Yup, you guessed it... dual OS Core 5 and XP.

[R.O.E. 0]

I recently installed Fedora Core 5 on my laptop. That is the only OS I have installed. I am now attempting to install XP proffessional. When I attempt to boot from the CD though, a screen comes up and says it's getting my hardware config, then the screen goes blank, and everything... stops. The only thing I can figure is it's stopping because my hard drive is not NTFS currently. But I'm not sure. Is there something I should do to the MBR maybe? Or am I just going to have to call those microsoft bastards for support?

 

ROE

 

[danleff 0]

Essentually, you can't install Windows on a system with no NTFS or fat32 filesystem on the drive. Windows does not see linux partitions or free space on the drive. It must have pre-partitioned space on the drive.

 

If you install Windows XP after Linux, then you will loose the grub bootloader and not be able to boot FC5 unless you know how to recover grub, then add Windows to grub manually.

 

The best thing to do, is to install Windows, then FC5. Of course, you need to have a tool to partition the drive before installing Windows.

 

 

[R.O.E. 0]

Well, that's kind of what I figured, just not what I hoped. Thank you for the info, I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[mohit_puris 0]

Hi Friends

I have a Similar Problem.

I have windows xp an fc5 installed on the computer.

Now as some of my hardware will work only in Windows, I often need to reinstall that.

My problem started from FC4 onwards.

I have an ide hard drive, and two fat partitions and a few ext3 partitions.

When i want to reinstall windows, My computer boots and what R.O.e said happens.

I then used fdisk /mbr from command prompt, and got rid of Grub from MBR.

Still the same problem

Then i used fdisk and removed the fat partitions, Still No go

Then i removed all the partitions---STILl no go

Actually windows xp cd would actually boot only once i have DEBUGGED my hard drive or i have used segate's partition manager to delete the entire disk.

This Means Loss of complete data.

IRONICALLY, WINDOWS 98 would boot and install without any issues.

 

Please throw some light.

P. S I already have fat partitions, when i attempt to boot from windows xp cd

 

[danleff 0]

OK, let's go one by one.

 

Quote:

I have an ide hard drive, and two fat partitions and a few ext3 partitions.

 

Windows always wants to be first on a hard drive. when you say fat partitions, what do you exactly mean, fat16, fat32, or was Windows installed on NTFS, which is usually by default?

 

Quote:

I then used fdisk /mbr from command prompt, and got rid of Grub from MBR.

 

This only removes grub from the MBR and attempts, it does not alter the partition structure. A little while back, a reader was perplexed by my response that this method was not the best way to recover the Windows MBR. This is the exact reason why I said that. It does not always work. If you must recover the windows MBR on an XP system, it is best to do this from the Windows XP installation disk, in recovery mode.

 

Quote:

Then i used fdisk and removed the fat partitions, Still No go

 

The windows installation disk can't read linux partitions, or blank space on a drive. The drive must have a fat32 or NTFS filesystem, ideally, on the first primary partition on the system. Complex or mixed partition types on the drive confuse the Windows installer.

 

Quote:

Actually windows xp cd would actually boot only once i have DEBUGGED my hard drive or i have used segate's partition manager to delete the entire disk.

 

Actually, what you probably did was delete all the partitions and picked the option to format the disk to prepare for a Windows installation. That's why this works. The utility prepares the drive with a primary partition at the beginning of the drive that the Windows installer likes. But your right, you lose all your data using this method.

 

Quote:

IRONICALLY, WINDOWS 98 would boot and install without any issues.

 

This is why you need to be clear about the exact partition structure on the drive. Windows XP only likes to see fat32 partitions, or NTFS ones. It does not like fat16. So, if you used a windows 98 boot disk to format the drive, you must take care. This is assuming that you did this once, from the same disk that you did the fdisk /mbr trick.

 

Windows XP wants it's default partition (fat32 or NTFS) and windows 98 accepts fat16, it's default partition style.

[mohit_puris 0]

Dear Danleff

I appreciate your helping jesture. And i am also not perplexed at what you say.

Now let me take my turn in explaining the scenario step by stem

 

1) My computer has two operating systems. Windows xp professional and FC5 X86_64.My had disk is IDE

2) Windows is installed on the first drive and the second drive. Then Is all Linux after that.

3) I am pretty sure that my windows partitions are FAT 32 for windows xp and Ext3 for FC5

4) Now, Due to some reason (virus or whatever), I windows starts mis behaving. I then decide that it is time to FORMAT and install the windows.

5) Doing 4 would ideally delete GRUB from my mbr, which means that i will have to use Linux rescue disk and reinstall the grub on mbr in rescue mode. Am i right so far?

6) In MY case, what happens ideally is not happening.

7) When i boot windows xp cd, it says Setup is inspecting your hardware, and then it goes blank. (PLease note that at this moment, there is a windows xp installed on a fat 32 partition (and with an extended dos partition to go with it to hold data) and this win xp BOOTS normally, but is just misbehaving.

8) Windows 98 can be installed. Agreed its a FAt 32 partition that win 98 can see, and even xp does. i can tell from past experience.

