Seeing Double Vista Boot Options

[Badger]

I've spent 4 long nights trying to fix my son's vista laptop that stopped booting up.

Finally got to a stage where I've an almost new Vista install and I can log in as Admin. The Laptop is still probably terminally ill but I'm hoping he'll get a few more months out of it yet.

So the issue I have is that when the laptop boots it displays two Windows Vista options. Selecting the first one is not a good idea, it's fubar'd. The second one boots ok. How do I remove the first Vista option as I can't find a boot.ini file?

Thanks

Edit:
Actually it's worse than I thought, there's no My Computer, no programs, no Administrative Tools, etc...

Looks like a format c: and full install.

[Durbs]

Its the 'BCD' file now.

Try:

1. Open System by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel,
clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.

2. In the left pane, click Advanced system settings. If you
are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the
password or provide confirmation.

3. Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Startup and
Recovery, click Settings.

4. Under System startup, choose a default operating system and
the amount of time to display the list of operating systems, and then click OK.


Or this explains how to edit it manually or repair startup: http://www.vistaclues.com/how-to-edi...registry-file/

[TykeMerc]

In this situation I'd be inclined to back up any data to an external drive (they're seriously cheap these days and handy to have available) then do a full rebuild.
Bin the partitions, format and install the O/S from scratch, then you know there's no dross hanging around from the previous installs and usage.

[Badger]

Cheers Durns/TykeMerc

There was no real data on there he only uses it for Facebook, Runescape etc..

[NickFitz]

Cheers Durns/TykeMerc

There was no real data on there he only uses it for Facebook, Runescape etc..

"Honest sir, my dad reformatted my homework" - Badger Jr. on Monday morning

[Badger]

"Honest sir, my dad reformatted my homework" - Badger Jr. on Monday morning

He'd probably get excluded for that. They get detentions just for having their shirt hanging out.

[suityou01]

another handy tool to have in the draw is Spinrite from grc.com

Run this at level 4 and THEN do your format c reinstall etc

If the HDD is flaky you can always replace. 2.5'' drives are cheap enough and usually only hidden behind a door in the bottom of the laptop held in place with 2-4 screws.

Best of luck.

[TheFaQQer]

In this situation I'd be inclined to back up any data to an external drive (they're seriously cheap these days and handy to have available) then do a full rebuild.
Bin the partitions, format and install the O/S from scratch, then you know there's no dross hanging around from the previous installs and usage.

Why bin the partitions?

I tend to create a data partition and have the OS on a separate partition, so that if I need to reinstall the OS (or change OS), I can keep the data without needing to backup and restore.