HowTo Reinstall Windows after loading FC5

pparks1 · #1 23rd June 2006, 08:18 PM

It seems this question comes up a lot

Quote:

After installing FC5, I am no longer able to boot from the Windows XP cd and reinstall Windows XP on my computer. What did FC5 do and how can I reinstall Windows XP?

The Problem: You boot from the Windows XP cd, it says, #1) press any key to boot from cd. Then #2) Setup is inspecting your hardware. Finally, you get a blank BLACK screen and nothing else happens.

The solution: (NOTICE, this will wipe out everything on your HARD DRIVE... You have been warned).
1. Boot from Fedora Core 5 cd #1
2. type, linux rescue
3. choose your language
4. choose your keyboard layout
5. don't choose to start network interfaces
6. let it search for your install by clicking on CONTINUE
7. You will get a window explaining chroot, click on Ok.

You should now be logged in as root and sitting at this prompt

Code:

sh-3.1#

1. fdisk /dev/hda or fdisk /dev/sda (depends on hard drive type)
2. d (for delete)
3. 1 (this is the number 1, not the Letter L)
4. d (again for delete)
5. choose the next number
6. d (again for delete followed by a number until it says....."NO PARTITION IS DEFINED YET")
7. w (this writes out the changes to disk)
8. exit

At this point, you have deleted all of the Fedora partitions (and any other partitions on your hard drive).

Reboot the computer with the Windows XP cd and the install will proceed normally.

RocketRay · #2 19th February 2007, 05:36 PM

Why does XP want a blank, partitionless hard drive? I've installed W2K on a machine I partitioned previously during Fedora install. Did M$ purposely break that?

gxr · #3 20th February 2007, 04:39 AM

oh damn, thats why when i tried installing xp it just hung at a black screen >.<

is this the same for Fedora Core 6?

RocketRay · #4 20th February 2007, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gxr

oh damn, thats why when i tried installing xp it just hung at a black screen >.<

is this the same for Fedora Core 6?

Yes, it's the same. I built a new system and tried to install XP after FC6. Says "Setup is inspectng your hardware" for a couple seconds, then clears to a black screen, then nothing happens.

When I get a weekend I'm going to backup everything on my Raptor (obviously my boot drive) and wipe it, then try to install XP. Fscker better let me partition, I ain't giving Windoze all 72GB of my fast drive.

pparks1 · #5 22nd February 2007, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketRay

Why does XP want a blank, partitionless hard drive? I've installed W2K on a machine I partitioned previously during Fedora install. Did M$ purposely break that?

It's not that XP needs a blank hard drive. Something that FEDORA does during the install of Linux prevents XP from properly setting up on the hard drive.

I've found that simply wiping the drive in the above manner, fixes the problem caused by the Fedora installation so that you can get XP loaded again to the machine.

I'm sure that there are other ways around this problem, but this is what has worked in the past for me.

I've run into the problem at work where I run Linux on a machine and then the machine gets deployed to somebody else running Windows and our Help Desk cannot reload Windows to it. Following the method above, resolves the issue.

RocketRay · #6 22nd February 2007, 10:34 PM

Thanks for clarifying that. Still, IMHO this doesn't absolve Microsoft of blame. At the very least the XP installer should figure out it's stalled and abort with a description why.

Do other Linux distros make XP barf too?

pparks1 · #7 22nd February 2007, 10:48 PM

The only reason that I don't consider MS to fully blame is that this problem didn't happen with FC1, FC2, or FC3. I believe it started with FC4 and on. I've also been able to load numerous versions of Windows and then reinstall XP on the same hard drive without incident. It's something that changed with the Fedora installer which caused this bug to become evident.

I've not seen this with other distros per se, but the only desktop Linux distros that I typically have used are Fedora and Ubuntu.