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October 16th, 2007 18:00
RESOLVED - Windows XP will not install Optiplex GX260 - LINUX FILESYSTEM
I have 2 Optiplex GX260s I purchased used from a university. One is a slimline, the other is a mid-tower. Both hard drives were wiped by the university. Both will not install Win XP. When the install CD is inserted, "Press any key to boot from CD..." is displayed. Then "Setup is inspecting your hardware configuration" is displayed for about 5 seconds. Then the display goes blank and the HDD light remains on steady. The PC will remain in that state and not install. I have left the machine on overnight to see if anything would happen. Here is what is strange: 1. The WinXP install disk works fine on another machine. (home built) 2. Fedora 7 linux installs and runs fine. (Ubuntu does not) 3. BOTH PCs have the same issue which leads me to believe that it is not a hardware issue with the machine. Any suggestions? I suspect it is something with the Dell hardware configuration but what? Thanks.
Message Edited by jporter182 on 10-17-2007 06:15 PM
Message Edited by jporter182 on 10-17-2007 06:15 PM
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hgeist
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October 17th, 2007 18:00
jporter182
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October 17th, 2007 22:00
I was able to figure out the problem. Win XP doesn't seem to recognize the hard drive because of the Linux filesystem. I needed to reformat the hard drive to NTFS before XP would install. I found this out because out of desperation, I put in a Windows Vista install DVD. It started and I used the command line to format the hard drive to NTFS. The command line utility I used was "diskpart". If you don't have a Vista Install disk, you could maybe use a boot floppy with DOS and use FDISK. Formatting the hard drive to FAT32 would probably work as well.
If you think you may need help with this, just reply and I will try to give you some guidelines. Good Luck
Here are the steps I used.
1)Run Vista install DVD
2)Click "Repair System" (or something to that effect)
3)Command Prompt (runs "DOS" from DVD)
4)Type diskpart ENTER
5)Type LIST DISK to view the hard drive(s)
6)Type SELECT DISK # (# is the drive number from the LIST DISK display, probably 1)
7)Type LIST PARTITION to view partitions, there will probably be 2
8)Type SELECT PARTITION # (replace # with the partition number probably 1 or 2)
9)Type DELETE PARTITION
10) Repeat step 8 and 9 if you have additional partitions. (WinXP may install at this point, but I went ahead and formatted with diskpart)
11)Type SELECT DISK # (replace # with disk number, type LIST DISK again if you have to find the number)
12)Type CREATE PARTITION (I believe it will ask for a size, and come up with the max size, but I'm not sure)
13)Type SELECT PARTITION # (replace # with partition number, probably 1)
14)Type FORMAT FS=NTFS (should begin formatting, may take a while to complete)
15)Once the partition is formatted, you may restart the computer with the Win XP install disk, it should begin the installation fine.
Hope this helps. I was stumped for a while.
Check this out for Diskpart info.
http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1241594,00.html
If you don't have a Vista disk, you may want to try FreeDOS, or one of the BOOT or PARTITIONING tools listed here
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173743
I did try BartPE and the did not work for me, the same error as the WinXP install disk.