let me ask one of the other tech guru's to stick their head into that one.....I'll track someone down here shortly for you.

Thanks, magicmangoes....

v

**edit**

when you reinstalled windows, did you reformat your disk, or was there data on there you wanted to keep?

There was data on there that i wanted to keep......so my disk still has everything that was originally there when I first posted the problem

when you reformatted, did you choose the 'keep existing file structure' option?

I don't believe I actually 'formatted' it. More like I just installed XP over an existing version.

Cos as you told me, I put the XP installation disc into the drive, and booted from there, but because nothing seemed to make sense, instead of highlighting "repair xp" i chose "setup"....and then it asked if I wanted all the files placed in a folder called WINDOWS. I dont know why, but I added a 2 behind the folder name. So XP (the recently installed one) is now in a folder called WINDOWS2

I seriously think I have 2 versions on XP on the one computer.....seeing as when I turn on the computer, it asks what I would like to boot into. I'm given 3 options. 2 says "Microsoft Home Edition" and the other is "Recovery Console"

If i highlight and chose the first "Home Edition" Im taken to the newer XP, where the user account is pretty much empty, excluding stuff like "My Computer" and the Recycle Bin.

If i highlight and chose the second "Home Edition" I'm taken to the old XP, which has all my files and whatnot.

I hope I'm making some kind of sense =T

ouch....yes, you are making sense.....and you do have two installations of windows on your pc.....

first off, is space an issue? If the system is stable, and space is not an issue, you can remove the second 'home edition' option on your boot screen by modifying your boot.ini file.

If not, we'll uninstall the other windows.

thanks,

v

If we do uninstall the other windows, is anything likely to change?

What do you think would be best to do? Space isn't that much of an issue, but if the other XP does take up more space then necessary, then can we place remove it?

What I mean to say is, if having another version of XP on the computer takes up too much room, let's uninstall it. However, if uninstalling it alters the system in anyway.....what kind of alterations would they be? If its something that's easily fixable, lets go nuts and get rid of the 2nd XP.....if it's something drastic.....maybe we should leave it.

Thank you

let me bring in one of the desktop guru's.....uno momento, please....

v