Hello,
I am seeking guidance on how to completely remove the Windows 7 boot options from my multi-OS/multi-disk system.
System has 4 drives:
- IDE 1: data only
- IDE 2: data and it had some linux partitions that will be removed
- SATA 1: multi-partition that has XP among other things
- SATA 2: disk only has the Win 7 install
System BIOS boots to SATA 1 where I first get the Win 7 bootloader options that has an option to boot to earlier versions of Windows (XP's boot loader).
Win7 boot loader:
Apology for the poor photo quality...highlighted reads "Earlier Version of Windows"
XP Boot loader:
My goal is to remove the Win 7 boot options and then scavenge the SATA 2 disk for other purposes yet keep the XP install fully functional.
When I boot to XP (Win 7 Boot loader > Earlier Versions of Window > XP boot loader > choose XP) this is what XP's Disk Management shows:
Where XP resides as Disk 2 and Win 7 as Disk 3.
I beleive the boot loader code resides on the Disk 2 C: partition becasue if I unplug the Win 7 disk (SATA 2 or Disk 3 above) both boot loaders still show up...I just can't boot to Win 7 as it is not present when unplugged.
I have read up on BCDEDIT.exe after seeing it mentioned in the XP boot.ini file which reads:
;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=6
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT4="Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT351="Windows NT Workstation Version 3.51"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT4="Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]" /BASEVIDEO /SOS
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT351="Windows NT Workstation Version 3.51 [VGA mode]" /BASEVIDEO /SOS
c:\="MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11"
c:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /CMDCONS
When I boot to Win 7 and run BCDEDIT.exe this is what I see:
C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume6
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {globalsettings}
default {ntldr}
resumeobject {c48b0220-c137-11de-8763-ef93e581df5e}
displayorder {ntldr}
{current}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Legacy OS Loader
------------------------
identifier {ntldr}
device partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume6
path \ntldr
description Earlier Version of Windows
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {current}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows 7
locale en-US
inherit {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence {c48b0222-c137-11de-8763-ef93e581df5e}
recoveryenabled Yes
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {c48b0220-c137-11de-8763-ef93e581df5e}
nx OptIn
I was going to try the /delete options for BCDEDIT.exe but then found my way to EasyBCD...
This is what I see when installed on Win7:
And the delete options:
This is what I see when installed on XP:
And the XP delete options:
If I were to use /delete form BCDEDIT.exe or EasyBCD, to remove all entries, will that effectively remove the Win 7 boot options from appearing? The BCDEDIT.exe /? has detail on editing entries but I could not find something on deleting the Win 7 boot option entirely.
THx
P.S. this option "install, upgrade, & activate" seemed the best of the availalbe options...
And FWIW, this is the Win 7 Disk Management screen:
