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VISTA WON'T DIE!

Forum Windows Vista : Vista General Discussion - VISTA WON'T DIE!

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organics1   06-21-2007 at 07:55:53 PM

:evil:
Yes!!! I WANT TO KILL IT!!!
But Gateway won't let me. VISTA came pre-installed on a new laptop.
I wiped the hard drive with dban. When I tried installing my XP Pro, it said that the program was not being allowed to access the hard drive. I suspect Host Protected Area is to blame. Blancco demo software wouldn't erase HPA. The full version of Blancco cost more than a new hard drive.
Though I'd like to be sure a new drive will take care of the problem.
Gateway refused to help...saying the contract only calls for VISTA support.
Anyone got a clue about what I can do?

VISTA has cut production in my little graphics enterprise by at least 60%. Hours on the phone with MS techs to solve simple problems. I'm not a programmer. I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!
Help me, Obewan...wherever you are!

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Riser   06-21-2007 at 08:58:13 PM
- 0 +

Heh.

What OS are you trying to install? You could boot to your XP CD, delete the partitions and then install whatever.. I assume XP.

Reply to Riser
organics1   06-21-2007 at 09:31:14 PM
- 0 +

Riser,
Machine came with VISTA pre-installed. But after I erased hard drive, I was not able to install XP Pro, which said it was not being permitted to access the hard drive. I followed the instructions in XP for deleting partitions, but it won't do it.

Thanx

Reply to organics1
The-Darkening   06-21-2007 at 10:15:28 PM
- 0 +

Boot from a floppy and erase all partitions using fdisk. You can also remove the hard disk and place it on another pc. Then, you can wipe it completely.

I know one thing. Vista is not immortal. I saw to that several times already. :x

Reply to The-Darkening
organics1   06-22-2007 at 12:05:41 AM
- 0 +

TD,
I'll give it a shot tomorrow and report back.
Thanx

Reply to organics1
Zoron   06-22-2007 at 06:05:50 AM
- 0 +

What was the EXACT error message? Your wording is a bit vague. I have never heard of XP being "denied" access to a hard drive, unless that drive was locked and password protected. My guess is that XP cannot see the drive and you need to load additional drivers for your hard drive controller via the F6 option and a floppy drive.

Reply to Zoron
pkellmey   06-22-2007 at 01:18:01 PM
- 0 +

I just recently saw this message with a SATA drive. Man. drivers fixed the problem.

Reply to pkellmey
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