Windows XP Pro - ARGH!!

[Isolate]

Ok...I got many problems and I'm praying my fellow TechIMO'ers can bail me out again. My current dilema is this: I tried to do a complete format and reinstall a fresh copy of Windows XP Professional but being the moron that I am, I messed it up. Now both my partitions on my HD are converted into NTSF (NTFS?) and I can't use a boot disk to boot into DOS.

1) I would like to completely reformat the ENTIRE HD (Both C: and partition D.

2) Get rid of the screen that shows the dual boot selecting an operating system at start up (which by the way says Windows XP Professional AND Windows XP Professional).

3) Get my rig working as it once did!

My Specs:

AMD Athlon XP 2500 Barton
Asus A7V33 Motherboard
Samsung PC2700 Ram 1024 Megs.
ATI Radeon Pro 9800

Please Help!

[elroy]

Try booting with a 98 or ME boot disk and Fdisk selecting "remove non-dos partition". Then leave it without any partitions and install XP. I think. Hopefully you don't have any valuable info on the drive you need to save. If so try another approach.

[Atomic Rooster]

HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP

You will need to boot to the Win XP CD.

"If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. Press ESC (do not repair).

All existing partitions and unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the arrow keys to select the partition or unpartitioned space where you want to create a new partition, and then press D to delete an existing partition or press C to create a new partition using unpartitioned space. If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this process for each of the existing partitions that you want to use for the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, you can then select the resulting unpartitioned space and then press C to create the new partition.

If you want to install Windows XP, use the arrow keys to select the partition you want to install Windows XP on, and then press ENTER. If you do not want to format the partition and install Windows XP, press F3 two times to quit Setup, and then do not continue with the following steps. In this case, you must use another utility to format the partition.
Select the format option that you want to use for the partition, and then press ENTER. The options are:
Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
Format the partition by using the FAT file system
Leave the current file system intact (no changes)"

[DallasDon]

Here's some cut and paste, I have yet to try this, so
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Go to your Desktop ..
Right click My Computer select Properties, choose the Advanced Tab then click Settings under Startup and Recovery. A new window will popup, click Edit under System Startup .. the Boot.ini will open now ...

Delete the whole line that contains "window xxx setup" (or something like that)
It should look like this:

quote:[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW
s
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microso ft Windows 2000 Professional Setup" /fastdetect


Delete the line multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microso ft Windows 2000 Professional Setup" /fastdetect, then close and save when prompted.

Now will have no menu to choose from on the startup process ...