When my computer boots up, it gets past the reading and verifying of the computer’s components fine. But when it gets to the reading of the hard drive to launch a platform (Windows XP), it asks me which Windows I would like to load. So I have gathered that the computer thinks i have two Windows XPs installed. But the twist is that one is corrupt… as in, it cannot find the system32 file to run the Windows platform, while the other version of Windows runs just fine.

I have tried to sort this out myself and have been looking for the file that is telling my computer there are two Windows XPs installed but have not succeeded. Can you help?

The latest entry at Ask Dave Taylor is an interesting one, offering quite detailed instructions on how to solve the curious problem of someone’s PC thinking that there are two copies of Windows installed on the disk, even though the person submitting the question was sure that there was really only one copy on their computer. The answer is from my friend and colleague Jim Boyce, a highly-lauded computer book author, and it demonstrates his usual accuracy and clarity.

[Read PC thinks I have two copies of Windows XP?]

If nothing else, being able to salvage the space wasted by a bad Windows install is worth the effort.

Tags: windows xp, two windows, windows version, jim boyce, dave taylor