[zyon]

hi,
i have tested Mandrake for few weeks on my laptop (dual-boot, XP as prime) and found that it runs better on my PC so i decided to remove it completely from my laptop.

Genarally what i did was format my D drive (laptop) back to FAT32. but i found out that even i have removed the LInux, the dual boot program still exist every time i boot my laptop. after boot up into XP, i found a new folder named "recycled" in my D drive (where Linux used to be).there is a hidden file in it & it cant be delete. so i turn the "recycled" folder to hidden.

During the next boot up, the XP stop booting up at the half way in DOS where usually the dual boot program will pop-up. the whole screen is blank in black except a word on the upper left corner of the screen, "LI". i dont know what does "LI" means & it doesnt allow me to type in any command.

in short,my problems are:
1. how to removed/delete the "recycled" folder safely?
2. is there anyway to get rid of the dual boot program?
3. i need help on recovering my XP by solving the "LI" (DOS mode)

i need immediate help in order to continue on my report & tesis!
thanx in advance!

[pvc9]

1. how to removed/delete the "recycled" folder safely?

-No need to do that. Even if you do that Windows will create one automatically when you restart your laptop.

2. is there anyway to get rid of the dual boot program?

-Not sure of XP though, but after you boot to windows open the command prompt and then type the command fdisk/mbr(or fdisk /mbr). This would format the mbr and hope the boot loader will go.

3. i need help on recovering my XP by solving the "LI" (DOS mode)

I guess its LILO, if you installed that as a bootloader for Linux. So try with the fdisk /mbr command and get back.

[zyon]

thanx pvc9,
the 1st & 2nd answer do solve the problems, but the 3rd one:
since i cant boot into windows, how should i type in the command? can i do it with the boot up diskette?

[pvc9]

Did you try the 2nd one? Did that screen stop from loading at the bootup? if that did stop from loading I just doubt why the 3rd one isnt solved yet.

About the third one I guess you can surely try with a boot disk.

www.bootdisk.com

Check there, try and get back...

[zyon]

hi pvc9,
i think i didnt make myself clear enought due to my grammer,sorry.

actually, the 3rd problem is my main problem now, it happens after i change the "recycle" to hidden (im not sure this has anything to do with the "LI".....
this sh*t cause my laptop stop booting up, the DOS freeze right where the dual boot program should appear.
so, the thing is,the XP couldnt be load(boot) due to the fatal bootup with "LI" word.

what should i do?

[zyon]

what should i type in if i use the boot disks?

c:\>fdisk /mbr, or
a:\>fdisk /mbr ??

BTW, why cant i access to D drive when i type
cd d:\

thanx

[pvc9]

When you are booting from a floppy -

a:\>fdisk /mbr [enter]

To access the D drive -

a:\>d: [enter]

or

c:\>d: [enter]

Doesnt matter at what prompt you are but the command is only d: and not cd d: .

[zyon]

OIC!
thank you.
i'll try it now get back later

[pvc9]

Np

Hope it will solve the problem.

[codejockey]

I also recommend the fdisk /MBR solution. The "LI" is the first part of the LILO bootloader that is still left after uninstalling Linux. Using fdisk /MBR will over-write this with the Windoze loader, and you should be fine.

Hope this helps.

[lynch]

I dont know,doing that with XP would leave the MBR looking for a DOS boot sector,not one for an NT-based one.
I found this at M$:

fdisk /mbr should never be used with a NT OS's unless you want to eliminate the NT boot sector and replace it with the DOS boot sector, so you can reload DOS/Win9x OS. Difference being - FDISK /MBR sets a system up to boot DOS, thus the boot sector tell the machine to look for a file call IO.SYS to continue booting the OS. NT OS's on the other hand have utilities (depends on which version of NT - 2k/XP use the "recovery console" - I'm unsure about NT 4.0) to replace the boot sector with the NT boot info to look for the files NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI.

So unless you plan to install Win9x/ME, I'd use the recovery console.HTH
lynch

[zyon]

im getting confused, which method shall i go for?
fdisk /mbr with boot disk which mentioned by pvc9, or
recovery console by lynch?

im using XP Pro. i do not have the installation cd(bootable?) with me now, i left it in the UK,damn!
so i am trying to make a set of bootable diskettes (6 disk!!!), i think i can do it night cause im free.

btw, what is recovery console? how can i do it? what utilities do i need to perform this "recovery console"?

looking forward for reply/ies.

thank you!

PS. im running out of time, the due date of my report is at the corner

[pvc9]

Zyon,
I've done this myself few times and I've never had any problems with it. I previously had Win 98, Win XP Pro, RH Linux 7.2.

I did that when I was having a few problems with Linux. After that everything was normal and I had no problems whatsoever.

If you know this then Windows XP will automatically install its own BootLoader to give the option to load into a XP or any 9X ver if installed. So this is a different bootloader when compared to the linux one. So I had 2 bootloaders and when I used the fdisk /mbr command only the linux bootloader was removed and rest all was fine. No problems at all.

So try with the fdisk /mbr option and you said you also have those bootdisks so no problems go ahead and try that command.

[zyon]

cool, pvc9!!
thanks for the guides!
i'll be back to this forums by using my laptop when it get fixed

& thanks to everyone too!

[pvc9]

You're welcome.