Re: Help Required: XP Installation and Partition


"Andrew Milne" <andrewmilne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx(nospam)> wrote in message
news:8DA05405-B075-45BA-89C1-0E9BA765D5B4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hello,
> I was trying to re-format my computer, using the Windows XP Professional
> startup disk. I've done this before without problems, however this time I
> begun to encounter problems with the partition table. I removed all
> previously used partitions and created a new one to install XP Pro onto,
> everything went well with the NFTS formatting until the restart, once
> restarted it went to a black screen saying "Invalid Partition Table".
>
> I have been able to complete the installation by pressing F8 on restart,
> then selecting the CD Drive and then not doing anything when it asks to
boot
> from CD, however, after completing the installation it requires a restart
and
> the problem occurs again.
>
> I can continue to boot from CD, though I'd much rather not have to.So I've
> attempted to reformat the partitions several times with no avail and also
> tried using PartitionMagic when the computer was running from the XP disk.
> Any support would be appreciated as I do not see why I should have
problems
> upgrading from XP Home to XP Pro. Just to note, I've also tried installing
> with the other XP Pro disk we have in the house, and my old XP Home disk-
The
> same error occured each time.
>
> Thankyou,
> Andrew Milne
>
> Please Note: I've looked at every partition guide, so please don't post
> links to sites that will just tell me how to create partitions, I know how
> to... And have done so properly, it's just not working :(
>

Your post does not make it clear how you deleted the
old partitions, nor does it say if you're happy to re-install
WinXP. Here is what I would do, in this order:

1. Boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
2. Run this command to restore the Master Boot Record: fdisk /mbr
3. Remove the boot disk, then reboot the machine. Problem fixed?
4. If not, reboot the machine with the Win98 boot disk.
5. Run fdisk.exe, then delete all existing partitions.
6. Create a primary FAT32 partition of 10 or 20 GBytes.
7. Create a logical FAT32 partition to take the rest of your disk.
8. Reboot with the Win98 boot disk.
9. Type this command: format c: /u /s /v
10. Remove the boot disk, then reboot the machine. Problem fixed?
11. If yes, install WinXP. If no, try the advice given by other respondents.

If fdisk refuses to delete some partitions, use delpart.exe instead
(http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm).


.

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