D4l2kn1x0n

Right, I had a problem installing Mandrakeliux...I lost my whole hard-drive and Windows OS! : (

So, what I want to do is re-istall windows and start from scratch again! However when I insert the CD there is no auto-run so I am not sure how to start the installer. If I try running SETUP.EXE it asks me what program I want to open the file with!

Can anyone help me on how to get this going?
Thanks very much

batty_professor

Are you starting the computer, booting from the windows CD? You may need to set bios to boot from CD.

D4l2kn1x0n

ok in wich case how would i bring up the bios at start up of [mandrake]...

When installing mandrake over the origanal XP The mandrake booted from cd w/o change of the bios hence my fear on the defult being cdrom,flop,hdd0 etc etc...

if the bios ..is like that however at this current time the laptop is not at hand + i cant figure out how to enter the bios however simple it is..

When mandrake first strats it starts on a prompt screen with linux or failsafe modes .... and i cannot press delete? at start up in order to edit like win o/s..
so ....

What we ultimately want to do is, wipe the hole hdd, windows install, drivers needed, then install mandrake on a partition wich will be made with partition magic before we gohead with the install ...

The windows disc were using is a backup copy... an iso of a offical copy as the disc was damaged and has some errors due to serface scratches long ago so as for the cd_r disc .... is this the problem ?

I have used the disc before on my win o/s and it works fine...
and alos auto propts at ins of cd...

Also we are running on kde if that helps at all appart from that i simply do not know how to run this dispite our efforts....

so i guess to sum it up

A. how do i enter the bios as it dont seem to be the same as windows//[del]? ...Starts on auto prompt with a selection of failsafe mode and normal start linux ...¿?¿

B. what can i do if its allready set as defult is it the disc format ?¿?
being an iso and mandrake having trouble mounting the image...

C. and any links for guides/walkthroughs with the duel boot installs ¿?¿
so we can read through and make sure we dont come against any suprisses.

as for the origanal drivers and cd's that would have come with the laptop there was none ... its a 2nd hand japanise Sony VaiO with an english version of xp pro origanaly.. and drivers where found and installed manualy.. the Usb also will not detect the usb data key however reconizes usb support ...wich has lost me...

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thx allot for ya help guys words cannot discribe the apprication :-)

batty_professor

First things first, being to get the computer to boot from the CD. This has to be before the bios seeks the O/S form the HDD. Entering the bios should be the same regardless of which O/S is on the HDD. The delete key should do it, start holding it as soon as it powers up. If the unit is a compaq however, there may be some different approach needed. If the unit has floppy and CD support at the same time, you could boot from a 98 startup floppy, and then type E:setup at the prompt to start the windows installation.

D4l2kn1x0n

Hmm, F2 was for getting into BIOS but we still have issues!
On the Boot menu it has:-

Optical Drive
Hard Disk Drive
Floppy Dive
Network

The hard drive has a + next to it. All other drives dont! when I try and run the CD after disabling all the drives except Optical, I get the message "Operating System not found" Is there something else I need to do?

Is this a problem with the CD perhaps! But we have tried 2 different CDs!

Thanks for all your help!

batty_professor

look for something in bios that says "load setup default...." then set to boot from cd and exit. I can't see how anything that has happened could cause any sort of hardware issue. So this should work.

Oh yeah, my bad. You must "save and exit" after making bios changes, of they don't take effect.

Skie

Do you have a floppy drive on that laptop? If you can set it to boot from a floppy, you can use Smart Boot Manager to force the laptop to boot to the CD.

Smartboot manager: http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/download.html

charles@pcfix

It sounds like you have your self in a pickle. Are you trying to start the windows CD from inside Linux? That won't work. My advise would be if you have a floppy drive in your computer, get a Linux boot disk, you can download this, just google it. Then at the command prompt us FDISK to partition and format your drive. Then boot to your windows install cd and install windows on the partition you choose, after your windblows is installed. boot to your Linux install cd and follow the directions. put Linux on the free space left on your drive. let it install grub as the boot loader. I have an abbreviated set of instructions on how to use fdisk on my site. http://www.pc-fix.info/windows/Fdiskbasic/index.html
Good Luck
I know this is a glazed over set of instructions but mayby enough to get you started.

batty_professor

I've given this a little more thought, the hard drive has a "+" next to it, meaning the bios recognizes the device as properly recognized. The other devices not having the "+" are not recognized/configured correctly. If you rt. click the devices it may give you options to configure or test each one, depending on the laptops bios vendor and version. This is typical of IBM, others may vary. The lack of the "+" next to the CD rom says the bios can't see it though it's in the list by default. If you get the configuration corrected, the "+" will return next to the device. Holds true for floppy too.