I have two hard drives. The one is older and had xp on it. when I got my new one I wanted to try vista but kept the xp. Now I want to try linux or OSx86, but need to safely get rid of the xp copy. My plan was to use the vista cd to format then run the vist cd again to repair. That should reset the boot.ini to single boot instead of dual. Will this leave me with an NTLD error? I do not have a second pc online to search for solutions after I format so could someone double check my method to see if it will work?
I was told to try this:
I am not sure if this will work:
1. Turn off your computer if it's on and disconnect the SATA cable from the HDD that has XP on it.
2. When turning on the computer, go into the BIOS and make sure that the HDD that has Vista on it is on SATA 0 slot. If it's not, turn off computer, swap SATA cables, and turn it on.
3. Set the boot order in BIOS setup to DVD drive then HDD on SATA 0.
4. Insert Vista DVD and boot your computer to DVD.
5. Choose "Startup Repair".
6. You should be able to boot to Vista on HDD.
7. If you can boot to Vista on HDD, shut down your computer, connect the SATA cable to the HDD that has XP on it, and turn on your computer.
8. The HDD that has XP on it should be "Drive D:". If it is, you can format that HDD and install other OS.
I ran the vista repair and it still said you need to insert cd or other boot devise. Press any key to continue
I was told to try this:
I am not sure if this will work:
1. Turn off your computer if it's on and disconnect the SATA cable from the HDD that has XP on it.
2. When turning on the computer, go into the BIOS and make sure that the HDD that has Vista on it is on SATA 0 slot. If it's not, turn off computer, swap SATA cables, and turn it on.
3. Set the boot order in BIOS setup to DVD drive then HDD on SATA 0.
4. Insert Vista DVD and boot your computer to DVD.
5. Choose "Startup Repair".
6. You should be able to boot to Vista on HDD.
7. If you can boot to Vista on HDD, shut down your computer, connect the SATA cable to the HDD that has XP on it, and turn on your computer.
8. The HDD that has XP on it should be "Drive D:". If it is, you can format that HDD and install other OS.
I ran the vista repair and it still said you need to insert cd or other boot devise. Press any key to continue