Ubuntu Removal Fresh Install of XP Fails

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moonpup

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Sep 9, 2013
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I have an old Toshiba Laptop w/XP sp3 that I did a dual install of Ubuntu. With all the tweaks, I could never get the video driver to take (Nvidia) (I can create a profile, install everything, get to the login page, advance to a blank splash page). I uninstalled Ubuntu and then could not run Windows. Given that XP is still supported, I scrubbed the hard drive and reinstalled windows through my discs (XP SP1). Now I just have a blinking cursor. Can someone tell me how to get this working again? Please. I have an old (failing) hard drive that boots XP just fine, so the computer seems to be okay, it must be the newer hard drive still holding onto linux.

My best case scenario is that I would like to have the dual boot work. But, in order to get there I have to figure out how to get this drive recognized with the windows XP that I have installed. Then figure out Ubuntu and the video driver issue. Two part problem I guess, but XP is my priority for now.

Thanks.

 
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stillblue
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Alabalcho

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Jan 13, 2011
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Boot XP from the CD, and go to repair mode,recovery console (can't remember the exact steps)
From command prompt (C:\), execute
Code: 
fixboot c:
fixmbr c:
This will restore XP' MBR code onto your hard drive.

Note: The last time I have performed that was probably five years ago, so may be a parameter or two might be wrong
 
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moonpup

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Hi Alabalcho,
Thanks for your reply, my original XP discs do not give me the option for the recovery console. When installed they default to reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling XP. I do (if I cancel out of the progression) get to an A: drive prompt. Tried to change drives, but it won't let me shift to C. (Never was that good with DOS, if that is even what I am typing into.)
Thanks for your help...I'll keep trying.

Any chance I can fix the MBR using another computer? Say one running another XP version or one with Windows 7?

Ryan
 
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stillblue

stillblue

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You can download a recovery console from microsoft and burn it to a cd. Just google recovery console windows xp download and you'll find it. Boot from it, and fixmbr .
Another handy tool is the UBCD (UltimateBootCD), it has a tool to replace the mbr with a generic one which is fine for you.
Or, if you have a live ubuntu USB install boot-repair, it'll fix you up https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

Now, why your computer is doing this is another question. I should think your XP install went bad and a retry is in order. Ubuntu is not windows, at no point is it going to interfere with you choosing to install something else. Your XP install, assuming you told it to format the whole drive, should have wiped it out completely. If you installed to a particular partition then it would have erased the GRUB bootloader that was giving you the options at boot and replaced it with it's own MBR, in that case Ubuntu is still there and GRUB can easily be restored by boot-repair, but XP should have started anyway.
 
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moonpup

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Hi Stillblue,
Since I have tried to reinstall XP with my original discs (SP1) the recovery console won't work as far as I know it only works with SP3. The computer boots with an old XP SP3 drive, although it is dying. The drive I am trying to use is newer and I had XP on it and did a dual install with Ubuntu. With all the tricks I could find on the web I could never get it to work...the splash page was blank. My final solution was to use ccleaner and scrub the drive and reinstall per above (making a clean install of XP). I am stuck with the cursor. If you think this is something on my hard drive, how do I remove it permanently?
Thanks for your assistance and knowledge.
 
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stillblue

stillblue

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Once you've reformatted the drive Ubuntu is gone. There is nothing else to remove. No secret hidden caches or flags. Gone. You need to focus on the hard drive itself and your windows install disks.

Out of curiousity, what nvidia didn't work with what version of Ubuntu?
 
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moonpup

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The windows disc performs the installation (as it has before) only to boot to the blinking cursor. Am I missing something with the hard drive, or do you think it is now toast? But, the next comments might be of more interest.

I last installed Ubuntu 12.04.3 as a stand alone version once I couldn't get windows to comply. It installs and boots, lets me create my profile, connects to my wireless, but once I log into it...it is a blank splash page. If you could give me guidance on installing just Ubuntu, I have no problem ditching XP altogether (of which doesn't work now anyway). I installed current Nvidia drivers, uninstalled them, went generic, nothing I did worked with Ubuntu. (Nvidia GeoForce 4 420 Go chip.)

My ultimate questions are: Why can I install Ubuntu on this disc and it will boot, but not the XP? Is there a way to utilize my running, albeit dying, XP SP3 hard drive and make an image?

Again, thanks for your help.
 
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stillblue

stillblue

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I'd suspect the install disks have moved on to a better place. If I were you, I'd download the newest Ubuntu, 13.04 and put it on a USB or DVD. Each new version gets closer to "It just works" so that is always a good idea for a new install.

Did you try nouveau-firmware for nvidia? It's in synaptic's repositories.

Here's a good discussion that I think may help you. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2145809
I've no personnal experience with nvidia but your go-to here for that would be skittles. I'll pm him for you to get him in.
 
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