Removing half a Vista Install - Odd situation, please help.

CrimsonMech

CrimsonMech

Geek Trainee
Hey guys, Im in a bit of an odd situation.

I am runnin a Sony Vaio - nothing flashy - 1gb ram, 70gb hdd, 1.something ghz processor... And i was a part of the microsoft beta testing of vista (RC1 was the version i got). As such i tried to install it on this laptop but half way along the install process - at the first re-start, the DVD drive on this laptop broke down, no longer reading discs, so now when i start the laptop up - every time it expects to continue the vista instlation, and presents me with the option to boot previous os (XP PRO SP2) or conduct a memory test, which i have done and had no errors reported in my results.

I was wondering if anyone knew how to remove the files that vista put (somewhere) oh my hard drive, and re-configure my computer so that it no longer expects to install vista, and just boots into xp...

Ive had a look for the files that were coppied onto the hard drive but i cant find them - and if i did im not sure just deleting them would be my best course of action...

any help would be fantastic!

I think i may need to alter the boot.ini file - but as it boots to a vista screen (asking me if i want to boot previous OS - xp) i think that the boot file i can edit in windows may only ever be accessed AFTER the vista instlation menus/proceedures have been executed... but i dont know this for sure.

Any help would be fantastic!

Thank you!
 
i have an xp cd somewhere - but like i said - no optical drive really. and there are LOTS of important things on this computer. I can still run XP when i select to boot previous operating system, id just like to remove the vista stuff really! Any non-formatting options would be perfered.
 
Hey, thanks for helping - but im not quite clear on what "then reboot ur nb wif that device and then fix mbr.." means... could you clarify... also clarify how to boot from a usb divice... - i have usb memory keys... but i am not sure how i would hope to boot from one... thanks again.
 
Reboot(Restart) your Notebook....
Wif = with(sorry i used the sms language)
TO change the boot proprity you need to go to your BIOS..either by pressing Del key or F2, it could be different one and you can see that on the first screen when ur computer starts.
And about fixmbr, you might find microsoft better expaining about it Microsoft Corporation
 
If you can boot into XP, then just insert the vista dvd. Open the folder BOOT inside the dvd, and copy all files to your \windows\system32 folder of XP. Now go to command prompt and enter the command bootsect.exe -nt52 ALL. Then reboot. Now you can format the Vista partition.
 
Just install partition magic on XP drive ,then remove vista from that drive and resize the main drive. (very easy) works great.. I do it all the time.
 
remmber.. vista uses a new Boot loader called BCD(Boot Configuration Data)... unlike XP its not easy to configure..and i guess u have Vista's boot loader installed on ur MBR.. no worried... there is a tool called "Easy bcd" which makes u to edit ur BCD configuration file very easily..there is an option in bcd editor to restore ur old windows xp's mbr...u can replace ur windows xp's old MBR only if u have not deleted ur NTLDR file..
regarding ur unnecessary windows vista files on ur drive... delete all d files starting wit $ sign which wud b hidden probably...

link for downloading easy BCD
PC World - PC World Downloads - Easy BCD
 
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