Installing XP over Linux

[Kev]

I am trying to install Windows XP on a Dell laptop that currently has Linux
Ubuntu installed. After booting up with the Windows CD in the drive, it
loads various Windows files, but eventually stops on a blue screen message
advising me to run CHKDSK, but won't respond after that. I suspect that
Windows is seeing the Linux partitions as disk corruption, but how can I get
past this?

 

[Daave]

I am trying to install Windows XP on a Dell laptop that currently has
Linux Ubuntu installed. After booting up with the Windows CD in the
drive, it loads various Windows files, but eventually stops on a blue
screen message advising me to run CHKDSK, but won't respond after
that. I suspect that Windows is seeing the Linux partitions as disk
corruption, but how can I get past this?

What is your goal? Do you truly want to install Windows XP "over" Ubuntu
(as indicated in your Subject line, implying wiping the disk, getting
rid of Unbuntu, and performing a Clean Install of XP)? Or do you wish to
configure a dual-boot (which seems to be the gist of the message,
maybe)?

 

[Kev]

What is your goal? Do you truly want to install Windows XP "over" Ubuntu

(as indicated in your Subject line, implying wiping the disk, getting rid
of Unbuntu, and performing a Clean Install of XP)? Or do you wish to
configure a dual-boot (which seems to be the gist of the message, maybe)?

I am intending to get rid of Ubuntu and install Windows only.

 

[Daave]

I am intending to get rid of Ubuntu and install Windows only.

That information is very important!

In that case, whatever currently happens to be on your hard drive is
immaterial. You need to make sure you delete all the partitions (See
Part 2):

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

If you happen to have a separate partition for *data only*, that
partition may remain.

If you get hung up along the way, please tell us at which exact step
this occurs.

Before you wipe the disk, have you copied all your important data?

 

[Daave]

I am intending to get rid of Ubuntu and install Windows only.

Do you have a Dell-branded XP Reinstallation CD? Or a different kind of
CD (like a recovery or restore CD)? Or perhaps a hidden recovery
partition on the hard drive?

 

[Kev]

Before you wipe the disk, have you copied all your important data?

There is nothing on it other than the o/s. I purchased this reconditioned
laptop only recently and have not put it to use yet. Similar models were
available with Vista installed, but Ubuntu ones were significantly cheaper,
hence my choice. I wanted to run XP rather than Vista anyway and I already
have an XP Pro disk. It's a Dell Studio 1537 and evidently it had Vista
installed originally (as indicated by a surviving sticker).

 

[Kev]

Do you have a Dell-branded XP Reinstallation CD? Or a different kind of CD

(like a recovery or restore CD)? Or perhaps a hidden recovery partition on
the hard drive?

If there is a hidden partition, how can I reveal it?

I may be able to get hold of a disk from different model of Dell. Would
that work?

 

[Daave]

Inline.

There is nothing on it other than the o/s. I purchased this
reconditioned laptop only recently and have not put it to use yet.

This is important information, too!

Who reconditioned it? Dell? If not, perhaps it still has a Windows XP
(Home or Pro) Certificate of Autthenticity sticker on it. That COA
sticker is your license and contains a useful Product Key should you use
a *generic* OEM XP (must match the type -- that is, Home or Pro)
installation CD. If you are able to use the *Dell-branded* XP
reinstallation CD, there will be no need to enter the Product Key
because of their System-Locked Preinstallation method they use.

Then again, if Dell reconditioned it and there is no XP COA sticker on
it, then you do not have a license to run XP on it. I am sure others
have successfully used Dell-branded XP installation CDs in this kind of
situation, but it does violate the terms of the license agreement.

Similar models were available with Vista installed, but Ubuntu ones
were significantly cheaper, hence my choice. I wanted to run XP
rather than Vista anyway and I already have an XP Pro disk. It's a
Dell Studio 1537 and evidently it had Vista installed originally (as
indicated by a surviving sticker).

Oops. Should have read that part first!

You only have a license to run Windows Vista on it. As long as
XP-specific hardware drivers exist for this laptop, then it is probably
possible to run XP on it. But it will violate your license agreement.

If there is a hidden partition, how can I reveal it?

