Problem reinstalling WinXP

Hey Geeks!

So, I decided to make a clean start with my computer and reinstall Windows XP Home. When booting from CD I deleated the original partitions on the hard drive and then recreated them (20 gig, 20, 40). I formatted the C partition and installed the XP setup files there. But, when my computer rebooted, I got this message:

Press any key to boot from CD........unable to load operating system.

That's it. I tried doing the whole process over again, but I always get this message. So, what do you think is up?

Thanks for your replies.

 

Couple of updates:

One the error message reads: "error loading operating system" not "unable to load operating system." My memory was wrong!

Befor trying to reinstall Windows, I tried loading SuSE 9.1 onto the computer (I figured, what the heck, I'm going to reinstall Windows anyway, might as well give this a go). It resised the windows partitions and created a couple of Linux hd partitions. Everything was going OK, until I got to the monitor config. For some reason the configuration of the monitor and video card wouldn't work and my monitor went blank with the "out of range" message flashing. So, I figured, not a problem (cause I've got a used computer I bought coming in the mail that I'll use for my Linux experimentations), and went ahead and started the Windows reinstallation. Which brings me to where I am now.

Hope this info is enough. Please help me with this, cause I'd like to have this computer as a Windows computer. (I don't know Linux enough to feel comfortable using it as my main OS). Thanks in advance, Geeks.

 

OK. Now, how do I do that when I can't boot into Windows? Right now I'm using a Knoppix Live CD in order to use my computer. But, since it's a Live-CD, I can't write anything permenantly to the HD. I do have a laptop, but it's running SuSE 9.1.

Thanks for your reply.

 

Do you have the CD-rom set to boot before the HD? I had the same thing happen during my 1st Windows installation. I changed the boot order to let the HD boot before the CD-rom and then it continued with the install as normal.

 

Yeah, I do. But, when I went into the bios to change it, I saw some strange things. I didn't see a C:. Rather, I saw a hda0, hda1, hda2, hda3. These were along with the regular, Floppy, CD-ROM, etc. I think those strange HDs are left over from my Linux install. But, I don't know where the C: is or should be. Crazy.



OT, but amusing: I just text messaged my friend and said I had broken my computer again, but I was trying to fix it. She wrote back and said it sounds like I broke it in order to fix it. I told her that was probably the case! Funny things you do subconsciously, huh?

 

use a boot floppy and fdisk /mbr to get rid of lilo

 

Cool. So, how do I make a boot floppy? Can I do the fdisk/mbr when I boot into the Windows setup (using the CD) and hit R to get to the Windows Repair part of the setup? The last time I tried that; I got into a C:/Windows> prompt, like DOS. Is that where I do the fdisk/mbr?

 

goto www.bootdisk.com on a computer that can download data and has a floppy drive. download one of the win98se boot disks and extract the image to a floppy. boot the broken PC with that floppy and type "fdisk /mbr" without the quotes and hit enter. this will erase the master boot record (hence MBR). Should fix you right up.

 

Or-

You could use what you have, boot to the XP CD, hit r for Recovery COnsole and log in. At the prompt, type:

fixmbr

 

Tried the fixmbr in the Recovery Consol. No dice.

What next?

Is there a way just to erase everything on the HD and start from scratch?

 

You bet.

Go back to recovery console, log in, and type:


mkdiskraw 0

Where "0" is your primary master hard disk.

 

So, for example, if I created 3 partitions on my HD--c:, d:, and e:---and I loaded Windows setup onto C:, then I'd type C where 0 is in your command?

I'll give that a try. But, unfortunately, it'll have to wait 'til tomorrow. It's midnight here in Japan, and I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow!

Thanks for your help, Geeks! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow, eh?

'Night

 

No.

0 is the hard drive position.

It has nothing to do with partitions, or drive letters.

mkdiskraw 0

Thats what you want to use to kill your primary master.

 

Adrynalyne, you are a Geek among Geeks! Thanks a bunch. You help worked perfectly. I got WinXP running back up like it was supposed to! Thanks.

One thing, I did notice, though. When I go into my bios now, I still don't see the C: drive as a boot option. Instead, there are the hda0, hda1, hda2 drives. Now, when I partitioned my drive during the Win setup, I left about 30 gigs of un-partitioned space at the end of my drive (I'm gonna try the SuSE dual boot again...yes, I'm stubborn!)...could the Bios be reading that as those hda's?

Anyway, thanks again. Now, I'm off to download and reinstall programs (which is the funnest part about reinstalling Windows!).

 

Glad to help. As for the bios reading as such, I have no idea.

I've seen hdd-0 and hd-0, but never hda0.