Windows won't install after Ubuntu installation

[Timeraner]

I tried installing Ubuntu on my old pc to see if it would speed up, but it got worse.
I tried installing something older to see if it would be faster; I then tried to install windows 2000 on the pc, but it would not recognize the cd. It would show the Ubuntu grub menu, then boot ubuntu. I tried running the ubuntu live cd, and I formatted the hd, but i still cannot install windows. Did I mention I had windows xp installed before? The XP cd I just used on that computer to install no longer works on that pc. But it does on all my other pcs. I tried installing DSmallLinux, but just as with windows, the cd is not recognized. No bios settings have changed, and I can still boot from the Ubuntu live cd. Also, I would like to be able to fix it without disassembling the pc, as I am inexperienced with computer hardware.


HELP!!

[raymondh]

I tried installing Ubuntu on my old pc to see if it would speed up, but it got worse.
I tried installing something older to see if it would be faster; I then tried to install windows 2000 on the pc, but it would not recognize the cd. It would show the Ubuntu grub menu, then boot ubuntu. I tried running the ubuntu live cd, and I formatted the hd, but i still cannot install windows. Did I mention I had windows xp installed before? The XP cd I just used on that computer to install no longer works on that pc. But it does on all my other pcs. I tried installing DSmallLinux, but just as with windows, the cd is not recognized. No bios settings have changed, and I can still boot from the Ubuntu live cd. Also, I would like to be able to fix it without disassembling the pc, as I am inexperienced with computer hardware.


HELP!!



Here is the release notes for 8.04 LTS which is the oldest, supported version. You may want to browse through it and compare the requirements with your system specs.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/804

I tried running the ubuntu live cd, and I formatted the hd, but i still cannot install windows.

When you reformatted, you wiped out any existing data. Which partition did you reformat? Did you reformat the whole hard drive? If so, you then deleted XP.

The XP cd I just used on that computer to install no longer works on that pc. But it does on all my other pcs.

Is it a original XP install disc or a recovery disc?


Let's take a look at your disk. In livesession mode (using liveCD... without any changes to your system), access a terminal (appplications > accessories > terminal) and type

sudo fdisk -l

that's a small L and not a number 1.

Kindly post the output.

Thanks.

[Timeraner]

I am currently away from the computer, but I can try wednesday.
I know I got rid of XP, that was the point of installing Ubuntu.
I used the XP install disk, the same I used to install it in the first place.
And no, there are no partitions or os's on my hd. I think I may have a corrupted
MBR or something like that. I can boot using floppy disks; the Microsoft website
has floppies to install a SP0/1/2 CD, but not a SP3 disk like I have.

[Wiebelhaus]

The optical drive is obviously malfunctioning , reading some discs and not others or reading one before but not now , it's painfully obvious and they are crazy cheap now , replace it.

[Timeraner]

Also, the computer has 2 cd drives, a cdrw and a dvd rom, and neither will boot.

[Wiebelhaus]

Also, the computer has 2 cd drives, a cdrw and a dvd rom, and neither will boot.

I assumed you set the boot device in the BIOS , correct?

[Timeraner]

That was the first thing I tried. But they were the same as the last time I installed using the cds. I even tried making it check the hard drive last, which didn't help. I'm going to try one last thing; Win2k lets you boot setup from floppies, but you still have to use a cd.

[Timeraner]

It seems to be the computer will only read real cds; it read ubuntu and win98, but not my other copied cds such as winXP (i have a legit license key) or win2000 (this one too). Thank you all for trying to help, but I'm probobly trashing the computer. It's old anyway!

Or maybe I could re-install win98 and sell it on craigslist...

[oldos2er]

Before you trash it, see if there's a BIOS update. I have no idea whether or not that would help with the CD booting problems, but it's worth a try.

[Timeraner]

I found a genuine copy of the XP cd, and the installation was a sucess. For some reason it's not as slow as it was before. Thanks for your help!

(I couldn't find a firmware/bios update, old omputer "Designed for Windows 98/ME")