Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

[Guest thanatoid]

Well, I installed XP on my Win98SEL computer, played with it a

little, installed a few programs, made the interface etc. as

annoying as possible (it was actually quite easy to turn off all

the idiot prompts, although it seems that getting rid of "My

Documents" may be

impossible... but I'll worry about it later, maybe), and decided

it isn't /that/ horrible.

 

Basically, I have found out what I wanted to know about XP.

Someday I may find out what I need to know about Linux. For now

I have decided there is no point whatsoever in keeping XP as

long as my Win98SEL machine runs as well as it does - and does

everything I need it to do. When it dies and I have to build a

new computer, I will put XP or Linux on it. I'm not going to

worry about it now.

 

Which brings me to the current question.

 

I deleted XP, and the machine still gave me the "XP or Windows"

boot menu. Needless to say, unnecessary and annoying. So I

renamed boot.ini as well as bootsect.dos (fortunately I was not

reckless enough to just delete them). Well, you know what

happened. So I booted from a floppy and brought those two files

back.

 

The question:

 

How the hell do I get rid of that boot menu, the two files in

root of C:\ and (/if/ in fact XP messed around with the MBR)

restore the MBR to normal (i.e. non-XP) operating conditions?

 

I believe fdisk /mbr only works correctly (i.e. doesn't REALLY

screw things up) if you have 4 or less partitions. I have 16.

 

So I /reinstalled/ XP and changed the boot default to 98, but

something teels me that when I restore the Acronis image of 'C'

the machine will not boot. And I will need to do that soon, I've

been messing about way too much.

 

AFA my 95b with new AMD K-6 and 192 MB of RAM everything seems

fine. I still have the SiSoft Sandra fast memory write error but

everything runs well. I have the CPU at 66 x 6 (2), ie 413MHZ,

IIRC.

 

Thanks.

t.

 

 

--

[from a recent mental conversation]

 

thanatoid:

So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

needs it?

 

thanatoid:

My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

want to read my e-mail faster :-)

 

(to be continued)

[Guest Lil' Dave]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"thanatoid" <waiting@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message

news:Xns9B0E1ECF1B106thanexit@66.250.146.158...

> Well, I installed XP on my Win98SEL computer, played with it a

> little, installed a few programs, made the interface etc. as

> annoying as possible (it was actually quite easy to turn off all

> the idiot prompts, although it seems that getting rid of "My

> Documents" may be

> impossible... but I'll worry about it later, maybe), and decided

> it isn't /that/ horrible.

>

> Basically, I have found out what I wanted to know about XP.

> Someday I may find out what I need to know about Linux. For now

> I have decided there is no point whatsoever in keeping XP as

> long as my Win98SEL machine runs as well as it does - and does

> everything I need it to do. When it dies and I have to build a

> new computer, I will put XP or Linux on it. I'm not going to

> worry about it now.

>

> Which brings me to the current question.

>

> I deleted XP, and the machine still gave me the "XP or Windows"

> boot menu. Needless to say, unnecessary and annoying. So I

> renamed boot.ini as well as bootsect.dos (fortunately I was not

> reckless enough to just delete them). Well, you know what

> happened. So I booted from a floppy and brought those two files

> back.

>

> The question:

>

> How the hell do I get rid of that boot menu, the two files in

> root of C:\ and (/if/ in fact XP messed around with the MBR)

> restore the MBR to normal (i.e. non-XP) operating conditions?

>

> I believe fdisk /mbr only works correctly (i.e. doesn't REALLY

> screw things up) if you have 4 or less partitions. I have 16.

>

> So I /reinstalled/ XP and changed the boot default to 98, but

> something teels me that when I restore the Acronis image of 'C'

> the machine will not boot. And I will need to do that soon, I've

> been messing about way too much.

>

> AFA my 95b with new AMD K-6 and 192 MB of RAM everything seems

> fine. I still have the SiSoft Sandra fast memory write error but

> everything runs well. I have the CPU at 66 x 6 (2), ie 413MHZ,

> IIRC.

>

> Thanks.

> t.

>

>

> --

> [from a recent mental conversation]

>

> thanatoid:

> So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

> endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

> needs it?

>

> thanatoid:

> My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

> AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

> reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

> want to read my e-mail faster :-)

>

> (to be continued)

 

The MBR points at the only active and primary partition. Its, apparently,

correct.

