I wanted to try Linux, so I installed Kubuntu on a new hard drive and I’m fed up with it and would now like to install Windows on it.
I tried erasing it with DBAN which is an ISO file, but I couldn’t successfully burn it to a disc. I tried burning it on with ISO Recorder and it kept eating my discs and I tried burning it with CD Burner XP (which DBAN recommends) and it kept telling me I didn’t have an empty CD in my burner (I tried several different CDs).
Does anyone know how I can do this? I want to put Windows ME that I have from Recovery discs on it and then install my Windows XP upgrade over that.
Is the problem that a Linux bootloader is appearing? If so, installing Windows should wipe this away. The bootloader is normally stored on the Master Boot Record (MBR) and is 512 bytes at the very start of the disk.
Most operating systems install their own boot loader (aka boot record) when you install.
Alternatively, if you still have Linux installed you can wipe the mbr. These instructions will show you how to, but use at your own caution. This will wipe out any other partitions on that disk. If it’s just got Linux then it’s ok to do this.
Become root (either login as root or through “su” and the root password)
Open a shell (aka terminal, command prompt)
Type
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1
You should get a message along the lines of “512b IN 0b OUT”
Reboot. You should now find the computer shows a message like “NO OPERATING SYSTEM”
This works by writing 512 bytes (bs=512 count=1) of zero data (if=/dev/zero) to your first IDE disk (of=/dev/hda) effectively zeroing out the master boot record.
But, as I said your Windows install should clear this anyway.
Do you have a Windows CD? You should be able to boot to CD, format the HD, then run the windows installer. The windows installer is built-in to the CD.
Your utilities CD(s) that came with your PC should handle this nicely; you also might be able to run your WindowsXP upgrade CD, but not sure if you need the full WindowsME install to run the upgrade… been a while since I’ve run an XP upgrade as I usually buy full versions of XP and install from that.
I have three Windows ME Restoration CDs that I got when I purchased this PC six years ago from Gateway. I have to start with disc #2 to install.
I put the CD into the drive and kept pressing F2 at start up so I could get the message to go to Windows or Install Windows. I picked ‘Automatic Installation’ and during ‘Image Restoration Status’, I got this message:
Cause Gateway likes to be difficult? That’s the disc the Operating system restoration program is on. Disc 1 is drivers and disc 3 is backup of applications.
I have a burner that is separate from my CD drive, if that’s what you mean.
I finally got DBAN burnt to a disc, but I’m having trouble deleting the contents of my hard drive with it. I keep getting to a point where it says ‘searching for floppy discs’ and then it keeps searching. Maybe it assumes I burnt the program using a floppy and not a CD?
Hmm. Some optical drives get flaky when run w/o Windows… thought yours might be one of them.
I’m not really sure what to make of your situation… things which should work apparently don’t.
If I were you, I’d try installing your XP upgrade. It should install, but ask you to insert ‘qualifying media’ at some point. A WinME install CD counts; I’m not sure about a set of OEM install disks, but it’s worth a try.
At the very least, the XP install process allows you to format your HD, so you could get that done.
OP: It is almost certain that your WinME restoration disks will NOT produce a successful install over Linux. If you had actual WinME (or any other Windows version) install disks you’d be fine.
In non-technical terms, the restoration disks are assuming some Windows chunks from the original Windows install are still intact on the hard drive. Your Linux install trashed those chunks & the restoration disks have no way to recreate them.
This is incorrect. Gateway restoration disks format the hard drive, and install a fresh operating system. All previous data is gone; OS, applications and data files. That is why you can use them to install the OS on a new hard drive if the original crashes.
Cool. Learn something every day. Most OEM restore disks are pretty lame.
If true, though, I wonder why the OP is still having trouble. Once he gets a sucessful boot from the CD, the contents of the HD ought to be 100% immaterial.
That is my question as well. From what I gather, he is not getting a successful boot from Disk #2, which he says is where the system recovery program resides. This is different from my experience with Gateway recovery disks, but there has been a wide variety of recovery methods used over the years, so I can’t rule it out.
Can you not boot and install from the WinXP upgrade disk? It should, at a certain point in the installation process, ask for evidence that you had a prior version of windows, but installing ME first should not be necessary.
Well, I finally got DBAN to work and I erased everything on my hard drive. That took about four hours. I then tried to install Windows ME on the disc, and I got the same damn error message! I guess I didn’t need to delete Linux after all. I tried to install it three more times and during the third install I grabbed the phone and started dialing Gateway support at a cost of $2.95 an hour. As I’m on hold, the damn installation worked this time! Today, I successfully partitioned the hard drive (which was scary for a noob like me) and attempted to install Kubuntu on the empty partition. As it’s in what seems like the last seconds of being fully installed, the power on my entire block goes off and my UPS just happened to stop working last week. I’ve come to a conclusion: Satan is just fucking with me! It is not possible that all of the things that could have gone wrong the past few days could have been mere coincidence. I appreciate all of your help though.
