Re: CD Install problem (blank screen after boot)

"OtisUsenet" <otis_usenet@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1150926424.178998.132150@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I think I just need to blow away the MBR. Maybe after I do that the
machine will start fully booting from an XP CD. Now if I could only
wipe out the MBR from Linux somehow...


OtisUsenet wrote:
Hi Malke,

Malke wrote:
OtisUsenet wrote:

Hi Malke, thanks for the quick response!

I don't think this is the case of bad hardware - I can boot off of a
Linux CD and install it without any problems. It is just the
Windows
XP CD that's the problem. :( And the same CD works in my other
computers, so it's not a problem in CD either.

The machine currently has Linux (installed it after C:\WINDOWS got
corrupt/disappeared a few months back), so the master boot record
has
Grub sitting there (Linux boot manager). Could that be the problem?

Is there a way for me to wipe the whole disk completely? The
machine
doesn't have a floppy to boot from, so I can run format C:...
perhaps
I can do it from Linux.


Having this information in your *first* post would have been most
useful.

Yeah. Sorry about that.

If you don't care about the currently installed Linux distro, then
boot
with the XP cd and go into Recovery Console. Do fixmbr to completely

Hm, while I can "boot" from the XP CD, I am not sure if I should call
that a full boot. I get to:
- "Press any key to boot from CD ..." <I press any key>
- "Setup is inspecting your hardware...." <this is where screen goes
blank and HDD LED on>

So I'm not sure how I can get to the Recovery Console.... is there some
other way to get there?

remove Grub. Then reboot with the XP cd and take the installation.
Delete all system partitions on the hard drive (and any other
partitions used for Linux) and create a new one for XP. Format it
NTFS.
Now try your install.

You do not need a floppy drive. All XP install cd's are bootable.

Thanks!

Determine the manufacturer of your hard drive, go to that website and
download
one of their ISO images for diags and burn it to a cd. It will be bootable
and
you can wipe the hard drive with it and start from scratch. If that doesn't
work
you may have other hardware troubles.

later.....


.

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