Removing Windows Vista from a dual-boot configuration
If you want to remove Windows Vista from a dual-boot environment that includes an earlier version of Windows, follow these steps.
Note You can follow these steps in the earlier version of Windows or in Windows Vista. If you follow these steps in Windows Vista, run the commands from a command-prompt that has elevated user rights. To do this, click Start, click Accessories, right-click the command-prompt shortcut, and then click Run as Administrator.
1.Use Bootsect.exe to restore the Ntldr.exe program. To do this, type the following command: Drive:\Boot\ Bootsect.exe –NT52 All
Note In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista media is located.
After the computer restarts, it does not load the Windows Boot Manager program. Instead, Netldr.exe loads and Boot.ini loads.
2.Delete or remove the partition where Windows Vista is installed.
Important You can only delete the partition where Windows Vista is installed if that partition is the non-active partition on the system. For example, consider the following scenario:
•Windows Vista is installed on drive C. Drive C is partition 1 and is the active partition.
•Windows XP is installed on the drive D. Drive D is partition 2 and is the non-active partition.
In this scenario, you can run the bootsect command, but you cannot delete the partition where Windows Vista is installed. If you delete this partition, the computer is put into a non-bootable state because Windows XP boot files are deleted.