# Windows 2000 question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590 "2004-01-22T06:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590/1 "2004-01-22T06:11:25Z")
OK. I did some upgrading on my PC, and I think I made a mistake. I put my existing hard drive into a new machine. When I tried booting it up, I got errors, saying that it wasn’t bootable. I put in my Windows 2000 CD, and booted from the CD. Repairing didn’t seem to help, so I tried installing Windows fresh, without removing the old version. That worked, and I can boot fine now. Now, I have two different (though identical) versions of Windows on my machine. It wouldn’t let me uninstall the old one. I deleted the entire WINNT directory, and it still gives me the option to boot with either one at startup. How can I convince my machine that there’s only one copy of Windows? ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590/2 "2004-01-22T06:31:48Z")
There’s a read-only file in your root directory (usually c:\ ) called boot.ini - Windows uses it to display the boot menu. Delete the line for the non-existent Windows installation. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590/3 "2004-01-22T06:40:56Z")
I’d bet that you see two options because both are in your boot.ini file (it’s a hidden, system file on the C: drive). Here is a [MS KB article](http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=289022) detailing what it looks like and how to modify it. The article specifies XP, but it’s the same for W2K. Taking a guess, I’d say that the errors you saw saying it wasn’t bootable was a BSOD that said “INACCESSIBLE\_BOOT\_DEVICE”. Although you’ve fixed that problem, FWIW, that message can sometimes be remedied by allowing the system to boot from the CD and going through the [following procedure](http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win2000/r1062541577). > [@JSexton](#): > > OK. I did some upgrading on my PC, and I think I made a mistake. I put my existing hard drive into a new machine. When I tried booting it up, I got errors, saying that it wasn’t bootable. I put in my Windows 2000 CD, and booted from the CD. Repairing didn’t seem to help, so I tried installing Windows fresh, without removing the old version. That worked, and I can boot fine now. > > Now, I have two different (though identical) versions of Windows on my machine. It wouldn’t let me uninstall the old one. I deleted the entire WINNT directory, and it still gives me the option to boot with either one at startup. How can I convince my machine that there’s only one copy of Windows? ---
**Author:** ![Maryellen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@Maryellen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maryellen)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590/4 "2004-01-22T06:55:38Z")
Are you running two instances of “Explorer.exe”? Because I am, on XP (I have no idea how or why this happened). The thing is, I can’t tell which one is the “real” one, so I can’t follow instructiions on how to eliminate it. If you’re runnning two "Explorer.exe"s, maybe we can figure this out together. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-2000-question/225590/5 "2004-01-22T19:25:28Z")
> [@silk1976](#): > > I’d bet that you see two options because both are in your boot.ini file (it’s a hidden, system file on the C: drive). Here is a [MS KB article](http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=289022) detailing what it looks like and how to modify it. The article specifies XP, but it’s the same for W2K. > > Taking a guess, I’d say that the errors you saw saying it wasn’t bootable was a BSOD that said “INACCESSIBLE\_BOOT\_DEVICE”. Although you’ve fixed that problem, FWIW, that message can sometimes be remedied by allowing the system to boot from the CD and going through the [following procedure](http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win2000/r1062541577). Excellent. Thanks. I did try the repair option, but I can’t remember the administator password for the life of me. (Yes, I wrote down the new one.)