Hello, I am really new to linux and just installed Debian. Now I want to uninstall it and install Windows 2000 server. Can someone please tell me how to do it?
/Ricco

Boot from the Windows CD and follow the instructions?

Sometimes, the Windows installer will complain when it sees that another OS is installed. If so, you can boot from any Linux Live CD (or something like partition magic) and clear the existing partitions.

Yes, Windows complains when I insert the win 2k cd. It sais I dont have any disks :S. But can I insert a partition magic cd and clear all partitions and then insert the win 2k cd?

I think that will work---it's been 2+ years since I installed or used Windows. If partition magic allows it, erase the MBR also. (Or just erase the disk, if that option is there.)

Okey, thanks! I will try that!

Can I use a windows based partition magic or do I need to use some kind of linux based??

Partition magic is a stand alone bootable CD---I don't know what OS it uses, but it does not matter. If you do not already own Partition Magic, then you can get something like GParted free. There are other free disk utilities out there also.

Okey, I will try GParted. I really hope this will work

If you erase **enough** of the disk, it is guaranteed to work.....

Why MS does not make this easier is beyond me.....

Okey, I truly hope this will work.

No, I cant understand that either. Why make it harder then it is?!

I cant get Gparted installed on my computer. Im getting really angry here! Do you have any suggestions how to install it?

I tried apt-get install gparted....... .deb but it cant find the package :S

Im downing it now!

If you downloaded GParted and copied it to a CD, you should set your computer to boot from CD, put the GParted CD in the drive and re-boot. You don't install it to your hard drive.

Please read all of this even though it is not a quick answer.

When you get frustrated, you need to remember basic problem solving techniques and logically work the problem. It make take some time but it will save your sanity and get you a solution.

Starting from your basic problem: Installing Windows 2000 on a box with Debian installed you need to break the problem down into options i.e. braches of a tree, and then solve each option.

The first set of branches (options) for your problem could be
a. Uninstall Debian
b. Delete Debian
c. Remove Debian partitions
d. Install Windows
e. Put in a new or different hard drive

Right now you appear to be trying to remove Debian partitions. While this may appear to be a Linux or Windows problem, it is really a hard drive problem. Think of it as such and the options and solutions become easier and more apparent.

The options for partitioning a hard drive are
a. Use Linux software to delete Linux Partitions.
b. Boot another OS with partition deleting software.
1. FDISK on a bootable DOS media, i.e. floopy, CD, memory stick.
2. Partition Magic on bootable media.
3. Installation disk from hard drive manufacturer which is bootable and has partitioning software.
c. Remove hard drive needing partitioning and install in another machine as secondary drive. Use other machine to load and/or run paritioning softaware, then put hard drive back into original machine.

As one option fails, try the next at the same level or go up a level and try something.

Frustration leads to focusing in on one solution, remember there are multiple solutions to this problem that have yet to be mentioned.

I have done this many times for many years, but now use virtual machines, so these problem are a thing of the past.

At this point I deleted alla partitions with GParted and now when Im trying to install windows it sais that it cant find any harddrives. I cant enter the repair console either though it sais the same thing. Please help me!

I really appreciate all the help I have got and hopefully will get.

OK;

What you may need to do is erase part of the disk. Again, my memory is fuzzy, but I think the Windows installer may see the Linux boot code and balk at that.

From just about any Linux CD, get into terminal mode. From a live CD, just open a terminal---otherwise ctrl-alt-F1 (or F2) to get a command prompt.

Then:
fdisk -l ## this will list the drives seen by the system. Let's assume that yours appears as "sda"

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=63 ##This will take out everything in the first 63 sectors--boot code, partition tables, EVERYTHING

As I stated earlier, there a lots of utilities running around for erasing hard drives. And there is always this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/247804/EN-US/

found here:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=0026834...%3A1&sa=Search