 

The PBR is pointing at XPs boot files, instead of msdos boot files. My

guess is you already know how to fix that, along with a possible mod of

msdos.sys afterwards. Hint: sys.com

 

Once fixed, take another image snapshot with Acronis.

--

Dave

[Guest glee]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"thanatoid" <waiting@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message

news:Xns9B0E1ECF1B106thanexit@66.250.146.158...

> Well, I installed XP on my Win98SEL computer, played with it a

> little, installed a few programs, made the interface etc. as

> annoying as possible (it was actually quite easy to turn off all

> the idiot prompts, although it seems that getting rid of "My

> Documents" may be

> impossible... but I'll worry about it later, maybe), and decided

> it isn't /that/ horrible.

>

> Basically, I have found out what I wanted to know about XP.

> Someday I may find out what I need to know about Linux. For now

> I have decided there is no point whatsoever in keeping XP as

> long as my Win98SEL machine runs as well as it does - and does

> everything I need it to do. When it dies and I have to build a

> new computer, I will put XP or Linux on it. I'm not going to

> worry about it now.

>

> Which brings me to the current question.

>

> I deleted XP, and the machine still gave me the "XP or Windows"

> boot menu. Needless to say, unnecessary and annoying. So I

> renamed boot.ini as well as bootsect.dos (fortunately I was not

> reckless enough to just delete them). Well, you know what

> happened. So I booted from a floppy and brought those two files

> back.

>

> The question:

>

> How the hell do I get rid of that boot menu, the two files in

> root of C:\ and (/if/ in fact XP messed around with the MBR)

> restore the MBR to normal (i.e. non-XP) operating conditions?

>

> I believe fdisk /mbr only works correctly (i.e. doesn't REALLY

> screw things up) if you have 4 or less partitions. I have 16.

>

> So I /reinstalled/ XP and changed the boot default to 98, but

> something teels me that when I restore the Acronis image of 'C'

> the machine will not boot. And I will need to do that soon, I've

> been messing about way too much.

>

> AFA my 95b with new AMD K-6 and 192 MB of RAM everything seems

> fine. I still have the SiSoft Sandra fast memory write error but

> everything runs well. I have the CPU at 66 x 6 (2), ie 413MHZ,

> IIRC.

>

> Thanks.

> t.

 

#19. Remove a Dual Boot

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#019

 

Read the appropriate section depending on whether your XP was installed on FAT32 or

NTFS.

 

If it was FAT32, this will work (courtesy of MVP Michael Stevens) =>

 

<quote>

 

Remove Win XP & Keep Win9x/Me when Both use FAT/FAT32 file system:

 

Use the Win9x boot disk to boot up the computer. At the A: prompt, type SYS C: and

then press ENTER. The Sys command transfers control of the boot process to Win9x/Me.

You will see a System transferred message.

 

Reboot

 

You can now delete these (Hidden) boot files from the root folder: C:\Boot.ini,

Bootsect.dos, hiberfil.sys, ntbootdd.sys, Ntdetect.com, Ntldr, Pagefile.sys (if they

are present).

 

Finally, delete the Windows XP installation folder (typically <drive

letter>:\Windows), Documents and Settings and Program Files [if not shared with

Winx/Me] from the XP hard drive or partition.

 

</quote>

 

Also see:

How to manually remove Windows XP and then restore Windows 95, Windows 98, or

Windows Millennium Edition

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314052

 

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@virus.net> wrote in

news:#Umj3LaDJHA.3268@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl:

 

<SNIP>

> The MBR points at the only active and primary partition.

> Its, apparently, correct.

>

> The PBR is pointing at XPs boot files, instead of msdos

> boot files. My guess is you already know how to fix that,

 

You overestimate me. In fact it took me a few moments to figure

out what PBR stands for and I not even positive it /is/

Partition Boot Record.

> along with a possible mod of msdos.sys afterwards. Hint:

> sys.com

 

The hint helps. :-)

> Once fixed, take another image snapshot with Acronis.

 

The last image I have was before the XP experience, and I keep

all my data on other partitions. What I /do/ want to do is

restore that last image because at the same time that the

temporary XP insanity took hold, I also went a little crazy with

disk cataloguers and a few other things I can't even remember...

So I need to restore the last, nice and clean, image.

 

In the interest of advancing my "knowledge", I will try to

figure out your hints, but in case I don't (I'm not getting any

smarter, you know), Glen's advice is simpler and happens to

coincide with another I got in an XP group.

