Hello all. I am currently running Fedora 16 on my Dell lappy and I'm trying to install Windows XP to a partition that I created during the Fedora installation. The problem is that XP setup is not recognizing ANY of my partitions. Rather, it shows my disk as one big chunk of unallocated space.

I discovered that part of the problem may be that my disk is formatted in the GPT partitioning scheme. Apparently, Windows XP 32 bit can only read MBR. There is a description of how to convert your disk from GPT to MBR here www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/mbr2gpt.html but it indicates that there is a chance of data loss because MBR format requires small gaps of space in front of logical paritions to hold their partition descriptors. This makes me very nervous about the conversion. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to proceed in order to avoid data loss? What other reasons could there be for XP is not recognizing my partitions? Any input would be much appreciated!

I think it will be very hard. Give a look at this page!

To avoid the risk of data loss you don't need other suggestions, you need a backup. Then delete all partitions and install Windows first, then Fedora. Alternatively install XP in a virtual machine.

I'd put this first and make the other suggestions be the alternatives.

I don't think that you have so many possibilities.
I know that reinstalling an entire OS can be really a pain, but if you don't have a particular configuration (e.g. you use your Fedora just like a simple Desktop and not as a Server) I think that a backup and a new installation can be the best choise here.

with xp going END OF LIFE hopefully very soon

install it in a VM
MS only is supporting XP service pack 3
xp,xpsp1,xpsp2 are DEAD

if this was windows 7 i would say dual boot

Hi,

I just did a install of Xp and went through all the sp to sp3. No problem! M$ decided to support Notebook/Netbook Xp installs which will be Sp3 along with security updates. Desktop OS;

Thanks very much for the input everyone. It was great getting so many responses in such short order. I think that running XP from a virtual machine is a good option. However, this being my first linux installation, I have installed/uninstalled a bunch of stuff and done many other things I'm sure that has contributed to things slowing down. This may just be a GUI issue because I have an Nvidia card and I may not have installed that sucker very cleanly either. So, I'm gonna go with the full wipe.

I originally installed linux first because I couldn't get a Windows CD (well, and I wanted linux). There seemed to be evidence that all would need to do is install Windows to an open partition and reinstall grub. Alas, Fedora's integration of a new innovation in disk scheming caused unforseen complications.

Indeed, XP is very close to death. It is free to me right now though. However, I am a student, so I would be able to take advantage of the $64.99 deal for Windows 7. Are the security and compatibilty issues significant enough to warrant the transition to Windows 7. Keep in mind, $65 is a lot of money for me. Also, if I download Windows 7, will I be getting an iso file or some other means of doing a clean install? Otherwise, I really don't feel like paying. Thanks again!