Hard Disk trouble installing windows!
 

I recently decided to change from linux to windows due to the complicity The problem I'm having is when I enter my windows xp instillation disc or my windows vista, an error message pops up saying that the hard disks on the computer will not work. I've never had problems with that until i installed ubuntu.





Thanks

Is the old OS (i.e ubuntu) starting up properly ?
If it is reporting that HDD is not working then it may be a hardware failure

But try installing ubuntu again and check if it works

okay if i don't come back thanks for the help

well i tried re-installing linux and the windwos instillation still doesn't work it says that the computer doesn't detect a hard disk

So the linux re-installation DID work, is that correct? If so, then it is probably a matter of the filesystem being ext3 or reiserfs or whatever you chose when you installed ubuntu. Windows will not read many of these other filesystems with a standard installation. Try booting ubuntu from the cd, and removing the partitions from your hard disk (gparted should do the trick, or cfdisk from the command line), but please note that this will erase all of your data. Then try installing windows.

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how do i remove the partitions from the computer. sorry i'm kind of new to this

If you're using a linux LiveCD (or installer, for that matter),
run
fdisk -l
Check which drive has the partitions that match your install.
then do
fdisk /dev/<what the line above was saying>

Once in there, you can delete partitions using
d
fdisk will prompt you for partition numbers (again, the fdisk -l
output from above will prove useful).
Repeat till they're gone.
Finish with the command
w

I'm in the dev folder so what exactly do i click now?

You wouldn't be clicking, you're on the command-line, typing.

i'm really sorry i'm extremely new to linux which is the reason i'm switching back. how do i get to the command-line?

which one do i customize ide disk scsi disk or ps/2 esdi drive

That would depend on the distribution and the Window Manager
or Desktop Environment you're using; you'll be looking for
something with terminal, term or console in the name.



Cheers

Which ones of the above have you discovered,
which one holds a partitioning scheme you do
recognise as potentially being your HDD in
question?

well now i don't have any os on my system. and the exact error message that comes up when installing windows xp is

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.



I do by the way have a win98 disc would it be easier to install that on the computer?