 

Thanks for your advice and regards,

t.

 

 

--

[from a recent mental conversation]

 

thanatoid:

So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

needs it?

 

thanatoid:

My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

want to read my e-mail faster :-)

 

(to be continued)

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in

news:uzsnzWfDJHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:

 

<SNIP>

> #19. Remove a Dual Boot

 

<SNIP>

> Also see:

> How to manually remove Windows XP and then restore Windows

> 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition

> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314052

 

Thanks very much, Glen. Yes, since my 16 partitions are all

FAT32 I installed XP with FAT32.

 

I appreciate the advice, and the links look very useful as well.

I must say it never occurred to me to look in the MS knowledge

base, but their search terms are (or at least used to be)

practically a secret code - I once found a page which

"translated" them all to standard English words, and saved it,

but I can't find it, so I have given up on trying to find

anything in the KB a long time ago. (For all I know the search

engine /does/ use normal English now.)

 

But I am always pleasantly surprised that the KB links provided

by others are usually very useful and helpful. To be quite

honest, I think I really should try to end this anti-MS stance

that I /sort of/ have (it could be MUCH worse as I'm sure you

will agree). I actually find Apple's overall attitude (stunning

arrogance would be a better description) and some aspects of

their philosophy far more objectionable. (They sure have cute

designs, though.)

 

Best regards,

t.

 

 

--

[from a recent mental conversation]

 

thanatoid:

So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

needs it?

 

thanatoid:

My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

want to read my e-mail faster :-)

 

(to be continued)

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

fredbinier@gospamyourself.com wrote in

news:k7eub4ha4l7tle79c32moilsio91bptaoi@4ax.com:

> On 03 Sep 2008 19:48:30 GMT, thanatoid

> <waiting@the.exit.invalid> wrote:

>

>>You overestimate me. In fact it took me a few moments to

>>figure out what PBR stands for and I not even positive it

>>/is/ Partition Boot Record.

>

> No it aint, it's Pabst Blue Ribbon.

 

You're closer than I am :-)

 

First 10 entries from Wiki:

 

Pause Break Riot, a popular rave pop band from Swindon.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, a brand of beer

Patrol boat river, a type of river patrol boat used by the US

Navy during the Vietnam War

Partition Boot Record, same as Volume Boot Record

Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor

Performance-Based Rate [1]

Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, located at OMM (outer

mitochondrial membrane), interacts with StAR (steroidogenic

acute regulatory protein) to transport cholesterol into

mitochondria

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), a Brazilian oil company

Photobioreactor

Plant breeders' rights, a patented cultivar

 

I hope you forgive Wiki for calling Pabst just a "brand of

beer". I understand for some, it's more of a religion.

 

FWIW, the 1st Google hit is:

Professional Bull Riders - whatever THAT is.

 

 

--

[from a recent mental conversation]

 

thanatoid:

So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

needs it?

 

thanatoid:

My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

want to read my e-mail faster :-)

 

(to be continued)

[Guest fredbinier@gospamyourself.com]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

On 03 Sep 2008 19:48:30 GMT, thanatoid <waiting@the.exit.invalid>

wrote:

>You overestimate me. In fact it took me a few moments to figure

>out what PBR stands for and I not even positive it /is/

>Partition Boot Record.

 

No it aint, it's Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[Guest glee]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"thanatoid" <waiting@the.exit.invalid> wrote in message

news:Xns9B0EC276EAB92thanexit@66.250.146.158...

> "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in

> news:uzsnzWfDJHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:

>

> <SNIP>

>

>> #19. Remove a Dual Boot

>

> <SNIP>

>

>> Also see:

>> How to manually remove Windows XP and then restore Windows

>> 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition

>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314052

>

> Thanks very much, Glen. Yes, since my 16 partitions are all

> FAT32 I installed XP with FAT32.

>

> I appreciate the advice, and the links look very useful as well.

> I must say it never occurred to me to look in the MS knowledge

> base, but their search terms are (or at least used to be)

> practically a secret code - I once found a page which

> "translated" them all to standard English words, and saved it,

> but I can't find it, so I have given up on trying to find

> anything in the KB a long time ago. (For all I know the search

> engine /does/ use normal English now.)