9) The same setup of partitions has no problem in letting the windows cd boot, if a fedora version lesser than core 4 is installed. Try to understand the irony now.

Hope this explains the problem better.

 

 

On a side note, i too have done some extensive research in such problems and i tend to disagree with you on a few things, all in good and +ve spirit

 

Quote:

If you must recover the windows MBR on an XP system, it is best to do this from the Windows XP installation disk, in recovery mode.

 

In the present case, one cannot boot to recovery console. The screen goes blank before that. fdisk /mbr is NOT to RECOVER windows MBR but to delete WHATEVER is written on MBR. This is done just for hit and triak.

 

Secondly, no alteration of partitions is required in the presented case

 

Quote:

The windows installation disk can't read linux partitions, or blank space on a drive. The drive must have a fat32 or NTFS filesystem, ideally, on the first primary partition on the system.

 

This ia ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT

 

A windows XP installation disk can see Linux partitions and lists them as Unknown partition types. It can even delete them if u want. Windows can also see a Blank disk. Try putting in a new blank had disk. boot from xp cd, it will detect the empty space .

 

Lastly using the win 98 disk is just to debug or do a manual fdisk only.

hope you do not mind my straight reply

Regards

[danleff 0]

Take a look at this Microsoft Article about the usage of the fdisk /mbr command. By using this command you overwrite the MBR. So, the result is that it removes the Grub MBR data, replacing it with the NT data.

 

From the article;

 

Quote:

In Microsoft Windows NT, using the MS-DOS FDISK /MBR command is not always appropriate when you cannot boot a computer. The problem is that the command rewrites the master boot record (MBR) only, and not the entire boot record. The FDISK /MBR command rewrites only the first 446 bytes of the master boot record, not the partition table. Windows NT disk signatures used for fault tolerance are also overwritten, and if the drive contained an FT member, it may not be recognized by Windows NT as an FT member afterward.

 

Keep reading. If you have a steath virus that affected to boot sector and/or MBR this is what you may be experiencing. But it also explains the point of what fdisk /mbr does.

 

Yes, doing the fdisk /mbr command overwrites the MBR with the Windows NT bootloader information. Restoring Grub will recover the grub bootloader information to the MBR, over-writing the NT information, NOT the boot.ini file, which Grub invokes when you choose the option to boot Windows from the grub boot screen.

 

The point being, if you have corrupted partitions, then this can explain why the XP install CD is hanging. If you know how to use the advanced installation options, yes, you can change the formatting of the drive. You can also do this from within Windows system tools. However, if you have disk partition corruption...

 

Also, reference this Microsoft article on formatting the drive for installation, under the How to partition and format your hard disk by using the Windows XP Setup program section, point number 7.

 

If you have a totally blank hard drive, which is unpartitioned (brand new) Windows can have trouble with this on a normal installation. But, general windows installation failures usually mean either;

 

1. The drive can't be read and pre-formatting the drive will solve the issue, with a tool like the Seagate one.

 

2. There is a hardware issue that prevents Windows from continuing. this could be a mis-seated video card, one that is not supported, or other hardware related issue. A good example is a USB keyboard that the bios does not sense correctly.

 

3. A virus that has corrupted the drive, or an unreadable partition structure.

 

Earlier versions of Fedora had issues with installing on systems with a primary NTFS filesystem on the drive, where Windows was previously installed, using an NTFS structure.

 

Also, if you elected to do a default Fedora Core 4 or 5 installation, then I wonder if Logical Volume Management partitions are mucking up the structure, as well.

 

If Windows keeps "misbehaving" I would look deeper into the possibility of a virus problem, or use a tool like PartitionMagic to look at your partition structure. If PM loads and gives warning messages about partition structure problems (offering to correct them), then suspect partition corruption and or a related virus issue.

[mohit_puris 0]

Danleff,

I thank you for your help. At the same time, i must leave this discussion i think. It is becoming more and more about proving certain point/points. That is not what i require.

 

The problem that i have here is something that many are facing, I would have appreciated someone respecting my observations and then helping in the solution finding process by giving his/her inputs. However ....

 

I once again thank for your help. And best of luck to this forum

Utmost Regards

Mohit Puri

[danleff 0]

Sorry I could not help. I thought that i tried to address all your points, including the potential reasons why you are facing troubles reinstalling Windows and the hardware issues that you are facing.

 

One of the tough problems in answering questions or responding to problems is piecing together all the issues. Folks who answer posts don't necessarily answer all questions, or know all the answers. The important thing is to make the user think what might be the variables affecting the problem, so he/she can find a solution themselves by thinking more about the situation. No one is ever 100% correct in their points and often one misses all the pertinent bits of information until you read the thread over again (somethimes several times) to narrow down the issue.

 

Unfortunately, it sounds like you are giving up on the forum and moving on. If not, post back and let us know what the solution is that you find.

 

Good luck to you, as well!

[mohit_puris 0]

Leaving the forum isnt what is in my mind. I am leaving this discussion. I need to spend some time to find a solution.

 

I appreciate your quick responses.

Regards