BleepingComputer.com: Windows Upgrade Failed

So I have this problem of having an extra option in the OS selection screen on boot. It's labeled as Windows XP Professional Setup.
This occurred after i tried upgrading my OS with another xp cd. The setup failed after reboot saying something was missing (I cant remember the name though).I can still boot using the original OS but the problem is when I boot, The default choice would be the setup and it's kind of a hassle to select windows xp every time i bootup my pc.
In case the pc was left unattended it will try to run the setup but will fail anyway and then would ask for a restart and well the cycle goes on and on.
I dont need to upgrade anymore and all i want to do is remove that option so when I boot the pc up i could go and get something to drink then come back
I'd appreciate any help you could offer.

I think that you can remove that boot option by following the procedures at Removing the invalid entries from Boot.ini - http://windowsxp.mvps.org/bootopt.htm.

Let us know if that does the trick .

Louis

unfortunately, it doesnt detect the other operating system as invalid.

This is what's shown in the BOOT.INI tab on MSCONFIG:

[Boot Loader]
Timeout = 5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Setup"

I dont see a delete option. But there is a "Set as Default" option
So I guess I should select line 5 and set it as default or is there another way to remove the last entry?

Not a problem .

All you have to do is delete that last line reflected on the boot.ini file, we can do that by going directly to the boot.ini file via Explorer view.

Find the boot.ini file in C:, right-click on it, select Open.

Select the entire last line of the boot.ini file...hit the Delete key...click File/Save...close the window.

You can check it by taking a look at the boot.ini now reflected among the msconfig tabs.

Louis

Finally Removed

Thanks for the help!

Nice work by you...happy computing .

Louis

Ah wait, i was too hasty to conclude.

It's true that it's not in the BOOT.INI but upon rebooting, it seems like it's been replaced by "windows (default)" but when i rechecked, there was nothing extra in the BOOT.INI .

Post a screenshot of your current boot.ini file, please.

Louis

As long as you only expect to have 1 operating system, you should only see 1 entry in your boot.ini file that looks like:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

If you see more than 1 and it is obviously wrong, delete it. If you're not sure you can comment it out using rem or ::

Also, check your root of C (including hidden files) make sure there isn't more than 1 boot.ini.
If all else fails, scan for viruses. There could be more going on. HTH!

There is only 1 boot.ini file, the only other boot file i see is boot.bak
Scanned for viruses, none found.
SS attached

It says something like "Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT"
but i deleted C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Setup" in BOOT.INI
and C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT (the folder itself) respectively.

maybe i should change it to "Default=multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS" or something?

This post has been edited by vayne24: 08 April 2010 - 08:41 AM

System manufacturer and model?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022, see the first sample boot.ini file. This is for a system which does not have any recovery/restore partitions and where the user has installed XP.

I suspect that the boot.ini file may be slightly different on any "name brand" systems where the manufacturer has implemented restore/recovery partitions...I can't say for sure because I don't have any such systems. This includes systems sold as Media Center systems.

Louis

The default needs to be set to load the partition you want to load at start up. your boot.ini should be.

[Boot Loader]
Timeout = 5
Default=multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect


That will solve your problem.

Set default to "multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS" only worked fine. Thanks for the help!

No problem!!!