Question:
I had Windows 2000 on my computer. Because I began having problems with Windows, I loaded Windows XP. Now, when I start up my computer it asks me every time which I want to use, 2000 or XP. How can I remove Windows 2000 and continue to use XP?
Answer:
It sounds like you installed a second operating system on your computer instead of upgrading your previous installation. That is fine. I use this technique when I am testing a new operating system or simply want to keep the old installation for backup purposes. After a while, though, the menu becomes annoying, especially when you exceed the need for the dual booting.
I am going to show you how you can eliminate this menu so your system boots faster into the desired operating system. I am not going to talk about how you can remove the previous installation, however, since it is a much longer process and perhaps of less interest to most readers of this publication.
Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
- Click on Start (or skip to step 2)
- Right click on MyComputer
- Click on Properties
- Click on the “Advanced” tab
- In the “Startup and Recovery” section, click on “Settings”
Once you are in the Startup and Recovery screen you can take a couple of different steps to achieve your goal. You can select “Windows XP” as your default operating system and lower the time to display the menu to 0 seconds. This option allows you to still have the boot menu but it will timeout immediately. That way, if you need to reactivate the menu you can come back to this screen and increase the time.
If you feel brave enough, you can edit the “boot” file directly by clicking on the “Edit” button. Study the file contents carefully. You can get rid of a boot option by simply deleting the line. But, I would advise you to do more research on this one before you do it.