Hi Gordon,

The easiest way is to find the file C:\boot.ini and edit it to remove the
unwanted line. Don't modify the line you want to keep!

You may need to change the attributes of the file from read only and hidden
to be able to edit it. In fact, you may need to change the windows explorer
view options to show hidden and system files to be able to see it.

You may also have leftover folders you can delete (like C:\windows)
afterwards.

Russ Poffenberger
[log in to unmask] 

-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gordon Totty
Sent: Friday, December 10, 2004 8:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] Phantom OS


I just set up a computer for my daughter after the system board in her old
one stopped working.  I transferred her old HDD over to save her files.  It
was running Windows Me.  Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that you
cannot do this and expect that OS to successfully boot in the new
environment.  I had a lot of error messages, etc., so finally decided to
upgrade the computer to Windows 2000.  That worked fine, but for one
remaining minor annoyance.

Now, on boot, there is a start-up message asking for a selection of which OS
to load: Windows 2000 or "Microsoft Windows."  If no answer is given in 30
seconds, the computer boots to Windows 2000, the only OS installed.

I've been trying to find out how to eliminate this screen as it is a
needless delay in the initial boot.  I have finally deduced that it is
caused by the former existence of Windows Me on that computer, that perhaps
the Windows 2000 upgrade left too many old files on the HDD (or perhaps
items in the Registry).  I've examined the C: drive and note that there seem
to be two Windows folders, one with that name and the other with "NT" in its
title.  On looking at the contents, I note a lot of overlap -- but far from
100%.

Can anyone guide me as to what to eliminate so as to kill the OS choice on
boot?  I hesitate to "experiment" until I get it right lest I harm something
that is really needed.  Also, it would be a tedious and long exercise that
might not work if a combination of factors are at play.

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