[traceet]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that formerly had Ubuntu installed. I attempted to install Windows XP Professional Edition, and now it won't boot properly.

I used Gparted to create a partition (MSDOS). Then I put in my Windows XP CD and followed the installation steps. After the installation, I tried to boot from the Internal HDD and all I got was a black screen with a blinking cursor. I followed the instructions in this thread:

http://www.geekstogo...h-blank-screen/

... up until the fixmbr command in the recovery console (I ran chkdsk /r twice, first time 1 error was found and fixed, second time no errors, still came to the blank screen). Now when I attempt to boot from the Internal HDD I get a message "No bootable devices - F1 to retry F2 for setup F5 for diagnostics" and when I put in the Windows CD and try to open the recovery console, it does not detect the hard drive.

There is absolutely nothing on this computer that I want or need, it's basically just a junker that I'm messing with, so I'm not stressing. But I'm really competitive, and if I quit now, then the computer wins! and I can't let that happen Thanks in advance for your help.

[Advertisements]

Also, when I try to boot from my Ubuntu USB I get a message "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>/system32/hal.dll"

[traceet]

Also, when I try to boot from my Ubuntu USB I get a message "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windows root>/system32/hal.dll"

[phillpower2]

traceet

If there is no data on the HDD that you want can I ask why you used "Gparted to create a partition (MSDOS)."

Your best approach would be to delete any partitions on the HDD/format the HDD using the full NTFS option and then create a new partition for XP, each of these steps can be performed by using an appropriate OS disk and you do not need any third party software for what you are attempting to achieve, the full instructions are available here

In addition to the above can I ask if the XP Pro disk that you have is the appropriate Dell OEM disk for your computer or another type, this because Dell OEM OS disks differ from the full retail and OEM disks provided by Microsoft in that there is Dell specific software on their OEM disks.

If you are not using a Dell OS disk that is intended for your computer please tell us the exact type of disk that it is you have.

Also worth a mention in case that you are not aware and for others that may read your topic, once XP has successfully installed the Dell drivers must be installed and in the correct order or you may encounter problems, driver installation order details available from here

[traceet]

Hi phillpower2, thanks for your help. The general answer to your questions is that I don't know exactly what I'm doing The specific answer is that when I first inserted the Windows XP CD, it only got to the second screen and said "Windows does not detect a hard drive disk". Through my internet research, I was lead to believe this was because Ubuntu formats the hard drive in a different way then Windows formats the hard drive, and that creating a partition formatted in MSDOS would solve this problem and the Windows CD would then recognize the hard drive.

The Windows XP CD that I have is a retail copy that my husband bought for another computer but never used. So it is not a Dell specific CD.

I took a look at the instructions in the link that you provided, but I still cannot get past the second screen of the Windows setup that says it does not detect a hard drive.

[phillpower2]

Hello traceet

If the HDD is not detected by the BIOS it is either not enabled in the BIOS, it has no OS on it or it is bad, what you need to do if it has not been done already is set the boot sequence in the BIOS so that the DVD/CD drive is the first boot device and the HDD is the second boot device, to do this restart the notebook and keep tapping the F2 to access the BIOS, find the boot options and set them as described above, save the new settings and then press Y to confirm acceptance of the changes, if you are able to do this and install XP you must then install the Dell drivers as detailed here

DBan is another way of formatting the drive, again the boot order must be changed first as detailed above, DBan from here