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Help with reinstalling windows
I had to install FreeBSD on my Dell Inspiron 9300 for a school project, but now that I got credit I want to reinstall windows. I pop in the windows install cd, change the bios to boot from window. Screen prompts to push any key to boot from CD, I push something, screen says: "Searching for hardware configuration", message goes away, and I get blank screen for 10 minutes. Anyone have ideas?
- Hey Tony,
Thanks for the help...here's the thing though, I managed to reformat and install Linux Fedora Core 5 over Free BSD and then try to install Windows XP over that, but it still didn't work. I think it's booting from my XP install CD ok because I can hear the CD drive spinning, but after it gets to the step where it says "Detecting hardware configuration", it stops working. I'll try installing 98 and then getting XP on it and let you know how that works.
Thanks for the advice.
tgsmith
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Posted June 19th, 2006 01:00
Bouncyman,
Your FreeBSD installation most likely killed the Dell System Restore by Symantec Partition. While this can be recovered, it is much easier to do a clean install. I suspect your problem is caused by the presence of either the Utility partition or System Restore Partition or remnants thereof. Also, unplug all external devices (USB and PCMCIA) when doing a clean install.
You should be able to use the FreeBSD CD to remove all partitions, or use a Windows 98SE CD to boot up and completely remove all existing partitions. Then you can retry doing a clean install with the Windows XP CD.
Once you remove all existing partitions, you should be able to press F12 while the Dell logo is on the screen, select your CD-Drive as the boot device, and perform a clean install of Windows XP. Let us know what you find.
Tony