how do i totally remove Microsoft XP OS

Discussion in 'Software' started by garcia1615, Feb 12, 2009.

  1. garcia1615

    garcia1615 Private E-2

    everytime ive tried its not taken the whole thing off and im trying put linux on it instead
     
  2. Bugballou

    Bugballou MajorGeek

    Linux installation should take care of partitioning and formating before installation, it will format drives chosen once partitions are written to disk, hda if it is the only partition on the C drive and that is where Linux will be installed. I use Ext. 3 file system for my use, I usually use only a Swap file (about the same size and function as Windows page file) and / for mounting the Operating System itself. Also add a Home partition as well if I will be saving a lot of personal files on the Linux system. Linux has programs for reading the NTFS file system (ntfs-3g, ntfsprogs) just as Windows has them for reading ext 2 or ext 3 file system (ext 2 IFS) but a fat 32 partition can be written to and read by both operating systems without the aid of these programs. You could dual boot also, just defrag your Windows files and use some of the empty space on the inside of the disk to put the Linux partitions, install the boot loader (LILO, GRUB,etc) to the Linux / partition instead of the MBR of the master, primary hard disk drive and use Easy BCD from Windows to install neogrub under the Add/Remove entries in the program and check the box GRUB isn't installed to the boot sector. That is the way I am dual booting Windows 7 and Linux. Windows XP is another story...keep at it, you will figure it out, Linux isn't usually as easy as a click and your done, but it is great when the lights come on...:) Most distros have forums for help, as does MajorGeeks:major
     
  3. garcia1615

    garcia1615 Private E-2

    which one do you think i should use considering i know nothing about but i usually figure everything out with a PC pretty fast and when i just dont get it i do the forum thing
     
  4. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    First: do not wipe windows
    Second: the hardware determines what linux version will be installed. If the distro doesn't like your hardware, you move on to something else.

    You try Live CDs of linux. You see if you have video, sound, proper screen resolution, internet access and if the peripheral you use like a camera or a printer are usable. When you find a distro that likes your computer, you create a partition for it on your hard drive and then finally install it. You dual boot because there will be some software programs and games that just will not work in linux. If you want to use the software or play the games, you need your windows partition.

    Go here http://www.livecdlist.com/
    download some Live CDs, burn the ISOs and experiment first.
     
  5. garcia1615

    garcia1615 Private E-2

    can i not just use an emulator? instead of dual booting?
     
  6. garcia1615

    garcia1615 Private E-2

    because i dont think i would like i all that dual booting business
     
  7. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    I'm not a Linux user. I have limited experience with it, but I do occasionally use Knoppix (the live CD) from time to time, but I have never used it for much more than Windows data recovery or virus removal. From the sounds of this, the OP is definitely NOT ready for Linux. If the OP (that's you garcia1615) wants to try running it in a VM, then that is up to him/her. But you definitely wouldn't remove your Windows XP in order to do it. So what you have done here garcia1615, is you have contradicted yourself. You started out by saying you wanted to remove your Windows XP OS so you could get a Linux distro to install, but then you stated (and I quote directly):
    This implies that you would be running Linux from within Windows; but you opened this thread with (and I quote directly):
    . . . and that is in reference to the thread title "how do i totally remove Microsoft XP OS". All of this leads me to believe that you aren't ready for Linux as it seems you have not grasped the basics of hard drive partitioning, formatting, VMs, etc. If I'm wrong, I whole-heartedly apologize. . . if I seem like the world's biggest a-hole, it wouldn't be the first time, and I apologize again. Seems to me like you should do a LOT MORE RESEARCH on Linux before you do anything. As suggested above, a live distro is by far the BEST way to introduce yourself to Linux. It requires no preparation at all other than burning a CD and booting to it. You can run it to your heart's content and check out it's various features before you decide if completely dumping Windows is really what you want to do.

    (my 'quest for Linux' ended after I spent 3 days trying to install a wifi driver via command line programming and just about shot myself LOL )
     
  8. smilinggeek

    smilinggeek Private E-2

    The linux install will ask if you want to reformat/repartition the drive. If you're 100%, completely, assuredly, and otherwise CERTAIN that you want to get rid of Microsoft Windows on that system, and NEVER intend to use it again on that computer, then answer yes and follow the default install procedures for your chosen linux distribution. However, if you think you might at some point need to use MS Windows on that computer, then see here: http://tinyurl.com/pj3te (or any other site you find with a google search for "windows linux dual boot").

