: ... I'm not new to computers, just new to messing around with booting and stuff, I'm REALLY glad you're here to help. Burning the disc right now :smile:
 
You can use EasyBCD 2.0's Manage Bootloader | Change Boot Drive feature to change your "system" partition, and it'll do all the hard work (copying over boot files, etc.) for you automatically.
 
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ok, i'm using the disc you gave me, what should I do to make this sucker work now? Change the flags or what?

Addendum:

Coolname007 said:
You can use EasyBCD 2.0's Manage Bootloader | Change Boot Drive feature to change your "system" partition, and it'll do all the hard work (copying over boot files, etc.) for you automatically.
Click to expand...

I tried this first, It didn't work :smile:
 
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Coolname007 said:
What did you do wrong? :smile:
If you pointed EasyBCD at the partition you were trying to change boot priority to (namely, XP's), it should have accomplished it without a hitch.
Click to expand...

haha, i figured it out, i wasn't using 2.0 ... so i majorly screwed it up. it's ok though, i think i'm getting somewhere :openmouth: ... hopefully
 
Put the active flag back where it was before you moved it and you should be able to boot again, and post a DM screenshot of where you are right now.
(Jake - I don't think the "move boot" feature works on XP, just BCD based OSs)
 
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Terry60 said:
Put the active flag back where it was before you moved it and you should be able to boot again, and post a DM screenshot of where you are right now.
Click to expand...

uh oh, i can't put it back to my vista drive because i deleted it :frowning: what should i do? do you think the windows automated system recovery will help me?
 
You talked earlier of extended and logical.
Are you saying that XP is not in a primary partition ?
Only primaries can be "active".
A logical drive can hold an OS, but it can't be booted from there, only from an active partition.
 
Terry60 said:
(Jake - I don't think the "move boot" feature works on XP, just BCD based OSs)
Click to expand...
You're probably right. I wouldn't know, since I've never tested it before (never had a need to, yet)...:grinning:
Ok, so its Manage Bootloader | Uninstall the Vista bootloader then. That'll do it. But you'll need to have your XP partition set to "active" first (assuming its primary), and your XP boot files there.

Addendum:

Nariab said:
uh oh, i can't put it back to my vista drive because i deleted it :frowning: what should i do? do you think the windows automated system recovery will help me?
Click to expand...
Assuming you have any other primary partition on that HDD, you can set it to "active", boot from the XP CD, and run the commands "fixboot" and "fixmbr" to get it to work. Of course you'll need to put the XP boot files there first.
 
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Hmm... I might just do another XP install on the empty space now, maybe that will be the easiest way to fix this problem... I'd run 2.0 but I can't boot to windows. What do you guys think? (i'm running chkdsk c: /r right now, that's what the bootable partition manager told me to do)

Addendum:

Coolname007 said:
Assuming you have any other primary partition on that HDD, you can set it to "active", boot from the XP CD, and run the commands "fixboot" and "fixmbr" to get it to work. Of course you'll need to put the XP boot files there first.
Click to expand...

I did this before I started messing around with it, hopefully it's still there. I'll try setting it to active and we'll see what happens.
 
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Yeah, another XP install will get you in a better situation, because then its only a matter of editing the boot.ini of your working install, to add another entry for your other one. That way you'll then have 2 XPs...

Addendum:

Nariab said:
I did this before I started messing around with it, hopefully it's still there. I'll try setting it to active and we'll see what happens.
Click to expand...
Note: You'll still need your boot.ini to reflect the new location XP is at. You'll need to edit the rdisk() and partition() values of both lines. Otherwise, XP can't boot.
 
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If you have an XP installation CD, you should be able to do a "repair install" of your broken XP, and it will sort everything out without losing your apps and data (like an upgrade from XP to XP) (if it's primary)
 
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