If I use Vista Boot Pro 3.1 to remove the Vista bootloader on a dual boot system with WinXP, does the program also rewrite the MBR to refer to the correct boot loader and partition for WinXP? I tried to do this with an earlier version and ended up losing my WinXP install. I have another system that I will want to return to WinXP, and while I could do it by reinstalling an image backup and manually doing a fixboot and fixmbr, I'd like to think that Vista Boot Pro would accomplish the task by using it's feature to remove the Vista bootloader.

Thank you. There doesn't seem to be any clear explanation of what the program is programed to accomplish with this feature.

Welcome to PROnetworks JoReneA. If you uninstall the Vista bootloader from the Bootloader page of VistaBootPRO you will do just that. As the description there says, that is used to restore legacy operating systems and totally removes the Vista bootloader.

Once that is done and you wish to, you can reformat the drive/partition on which you had Vista on by right clicking the drive/partitition in My Computer and selecting Format. Quick format is fine.

I know the bootloader is deleted, but will I be able to boot into XP with no further action or do I have to first do a fixboot or fixmbr to get my mbr pointing to the right place? Thanks!

Normally, VBP should just remove the LH/Vista -specific boot files, and not touch the files needed by XP.

Any errors that may unusually occur would almost certainly be due to I/O errors during the Vista installation process itself

JoReneA wrote:

I know the bootloader is deleted, but will I be able to boot into XP with no further action or do I have to first do a fixboot or fixmbr to get my mbr pointing to the right place? Thanks!

No you don't need to run a fixboot or a fixmbr, as none of that has been affected by the installation of Vista. You should be able to boot directly into XP once you have uninstalled the Vista bootloader.

If you wish, you can delete the Vista boot system files and folder from the root of the XP installation. The folder Boot and the file bootmgr are really tough ones to get rid of. They will do no harm if left on your XP installation. Any subsequent installation of Windows Vista will overwrite and update them.