dual boot issue
 

i run 2.8ghs/512ddr/80gb linux box right now, and i'm trying to reinstall windows xp so i can set up a dual boot system. the problem i ran into is that my xp cd won't boot, i mean when i set my bios to boot from cd it stops, says 'booting from cd: " and then continues on to linux. when i put in a dos bootable disk to access it, i cannot find a command that it will let me run. fdisk and format are not working, as is changing to any drive. i could really use some help, this is completly mistifying to me.

Hopefully it says a little more than that when you attempt to load from CD.
Maybe something about "examing hardware ..."

Try giving it a fat32 (primary) partition, and see what eventuates.

This is one of the "untested" scenarios i referred to here. Guess I'd better get to it ...;)

I'm pretty sure that XP says "press any key to boot from cd...", not "booting from cd". you have to press a key within a couple of seconds or it just boots from the next boot device.

it does not prompt me about anything, 'booting from CD' is exactly what it says, word for word. i'll check to see if the cd boots properly on other computers, might be a bad copy.

have you used that particular disk to install before? did you try cleaning it/checking for scratches? the cable from your cdrom to your motherboard might be screwed. that's all I can think of it being for now.

something wrong with the disk

"might be a bad copy."
acording to MS that would make it bad.