Even if there is a hidden partition on it, Vista (not XP) would be
installed when you perform the "recovery" operation. It is normally
accessed by Control + F11 at bootup. If it was reconditioned, even if
there was a recovery partition on it at one time, it may be gone by now.
Do you have a Dell-branded Vista installation CD? If so, it's not
radically different from XP. With some tweaks, you would probably grow
to like it. There are newsgroups and Web forums where people can guide
you.

I may be able to get hold of a disk from different model of Dell.
Would that work?

Assuming that the XP drivers exist, yes (the Dell website has this
information). Then again, it would violate your license agreement.

 

[Kev]

Who reconditioned it? Dell? If not, perhaps it still has a Windows XP

(Home or Pro) Certificate of Autthenticity sticker on it. That COA sticker
is your license and contains a useful Product Key should you use a
*generic* OEM XP (must match the type -- that is, Home or Pro)
installation CD. If you are able to use the *Dell-branded* XP
reinstallation CD, there will be no need to enter the Product Key because
of their System-Locked Preinstallation method they use.

Then again, if Dell reconditioned it and there is no XP COA sticker on it,
then you do not have a license to run XP on it. I am sure others have
successfully used Dell-branded XP installation CDs in this kind of
situation, but it does violate the terms of the license agreement.


Oops. Should have read that part first!

You only have a license to run Windows Vista on it. As long as XP-specific
hardware drivers exist for this laptop, then it is probably possible to
run XP on it. But it will violate your license agreement.



Even if there is a hidden partition on it, Vista (not XP) would be
installed when you perform the "recovery" operation. It is normally
accessed by Control + F11 at bootup. If it was reconditioned, even if
there was a recovery partition on it at one time, it may be gone by now.
Do you have a Dell-branded Vista installation CD? If so, it's not
radically different from XP. With some tweaks, you would probably grow to
like it. There are newsgroups and Web forums where people can guide you.


Assuming that the XP drivers exist, yes (the Dell website has this
information). Then again, it would violate your license agreement.

The laptop was reconditioned by an independent dealer. The Vista sticker is
not a certificate of authenticy.

When I said that I may be able to get hold of a Dell boot disk, I didn't
realise that it would need to be Vista specific. I now suspect that the
hidden partition has probably been removed, as there would otherwise have
been licensing issues.

 

[Daave]

The laptop was reconditioned by an independent dealer. The Vista
sticker is not a certificate of authenticy.

This is what a COA sticker looks like (this one is for XP Pro):

http://dsnimg.dell.com/images/external/images/Portables/inspiron02.gif

Does your laptop have that on the bottom? That would also be your
license to run (presumably) Windows Vista on your laptop.

When I said that I may be able to get hold of a Dell boot disk, I
didn't realise that it would need to be Vista specific. I now
suspect that the hidden partition has probably been removed, as there
would otherwise have been licensing issues.

Not all Dells come with a hidden partition. Still, it's easy to check.

And keep in mind that there are no licensing issues if the Dell
originally came with a license to run Vista. Even if an independent
dealer decides to replace Vista with Linux, the license to run Vista on
it is still in effect.

 

[Kev]

This is what a COA sticker looks like (this one is for XP Pro):

http://dsnimg.dell.com/images/external/images/Portables/inspiron02.gif

Does your laptop have that on the bottom? That would also be your license
to run (presumably) Windows Vista on your laptop.

No it doesn't have this. The only Vista sticker is on the top and looks
like this:
http://i5.tinypic.com/2mch6ps.jpg

 

[Daave]

No it doesn't have this. The only Vista sticker is on the top and
looks like this:
http://i5.tinypic.com/2mch6ps.jpg

Understood.

One thing you might want to try is Linux Mint 9. It is based on Ubuntu,
but it's much better IMO, much more user-friendly. See:

http://www.linuxmint.com/

You could still install Vista or XP as well. Obviously there are
licensing concerns. Still, if you want to be compliant, you can still
purchase the installation CDs/licenses if you really want.

 

[Kev]

Many thanks to all who responded, both to the original question and to the
various follow-up questions. Everything is more or less sorted now. An
excellent forum.

Kev