Removing Windows 2008 Server

undoing a dual boot set up

[youfoundjake]

ok.
So I installed Server 2008 on my computer.
This is the current layout:
C: windows xp
d: program files installed on xp
e: Server 2008, and data files from xp install

I basically want to get rid of server 2008, and one would think "ok, boot into xp and delete the server 2008 folders off the e: drive"
but unfortunately, there is a 2008 boot manager that has managed to write to my boot.ini on the c: drive and I don't want to go deleting stuff and making xp unbootable as well.
I did make a backup of boot.ini before I installed server, and if need be i can create the whole file in "edit" if i need to boot from the xp cd and get into repair mode, but i'd rather not...

Any ideas?

[bill]

I haven't put a Windows Server OS on the same machine with a desktop Windows OS before, but my first suggestion was going to be to restore the boot.ini and do a repair install from the XP CD. But...that's not what you wanted to do.

Did you have any luck with this yet?

In the future if you want to work with multiple OSs on the same machine I've found a virtual machine will perform quite well.

[youfoundjake]

Haven't done anything yet.. I just got over-anxious and didn't plan it out, meant to install the server on a secondary hard drive..doh
I will play with it this weekend and see what happens...

[youfoundjake]

So I putzed around for awhile trying to get it removed, at one point rendering both OS's unusable, oops... but being the genius that I am, I was able to get back into the XP installation.
The long and short of it is:
From the Server 2008 disc, run
X:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force
where X: equals your cd/dvd drive.

At that point, the Server 2008 loader is taken out of the picture, and ntldr under XP resumes control, and reads the boot.ini on the XP installation.

After that, its just a matter of deleting all the files and folders related to Server 2008, including c:\boot\ regardless of what partition you install Server 2008 on (mine was E:)

[youfoundjake]

Man oh man, this just keeps on going...
Now I'm trying to delete the E:\windows directory which contains server 2008 while I'm loaded into xp, but dang near ever file is locked in the e:\windows directory... Very odd...
I had to download a program that deletes locked/busy files, and after 14 hours of trying to delete 38,000 files, I've managed to delete about 18,000 of them.

I think I may just put a external hard drive on, copy over all my e:\data, and then just format the disk since I dont want to spend a week deleting e:\windows, e:\documents and settings, e:\program files and so on....