How to Remove “Earlier Version of Windows” from Windows Boot Menu

The term "Earlier Version of Windows” appears to the Windows boot menu just after you uninstall a Windows Operating System from a computer that previously had a dual boot configuration. Dual boot configuration can be found on a Windows PC when there are two separate Windows OS installed on a same PC. Whenever, you uninstall any one operating system, in the boot loader the option “Earlier Version of Windows” continuously appears. As a result of it, you have to choose the current operating system name each time you boot into your system. To bypass this annoying issue here I post a simple solution about how to remove earlier version of Windows from the boot menu.

 

The ‘earlier version of Windows’ option only appear if you have a dual boot Windows PC. The option will become useless only when you uninstall any Windows version among two installed OS. I have faced the problem even after installing a separate OS in the separate Windows drive. At the time of uninstalling an operating system I have formatted the associated drive completely. Yet, I get the “Earlier Version of Windows” option at the time of boot for several days.

There are several ways to remove earlier version of Windows option. This problem is very common and can be found in any major version of Windows e.g. Windows (7,8,8.1,XP,vista) and Windows server (2003,2008,2008 R2,2012) Here, I discuss two methods to remove Windows earlier version option.

How to Delete Unnecessary Boot Loader Options from Windows Boot Menu

Delete “Earlier Version of Windows” from Windows Boot Loader Using Command Prompt

At first, boot into existing Windows operating system and open command prompt with Administrator privileges. If you are a Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 user then, in the search box just type “cmd.exe”, right click on the perfect finding and select “run as administrator” option.

Type bcdedit in the command window and press enter.

Boot Configuration Data Editor Tool is a built-in tool of Windows and is used to edit boot menu text, and manages your Windows boot loader. It can be controlled using bcdeditcommand.

Now, in the command window you will see “Windows Boot Loader” entry. Under description section you will find earlier version of Windows option.

To delete the entry you have to enter the below command:

bcdedit /delete {03f85bc7-2a1c-11e4-a669-a8a736dc67a4} /f

Just press enter button and this will immediately delete the entry. Windows will make you confirm with the following message – The Operation Completed Successfully.

Now, you will not see the boot option anymore after restart the PC.

Make it Simple