Wiping Hard Drive - Linux to Windows

aingeal

Hi there,

I have linux on the pc and the parents want to start learning how to use it but need to do it in windows. I dont use the computer anymore and dont have any data or downloads that I need anymore. I have the windows cd but no idea how to install it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks a million,

Aingeal.

Matthewthebig

when you put in the windows disk it will format the harddrive for you afaik

Rollo Tamasi

Matthewthebig wrote:

when you put in the windows disk it will format the harddrive for you afaik

yup, follow the instructions

irlrobins

yep, jsut get it to remove/delete all existing partitions. Create one or more new ones, then install Windows to the top one. Let us know if any problems. Someone will talk you thru it.

mr_disc

if u r like me and have no patience go for the "quick format " option, ( only really important if u have a big drive )

aingeal

Ok, I followed your instructions and none of that happens. When I insert the disc and click on it, a list of what is on the disc appears. (docs, dotnet, i386, $oem$, support, valueadd, autorun.int, readme.htm, setup.exe, setupxp.htm, win51, win51p, win51ip.sp2)

So I tried rebooting on restarting, it says Press ESC to switch to post or F2 to run CMOS set up. I pressed F2 and AMBIOS Easy Set up Utilities Ver 1.17 appears and on this Main, advanced, security and exit appears. Where do I go from here or am I doing the right thing at all.

irlrobins

ok, what you need to do is boot off the CD. You may have to enter the BIOS in order to change the boot order. The BIOS setup is what you get you press F2. So reboot, press F2 and then look for Boot Order to Boot Sequence somewhere in there (varies from BIOS to BIOS). Change it so it boots from CD first, then Hard Drive. Save and Exit.

PC will reboot, so make sure you have XP install CD in the drive. It will ask you to press any key to boot from CD. So press any key, and it should start the install sequence we talk about above. Happy with that?

wheres me jumpa

Im having similar trouble. Linux on HD atm. Want to put Windows on it. But when the linux machine boots from the cd it quicly cuts to the Grub Loader. So it bypasses the cd.

irlrobins

Again, you need to configure your Bios to boot from CD before the Hard Drive. You currently have it set to boot from hard drive so Grub loader kicks in before CD.

wheres me jumpa

irlrobins wrote:

Again, you need to configure your Bios to boot from CD before the Hard Drive. You currently have it set to boot from hard drive so Grub loader kicks in before CD.

I have set it to boot from cd. ANd it starts to boot from CD. ie "Press any key to boot from cd" then "booting from cd", then the cd spins up but the GRUB loader kicks in.

mr_disc

Dogdy Cd ?, u got another one to try in its place ?

wheres me jumpa

I have since used the disc to install XP on another HD so and the drive is cd-rw drive about a year old. I have even stuck the HD into this machine and formatted but the loader still pops up.

mr_disc

k so the actual cd must be ok., how about the cd drive, could u swop that to see if thats the problem ?

wheres me jumpa

Yeah ill give that a go and report back with my findings.

Cheers

Jumpa

mr_disc

wheres me jumpa wrote:

I have since used the disc to install XP on another HD so and the drive is cd-rw drive about a year old. I have even stuck the HD into this machine and formatted but the loader still pops up.

sorry, im guessing that when u say another hard drive u also mean another PC, if u mean another hard drive from the same pc that means that the cd drive is obviously ok ! ??

wheres me jumpa

yeah its another pc

mr_disc

cool, u know what the first thing u gotta do so is !... just swap drives with another pc and see what the story is..........