    What linux distribution are you trying to install?

    A warning note: I have yet to see a truly user-friendly way of creating a dual-boot system. All the methods I've seen so far not only require but assume a certain level of geek knowledge, and a willingness to deal with obtuse technical details.
     
  9. garcia1615

    garcia1615 Private E-2

    what i meant is to download an emulator such as WINE onto my laptop after installing Linux so i could run my Windows programs
    this is what i meant when i said emulator
    and you may be right me doing more research but what do you thinnk im doing right now ive not yet
     
  10. KingSteve

    KingSteve MajorGeek

    should just install linux on a VM on windows. probably work better than the other way
     
  11. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    My experience with Linux is very limited but I also found trying to drivers a nightmare. All I wanted to do was install a video card but I find that this requires entering some code via command line. I posted a question on a Ubuntu forum but got no reply. Tried searching for guides on the Internet and found some but they all require some technical knowledge of Linux. That's why I posted the question on the Ubuntu forum. I posted on another Linux forum and was told the video card, a nVidia FX 5200, was a "legacy" card that is no longer supported by Ubuntu. Hmm, I know the FX 5200 is an older graphics chip now but I've seen them still on the market as recent as within the last few months. For my Win XP system, I could still use that FX 5200 or even an older GeForce 4 Ti 4200 or GeForce 4 MX 440, etc. The lack of support from the Linux community is very frustrating.

    I have Ubuntu running on a computer that was given to me. But, it's definitely no replacement for by Windows system. I don't know whether the computer you're talking about here is your only computer or not. If it is, you'd better give some serious thought to this idea of removing Win XP; you'd better make sure you'll be able to do all the things you want to do with your computer. Installing programs on Linux is not a simple as on Windows, either. And, of course, your Windows programs won't run on Linux, although I guess you might be able to run them using the Wine emulator for Windows.

    I may be wrong but running programs under WINE usually results in some degradation in performance, doesn't it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2009
  12. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    Ahhhhh... so you meant that you wanted to run Windows from within a Linux system. I see. You really didn't explain this very clearly, at all. Anyway, I'm by no means even close to any type of authority on the subject, but from my limited research, I have read that many programs do not run in WINE that well (or at all), but other programs will run just fine. But this 'research' was over a year ago, and I'm sure numerous improvements have been made since then. And, yes, I realize that you are now doing your research and that's a good thing. I was merely stating that there's no such thing as 'too much research'. LOL

    Anyway... your original question was "how do i totally remove Microsoft XP OS". The answer is simple: you format the drive or simply delete the partition. There are many, MANY free partition wrangling tools available here at MG: http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html
     
  13. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    That's correct.
    I was trying to save the OP some headaches. I will bow out and let him do his own discovery.
     
  14. Hal4511

    Hal4511 Private E-2

    Ive been using linux for a while now and I would suggest you give Mepis 8.0 a try its a brand new distro, also what you might want to do is create a dual boot machine with Vista and Mepis and then run Sun Virtual box in both ... Ive done it using Vista inside of linux but the reality is that Vista is such a memory hog its better to simply give it its own partition ... personally I think Mepis just runs a lot better than say Ubuntu but you be the judge. Also let me say that about the only thing that I miss running linux is google earth but its a small price to pay for the security and stability of linux.

    As far as getting rid of windows just run the linux installation CD it'll remove it I promise.
     
  15. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Hal4511, there is still a major problem - not every distro likes every hardware setup. Suppose the OP wipes XP, decides to install a distro and discovers he has no display? It happens. That's why I always suggest running a live CD on a computer before doing an install to see if everything works.

    I used to run Mephis until one version worked fine live and as soon as I installed it, it lost my internet connection. Thinking I did something wrong, I removed it and installed it two additional times with the same result both other times. I went back to the old version for a while, then wiped it. I haven't tried it lately.
     
  16. collinsl

    collinsl MajorGeek

    Personally, as well as using live CDs, I would make an entire backup of the system to an external hard drive using a program like PING (Partimage Is Not Ghost), just to be on the safe side, and so that if you like the LiveCD but it does not work when installed fully, you have an easy way to restore the system.
     
  17. Hal4511

    Hal4511 Private E-2

    By all means run the live distro first and then make the decision, I'm not pushing Mepis 8 but it is by far the best I've seen ... as I said you can always run it in a virtual box. As far as the display problem I use the X Windows assistant and update my video drivers, so far no problems.
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds