LinuxQuestions.org
Help answer threads with 0 replies.
Home Forums Tutorials Articles Register
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Laptop and Netbook
User Name
Password
Linux - Laptop and Netbook Having a problem installing or configuring Linux on your laptop? Need help running Linux on your netbook? This forum is for you. This forum is for any topics relating to Linux and either traditional laptops or netbooks (such as the Asus EEE PC, Everex CloudBook or MSI Wind).

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 12-30-2003, 02:35 PM   #1
Haggy
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Aug 2003
Location: England
Distribution: Mandrake 9.1
Posts: 4

Rep: Reputation: 0
Formatting a Laptop HDD


This isn't a Linux based question.. but you are the cleverest people I know... so here goes..

I recently purchased a new laptop HDD (today).. but my laptop doesn't have a CD-ROM/Floppy (has them but not working).. So I used this little peice of hardware to convert my laptop hdd so it would fit in my desktop... so anyway I went ahead with formatting the hdd on my desktop, Then installed Windows XP.. when it was all done.. I removed teh HDD from my desktop and replaced it in my laptop... but now when I boot the laptop I just get a blank screen with a flashing _ that's all... it gets past the BIOS bootup but then Windows isn't booting.. I was just wondering if anyone knew anything I could do about this =(!
 
Old 12-30-2003, 04:10 PM   #2
miaviator278
Member
 
Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Al-Diwania, Iraq (deployed)
Distribution: Slackware ONLY
Posts: 237

Rep: Reputation: 30
call Microsoft...

you said you installed xp to it from the desktop?

if so various things are wrong,
1. windows xp thinks it's on a different drive, so the loading program can't find anything,
2. there is no loading program because xp may not have installed it on that drive,
3. xp is setup for the wrong hardware profile

do you get any prompts at all, or just a bios prompt, then a blank screen?

(if you remove xp and installl lin it will work)
 
Old 01-01-2004, 02:02 AM   #3
Vincent_Vega
Member
 
Registered: Nov 2003
Location: South Jersey
Distribution: Slackware, Raspbian, Manjaro
Posts: 826

Rep: Reputation: 31
Put that hdd back in the desktop, copy the XP cd to it for installation, copy a bootable floppy onto the hdd and edit your autoexec.bat/config.sys so that it looks of that drive for the needed boot files instead of the floppy. I had to do this once for a computer that needed a new OS but only had either the floppy or the cd rom. Pain and I forget the details but that's what I did. Check out the autoexec.bat and config.sys files or post them here and I'll see what I can remember. It's not too big of a problem though.

**edit** - actually, the only difference is that I had to install 98 so it's possible that XP could be a little more difficult. What command are you using to format the drive?

Last edited by Vincent_Vega; 01-01-2004 at 02:06 AM.
 
  


Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Partioning and formatting HDD Hikito Linux - Newbie 4 09-11-2004 03:35 PM
Formatting Linux HDD alex101 Mandriva 1 04-25-2004 11:02 AM
Formatting 200GB HDD Problem Phantisy Linux - General 14 03-28-2004 08:12 AM
Help for formatting external hdd !! sudhir Linux - Hardware 4 12-11-2003 11:30 PM
formatting HDD mrengc Linux - Newbie 1 01-10-2003 01:06 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Laptop and Netbook

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:35 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration