ChatterBank4 mins ago
Hdd Cannot Be Found
I have one HDD, on which I had Win XP and Ubuntu. There was so much junk on both, I decided to delete the partitions. It was also a good opportunity to give more space to Ubuntu, as Win XP runs offline for picture-processing. I have been informed that I should install Win XP, then Ubuntu. BUT, instead of the usual offer of configuring a Win partition from the XP CD, nothing happens. Can anybody explain this situation and offer a workaround? Thank you.
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Ivor4781, Win 10 is not free for clean installs, only for upgrades, and then only for upgrades to 7 and above.
gl556tr, Your question is a bot confusing, as you've headlined it "HDD cannot be found". Do you actually see that as an error message?
How did you delete the original partitions? The normal way would be to boot with the CD, delete the partitions, create a new one and install the OS, but you imply that you deleted them somehow prior to booting with the CD.
gl556tr, Your question is a bot confusing, as you've headlined it "HDD cannot be found". Do you actually see that as an error message?
How did you delete the original partitions? The normal way would be to boot with the CD, delete the partitions, create a new one and install the OS, but you imply that you deleted them somehow prior to booting with the CD.
Thanks for the replies to date. __**
ivor4781, I realise that Win XP is a long-discontinued OS. But, as they say, "never change a running system". Hence, I kept this and installed Ubuntu to test it. Now, I want to re-install this Linux OS on a permanent basis, using Win for applications that work better there. Anyway, the later Wins, in particular Win 10 are hardly versions one can praise and depend upon.
TheChair, I booted with a LessLinux and then started PartedMagic, with which I deleted three partitions: one containing Win XP; one Ubuntu 14.04; one about 2 GB in size. I have a nagging feeling that was where the MBR -- or Unix equivalent -- was stored. Perhaps this is the reason when installing Win XP that it could NOT "find" the HDD, if the latter was missing?
Now, I need some means of installing these two OSs. I attempted installing Ubuntu, but kept on getting the error message: "No root file system is defined. Please correct this from the partition menu." Haven't a clue what to do here - but I tried installing a swap file, then ext4 in /boot. Both resulted in the same error.
ivor4781, I realise that Win XP is a long-discontinued OS. But, as they say, "never change a running system". Hence, I kept this and installed Ubuntu to test it. Now, I want to re-install this Linux OS on a permanent basis, using Win for applications that work better there. Anyway, the later Wins, in particular Win 10 are hardly versions one can praise and depend upon.
TheChair, I booted with a LessLinux and then started PartedMagic, with which I deleted three partitions: one containing Win XP; one Ubuntu 14.04; one about 2 GB in size. I have a nagging feeling that was where the MBR -- or Unix equivalent -- was stored. Perhaps this is the reason when installing Win XP that it could NOT "find" the HDD, if the latter was missing?
Now, I need some means of installing these two OSs. I attempted installing Ubuntu, but kept on getting the error message: "No root file system is defined. Please correct this from the partition menu." Haven't a clue what to do here - but I tried installing a swap file, then ext4 in /boot. Both resulted in the same error.
gl556tr.
I had a similar problem many moons ago. It's almost definitely connected to the fact that you deleted the partitions under Linux rather than using the XP boot disk to delete them. As I said, it was yonks ago that it happened to me, but I will rack my brains and try to remember how I fixed it. (Got a feeling that it involved putting the drive as a second disk in another Windows machine, and low level formatting it.)
I had a similar problem many moons ago. It's almost definitely connected to the fact that you deleted the partitions under Linux rather than using the XP boot disk to delete them. As I said, it was yonks ago that it happened to me, but I will rack my brains and try to remember how I fixed it. (Got a feeling that it involved putting the drive as a second disk in another Windows machine, and low level formatting it.)
Right. As I recall, the problem is caused because Linux replaced the MBR with GRUB. If you boot using the XP CD, and can get to the recovery console, once you get to a command prompt, type Fixmbr and press enter.
After that's run, reboot again and with any luck you can delete/create partitions and then install XP.
Can't promise this will work - as I said, it's been a very long time!
After that's run, reboot again and with any luck you can delete/create partitions and then install XP.
Can't promise this will work - as I said, it's been a very long time!
Installing XP you should do first. The info at the following link guides you through the process of creating the necessary partition for XP using the XP Installation CD.
http://
If the initial XP installation process lists any partitions, either known or unknown format, use the XP installation utility to delete them all. Then create a new partition for XP to install with enough space for itself and also leave an unused partition to be later created by the Ubuntu installation.
e.g HDD = 80GB. First create XP partition 30GB. Then, create second a partition 50GB and leave it ready for Ubuntu installation to utilise later. Now proceed with the XP installation to install onto the 30 GB partition.
https:/
http://
If the initial XP installation process lists any partitions, either known or unknown format, use the XP installation utility to delete them all. Then create a new partition for XP to install with enough space for itself and also leave an unused partition to be later created by the Ubuntu installation.
e.g HDD = 80GB. First create XP partition 30GB. Then, create second a partition 50GB and leave it ready for Ubuntu installation to utilise later. Now proceed with the XP installation to install onto the 30 GB partition.
https:/
Thanks everybody for a range of answers. I have copied them, so that I can print them and thereby follow the assorted suggestions better.
There was mention of booting using the XP CD, and getting to the recovery console. The last time I attempted this, the CD refused to allow anything to show - the HDD was virtually "invisible". In spite of this, I will close down my USB Flash drive and see whether WIN XP does perform something magical...
There was mention of booting using the XP CD, and getting to the recovery console. The last time I attempted this, the CD refused to allow anything to show - the HDD was virtually "invisible". In spite of this, I will close down my USB Flash drive and see whether WIN XP does perform something magical...
pinkyboyid has told you the correct sequence for installing Ubuntu alongside XP.
When you try to install XP, are you using an XP install disk or a repair disk ? The reason I ask is that the 2Gb partition you deleted was not the MBR (which is 512 bytes) but may have been a recovery partition - one you could use to return the computer to it's factory defaults.
If you are trying to install XP with a repair disk, you are not going to get anywhere with the installation. You would have to get hold of an XP installation disk (and if it happens to be an upgrade disk, you will also need a disk for an earlier version of Windows as well).
When you get XP installed again, check which version of it you have. If it is SP1 or SP2, you can still get SP3 from the Microsoft web site if you want to install it.
When you try to install XP, are you using an XP install disk or a repair disk ? The reason I ask is that the 2Gb partition you deleted was not the MBR (which is 512 bytes) but may have been a recovery partition - one you could use to return the computer to it's factory defaults.
If you are trying to install XP with a repair disk, you are not going to get anywhere with the installation. You would have to get hold of an XP installation disk (and if it happens to be an upgrade disk, you will also need a disk for an earlier version of Windows as well).
When you get XP installed again, check which version of it you have. If it is SP1 or SP2, you can still get SP3 from the Microsoft web site if you want to install it.
Well, gentlemen, I'm burning the midnight oil. Must crack this to have the dual OS up and running ASAP.
TheChair, alas I DID delete a 2 GB partition; if it was a recovery partition - c'est la vie. But I cannot follow why a Win XP installation CD did not "see" the HDD. I certainly could not get anywhere near to using "fixmbr" or "fdisk". No matter, as I have now flattened the whole HDD (Ux & Win XP partitions). So, I somehow need to create initially the MBR.
I may well resort to using the HDD as a second disk in another Windows machine, and low level formatting it. BUT__ how is that carried out?
SlackAlice & pinkyboyid & Huderon:__I have Win XP SP 2 and SP 3 as installation CDs. So, no problems there, ONCE MBR is created. But HOW? ___The first link to theeldergeek.com showed all the screen-shots familiar with dealing with partitions prior to installing Win XP. __BUT - getting a blank HDD? Without the MBR, I am unable to "SEE" the now-empty HDD. ___The second link will be worth reading, once I have tackled the MBR and Win XP installation. Thank you.
TheChair, alas I DID delete a 2 GB partition; if it was a recovery partition - c'est la vie. But I cannot follow why a Win XP installation CD did not "see" the HDD. I certainly could not get anywhere near to using "fixmbr" or "fdisk". No matter, as I have now flattened the whole HDD (Ux & Win XP partitions). So, I somehow need to create initially the MBR.
I may well resort to using the HDD as a second disk in another Windows machine, and low level formatting it. BUT__ how is that carried out?
SlackAlice & pinkyboyid & Huderon:__I have Win XP SP 2 and SP 3 as installation CDs. So, no problems there, ONCE MBR is created. But HOW? ___The first link to theeldergeek.com showed all the screen-shots familiar with dealing with partitions prior to installing Win XP. __BUT - getting a blank HDD? Without the MBR, I am unable to "SEE" the now-empty HDD. ___The second link will be worth reading, once I have tackled the MBR and Win XP installation. Thank you.
Now, I have started PartedMagic from an USB flash drive. This brings with it a variety of programs. GParted shows -- as expected -- the empty partition = not allocated. Clicking on NEW, the drop-down list of file systems shows no MS-DOS/MBR. But there is a NTFS, which I will need for Win XP (but this partition can of course be defined when installing this OS). Until I have this MBR, there's nothing that can be done. So....
I have opened a Root Terminal (ROXTerm). I have seen that FDISK works and managed to use "fdisk -c[='dos'] /dev/sda" to create a DOS partition. With "fdisk -l /dev/sda" this was indeed verified: one sector of size = 512 bytes; Disk label type = dos. But when I wrote "fdisk -u /dev/sda" to display the units, I was told that "Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them." But, there is no explanation of a command/options offered for this. Anybody know how?
TheChair, even if I did connect this empty HDD to another Win PC, how does one perform a low-level format?
I have opened a Root Terminal (ROXTerm). I have seen that FDISK works and managed to use "fdisk -c[='dos'] /dev/sda" to create a DOS partition. With "fdisk -l /dev/sda" this was indeed verified: one sector of size = 512 bytes; Disk label type = dos. But when I wrote "fdisk -u /dev/sda" to display the units, I was told that "Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them." But, there is no explanation of a command/options offered for this. Anybody know how?
TheChair, even if I did connect this empty HDD to another Win PC, how does one perform a low-level format?
You said you had deleted the partitions, but now you say there is an NTFS partition showing ?
Is that partition shown as the active partition ? If not, try making it the active partition and see if that will allow you to install XP.
Failing that, you could try using Dban (www.dban.org) to wipe the disk completely and then set about installing XP from scratch. You will need access to a computer which can write a CD to download of and use Dban though, and it will take a long time to complete wiping the disk. Be warned - there was a reference to Dban not working on newer machines, so this may not work for you.
Now a bit of an explanation of the MBR thing.
You had a PC with XP installed in a partition. That partition was set to be active, and the MBR pointed to it as the place to load the OS. When you installed Ubuntu in a second partition, it did not change the active partition, but did alter the MBR to make it load from the operting system installed in the Ubuntu partition.
Ubntu uses GRUB as the boot loader and GRUB is installed in the Ubuntu partition. When GRUB starts it displays a list of the operating systems available for you to choose from, XP being one of them.
If, like me, you decided after a while you didn't want to bother with Ubuntu and formatted the partition it was in, your machine wouldn't boot any more. That's because the MBR was changed to start everything from the partition Ubuntu was in, and it's no longer there.
Fixmbr repairs the MBR so that it points back to the active partition, which is the one where XP was installed originally.
Is that partition shown as the active partition ? If not, try making it the active partition and see if that will allow you to install XP.
