I have formatted XP & installed Ubuntu with Ubuntu CD. Now I want to remove Ubuntu & install XP again.
I tried XP CD. After pressing enter to install XP, the next screen you have to press F8 to agree to the licence but nothing happens when I press F8.
How can I install XP now?
Thanxx
Naren
Open Recovery Console from the Windows CD. Type fixmbr and run the command.
I did what you have suggested & also formatted the harddisk with gpart. But the same prob, pressing F8 nothing happens.
1 thing if it could be of any needed info.
When gpart formatted the harddisk the partition was shown as unknown. I right clicked & clicked new. Every info was perfect. I only changed file system to NTFS & also tried with FAT 32 but the same prob.
One thing more, even when I changed the file system to above mentioned thing & when gparted changed it, the info for system which shows partition, file system, free space, used space, etc info, under partition it shows dev/sda. Could this be prob coz I guess this is linux related?
Thanxx
Naren
If you DONT have data on this harddrive anymore, maybe format it to a clean one(!) partition harddrive (ntfs). Then there couldnt be a problematic partition anymore. This procedure is a based guessing. Its not usual to have this problem, or the need to solve it.
If this is your first ubuntu try, in the past there havent been problems like this when i used it. But with the last version i got an unexpected thing when i choosed the cd drive as boot. Ubuntu loaded from the installation on the hard drive?
And now i read this.
EDIT: If you read about fxmbr command, read also about fixboot command, as this is mentioned often in the context of fxmbr. I didnt use these commands myself, as i had data on the hard drive.
I dont have any data. Only Ubuntu installed now. How to clean format? I guess when I clicked on unknown partition in gparted & formatted it to NTFS file system then it was a clean format? Or clean format is something different? If so how to do it?
Yes this is my first ubuntu installation. Its too slow & my family members find it too confusing, even me too, so want to revert back to XP.
I m trying your suggestion for boot.
Thanxx
Naren
This help is for Win 7, mine is XP.
Thanxx
Naren
Ok, now I have installed only Lubuntu coz Ubuntu was getting hang & I wasn’t able to connect to net.
Now what & how should I try.
Should I first delete the lubuntu partition? How? Then I should fixmbr & fixboot?
I have lubuntu on a CD.
And how to check if F8 is working fine? May be F8 is not working & is the prob?
Thanxx
Naren
Have you seen this “how to remove linux and install windows xp” http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314458
But I dont have a floppy case in the laptop for fdisk or I am not getting the article clearly?
Thanxx
Naren
Under lubuntu there is an option disk utility which shows hard drives, & option to partition or format, should I format from here? And after formatting fixmbr with xp cd?
Thanxx
Naren
Hi naren,
:-La If you have access to a working Windows PC ( XP, Vista or 7 ) then you could try the following :-
Go to the EaseUS website
[url=http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/winpe-bootable-disk.htm]
http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/winpe-bootable-disk.htm[/url]
The software will allow you to create a bootable CD which you can use in your laptop. Once running you can remove all partitions & completely format the HDD to NTFS.
Once you have done this, you can then try the XP install again, and hopefully all will go well 
HTH ( Hope This Helps :-TU )
Bob
I think it’s unlikely to be a problem with partitioning, more likely it’s a keyboard issue. Did you try using the function lock key in association with F8 - it is a laptop?
I formatted the disk with Gparted & Fdisk procedure mentioned in this thread but the same F8 prob.
How differently this method will help?
Thanxx
Naren
How to use the function lock key with F8? Yes its a laptop.
I searched google with F8 prob while installing xp but the solution everyone seems posting is to try with usb or ps2 keyboard. I dont have external keyboard.
Any other way I can try?
Thanxx
Naren
Would you be able to borrow a keyboard from a friend or neighbour just to get XP installed? Or even pop round to a family member or friend with your Laptop and borrow their keyboard to try? - they may even supply YOU with food and drink aswell !!!
P.S
I’ve always found before when trying to re-install windows after trying Linux, that using a ‘Windows’ program to wipe the HDD better, but they should all do the same thing!!
Let us know how you get on
Bob
Neighbours & friends near me all have laptops & no keyboards.
I find a thread in a dell forum. There fn+f8 key is suggested. But that combination too didn’t worked. I checked the bios & fn key is enabled.
3 things I think may be the probs for this.
The harddisk is not partioned well & something related to linux has remained coz of which the setup is not recognizing harddisk. I ran gparted with default things & formatted the harddisk with the file system fat32 & ntfs i.e tried with both file system.
My system is in someway preconfigured i.e whenever I use to reinstall xp it never asked me for xp product key & was automatically activated i.e I never got the option to activate windows during or after install. This is the first time I have installed a different OS i.e linux. May be installing different OS erased the preconfigured things by dell & thats why the setup is not recognizing harddisk, could this be possible?
F8 key is damaged but I dont think so. Any way to check if f8 key is working & not damaged?
Now I will try to format the system again with the windows program to format the harddisk as you mentioned & try to install the xp again. After formatting should I run fixmbr with xp cd? Currently no OS installed & I am on lubuntu with cd i.e try lubuntu without installing.
Thanxx
Naren
The thing you have to remember, is that at the point you are required to press F8, nothing has been written to disk and no checks have been made regarding the platform you’re about to install onto, XP simply copies the initial installation files to memory. Do you have a driver disk for the laptop and/or are you using an XPSP3 installation CD?
I have XP SP 2 CD & drivers CD. But drivers CD doesn’t works on this system. And you can also not copy it to burn another CD as I have tried it with many software & also tried with isobuster every software gives error.
Thanxx
Naren
From what I’ve just read, it’s a known problem with Dell laptops, retail editions of XP and the F8 key, which either doesn’t function at all during installation, or will only work when pressed in conjunction with the fn key, which I suggested in my earlier post.
If, having tried the fn+f8 key combination several times without success, you could try building a slip-streamed SP3 disk using nLite. If I remember correctly, you can specify which installation parameters you wish to have automatically answered, including the licence agreement, thus obviating the need to press f8 manually.