>

> But I am always pleasantly surprised that the KB links provided

> by others are usually very useful and helpful. To be quite

> honest, I think I really should try to end this anti-MS stance

> that I /sort of/ have (it could be MUCH worse as I'm sure you

> will agree). I actually find Apple's overall attitude (stunning

> arrogance would be a better description) and some aspects of

> their philosophy far more objectionable. (They sure have cute

> designs, though.)

 

I couldn't tell you because I gave up on the MS KB search engine a long time ago. I

either search error message with Google and some KB articles usually appear; or I

use Google to search the MS site specifically, using this format:

<search terms or error message> site:http://www.microsoft.com

or

<search terms or error message> site:support.microsoft.com

 

Here are some of their search keywords, if you are interested in trying them in

their search engine (I find Google much quicker):

 

How to query the Microsoft Knowledge Base by using keywords and query words

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242450

 

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

[Guest Dan]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 9

 

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 9

 

LOL, Apple's Pride will go before its great Fall and who will succeed Apple

after Steve Jobs or will Apple just kind of and sort of fade away . . . . .

My current favorite operating systems are in this order:

 

1. Windows 98 Second Edition

2. Ubuntu Linux (only tried version 7.x)

3. Windows XP and/or Vista -- I am not sure which

4. Apple Mac (Long Note: nice colors --- lack of Ati Video in mobile Apple's

and I don't like Nvidia because although they might be the best graphics

their customer service is not as great, imo and a Nvidia G-Force card broke

my PC machine when upgrading from a 3dfx graphics card and the ATI graphics

card had no issue so I have been an ATI Graphics card fan ever since but I

custom build so I prefer an Intel CPU to an AMD CPU because I find them

superior and Intel has been courteous and helpful when I needed help

5. Other --BASIC and DOS and etc.-- . . . :->

 

"thanatoid" wrote:

> "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in

> news:uzsnzWfDJHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl:

>

> <SNIP>

>

> > #19. Remove a Dual Boot

>

> <SNIP>

>

> > Also see:

> > How to manually remove Windows XP and then restore Windows

> > 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition

> > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314052

>

> Thanks very much, Glen. Yes, since my 16 partitions are all

> FAT32 I installed XP with FAT32.

>

> I appreciate the advice, and the links look very useful as well.

> I must say it never occurred to me to look in the MS knowledge

> base, but their search terms are (or at least used to be)

> practically a secret code - I once found a page which

> "translated" them all to standard English words, and saved it,

> but I can't find it, so I have given up on trying to find

> anything in the KB a long time ago. (For all I know the search

> engine /does/ use normal English now.)

>

> But I am always pleasantly surprised that the KB links provided

> by others are usually very useful and helpful. To be quite

> honest, I think I really should try to end this anti-MS stance

> that I /sort of/ have (it could be MUCH worse as I'm sure you

> will agree). I actually find Apple's overall attitude (stunning

> arrogance would be a better description) and some aspects of

> their philosophy far more objectionable. (They sure have cute

> designs, though.)

>

> Best regards,

> t.

>

>

> --

> [from a recent mental conversation]

>

> thanatoid:

> So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

> endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

> needs it?

>

> thanatoid:

> My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

> AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

> reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

> want to read my e-mail faster :-)

>

> (to be continued)

>

[Guest thanatoid]

Re: Booting problems after deleting XP from the E partition of a 98SE machine

 

"glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in

news:uD4ndFkDJHA.3392@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl:

> I couldn't tell you because I gave up on the MS KB search

> engine a long time ago. I either search error message with

> Google and some KB articles usually appear; or I use Google

> to search the MS site specifically, using this format:

> <search terms or error message> site:http://www.microsoft.com or

> <search terms or error message> site:support.microsoft.com

>

> Here are some of their search keywords, if you are

> interested in trying them in their search engine (I find

> Google much quicker):

>

> How to query the Microsoft Knowledge Base by using keywords

> and query words http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242450

 

Thanks for that link. It does appear the more cryptic terms have

been changed to fairly normal ones, but I would agree with you,

Googling will usually give you the same, quicker.

 

Regards,

t.

 

 

 

--

[from a recent mental conversation]

 

thanatoid:

So why did you decide you wanted broadband after all your

endless babbling about how no one except DVD pirates really

needs it?

 

thanatoid:

My ISP is offering it for less than I am paying for dial-up now

AND the offer includes some other very attractive rate

reductions in the basic phone service charges. And I decided I

want to read my e-mail faster :-)

 

(to be continued)