Failing that, you could try using Dban (www.dban.org) to wipe the disk completely and then set about installing XP from scratch. You will need access to a computer which can write a CD to download of and use Dban though, and it will take a long time to complete wiping the disk. Be warned - there was a reference to Dban not working on newer machines, so this may not work for you.
Now a bit of an explanation of the MBR thing.
You had a PC with XP installed in a partition. That partition was set to be active, and the MBR pointed to it as the place to load the OS. When you installed Ubuntu in a second partition, it did not change the active partition, but did alter the MBR to make it load from the operting system installed in the Ubuntu partition.
Ubntu uses GRUB as the boot loader and GRUB is installed in the Ubuntu partition. When GRUB starts it displays a list of the operating systems available for you to choose from, XP being one of them.
If, like me, you decided after a while you didn't want to bother with Ubuntu and formatted the partition it was in, your machine wouldn't boot any more. That's because the MBR was changed to start everything from the partition Ubuntu was in, and it's no longer there.
Fixmbr repairs the MBR so that it points back to the active partition, which is the one where XP was installed originally.
Good morning, Huderon. No - I still have NO partitions, as I have yet to somehow create the very necessary MBR. I had opened a terminal command ROOT editor, which facilitates using FDISK and the like. A disadvantage here is that I know of no other! I can understand your being misled about the existence of a partition, with so many FDISK commands written close together. What I wrote in sequence was the following. Given options were vague, though.
NOTE: my HDD has NO partitions.
fdisk -c[='dos'] /dev/sda to (prepare to) create a DOS partition
fdisk -l /dev/sda list partition table (so it must have been "prepared"
But this remains in memory, until I write it. But, I am at a loss, as to how to do so, there being no precise indication of HOW. A browse brings Linux++ info, but nothing on putting MBR on to a virgin HDD.
NOTE: my HDD has NO partitions.
fdisk -c[='dos'] /dev/sda to (prepare to) create a DOS partition
fdisk -l /dev/sda list partition table (so it must have been "prepared"
But this remains in memory, until I write it. But, I am at a loss, as to how to do so, there being no precise indication of HOW. A browse brings Linux++ info, but nothing on putting MBR on to a virgin HDD.
Sorry, I was away for the weekend.
Back to the MBR. The MBR is created when you partition a disk. You said "GParted shows -- as expected -- the empty partition = not allocated." which means there is something (a partition ?) on the disk.
That would explain why the XP install disk doesn't seem to "see" the hard disk - if you are expecting the XP install to give you the option to partition the disk and it doesn't, it's because the XP install is not detecting a hard drive with no partitions.
I mentioned DBAN before, but that is the nuclear option. You could try using the MiniTool bootable partition manager first though. The download site is http://
Back to the MBR. The MBR is created when you partition a disk. You said "GParted shows -- as expected -- the empty partition = not allocated." which means there is something (a partition ?) on the disk.
That would explain why the XP install disk doesn't seem to "see" the hard disk - if you are expecting the XP install to give you the option to partition the disk and it doesn't, it's because the XP install is not detecting a hard drive with no partitions.
I mentioned DBAN before, but that is the nuclear option. You could try using the MiniTool bootable partition manager first though. The download site is http://
Gentlemen, I bring you tidings of great joy, which will be to you all so generous with your time and often detailed suggestions to my every query.
**_I am writing this from a newly installed Ubuntu. The link to DBAN was not used, as the wipe it performs was unnecessary on the virgin HDD. But the MiniTool Partition Wizard Boot Disk performed like a dream. Repair MBR followed by Restore Partitions and all was to behold.
I was immediately able to install Win XP & Ubuntu.
Thank you all and Long Live TAB!
**_I am writing this from a newly installed Ubuntu. The link to DBAN was not used, as the wipe it performs was unnecessary on the virgin HDD. But the MiniTool Partition Wizard Boot Disk performed like a dream. Repair MBR followed by Restore Partitions and all was to behold.
I was immediately able to install Win XP & Ubuntu.
Thank you all and Long Live TAB!
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