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I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my son's PC. Then I bought a copy of Windows XP and tried to install it, replacing one OS for another.

I have followed the advice given in many other similar questions of this site to create the correct type of partition to install XP along side Ubuntu. Every time I tried installing XP, it gave me the blue-screen and indicated that the hard drive was corrupted.

The upshot is I now require to GRUB rescue to get the PC started up as it won't boot, or boot up from the original installation USB.

Is there anyone able to help me with the process of getting the PC up and running again Ubuntu and/or be able to install XP?

Mateo
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user123679
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  • Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! Question like this that are open ended should be posted in the Ubuntu Forums, please see the FAQ for what is on-topic here, thanks! – Flimm Jan 16 '13 at 14:12
  • @Flimm A note to others with similar problems (and to reviewers, as this now appears in the reopen queue). We should keep this question closed, but it's not "open-ended" (even before the edit) and wouldn't be a good question for the Ubuntu Forums. The issue here is that (1) there's way to little information given here about what was done and what happened for anyone to likely answer it, (2) it's mainly about a Windows XP blue screen problem, not Ubuntu, and (3) to the extent it can be interpreted as on-topic, it's answered here (applies to XP too). – Eliah Kagan Sep 09 '13 at 17:30
  • @EliahKagan as far as the question can be understood, there are several possible problems. 1. Faulty disk/memory/hardware. 2. Trying to install in the ext* partition without formatting into NTFS 3. I recall that until SP1 Windows didn't support partitions over 127GB. If he's trying to install Windows into a +127GB partition the BSOD is likely to occur. 4. Trying to install in a extended partition. Windows just don't like to be relegated. I don't know if the answer is within the scope of AU, and for me is fitting into [su] better than here. – Braiam Sep 10 '13 at 14:38

2 Answers2

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First of all, are you sure it's Windows XP? Second, if so, why did you go with Windows XP and not at least Windows 7? If possible, I recommend exchanging your Windows copy for a new one, because XP has already reached the end of its mainstream support cycle, and will be completely end of lifed in just over a year. You'll also be unable to leverage a good portion of the technology on your son's brand new computer unless you're running a modern operating system.

That said, typically, the blue screen of death indicates a hardware problem. I recommend the following to ensure there's not a hardware issue, first (if you're not comfortable dealing with the hardware, take it to someone who is; ideally, the person who built it for you):

  1. Reseat the graphics card and memory
  2. Reseat the cables to the hard drive (both on the motherboard side and the hard drive side)
  3. Run a hardware check on both the hard drive and the memory (I recommend Hitachi's Drive Fitness Tes for the hard drive and Memtest for the memory)

Doing the above will rule out any hardware-related issues.

If you're still having problems, then you can try the following:

If you want to install Ubuntu and Windows side by side

I recommend installing Windows, first. Buy a Windows 7 or Windows 8 installation disk and try it. If you're still getting the blue screen of death, then try Darik's Boot And Nuke to wipe the hard drive completely clean, so the installation disk doesn't freak out (in a working system, the installer won't care what the format of the hard drive is, but Windows can't read the default Linux filesystems, so it will come back as "unknown" or see it as blank). Be sure to tell Windows to only use part of the hard drive, so you don't have to resize the partitions later.

Once you've installed Windows, you can boot into the Ubuntu installer. It should detect the presence of the Windows install and give you the option to install Ubuntu next to Windows, in the available nonpartitioned space. Once you install Ubuntu, you will be able to choose which one to boot into on startup.

If you want to install only one or the other

Simply follow the instructions above for the one you want to install. In this situation, though, just use the whole disk.

Video drivers in Linux

Without any information, I can only speak in generalities with regard to your graphic card issues. That said, here's what I know about graphics cards in Linux:

  1. (If you have an Nvidia card) Nvidia provides proprietary graphics drivers and display manager. To install the proprietary driver, simply go to "Software Sources" by opening the Unity dash (using the Ubuntu logo in the top left of the screen, or by pressing the "Windows"/Super key) and type in "Software Sources". Then, go to the "Additional Drivers" tab and choose a graphics driver to install (I recommend the one marked "proprietary, tested"). Once you've finished the installation, you may need to change your resolution. To do that, open the Unity dash and start typing "Nvidia". It will find the display manager. Open it and find the "X Server Settings" in the list and adjust your screen resolution as necessary (use "Apply" to test your settings). Once done, click "Save to X Configuration" to make the changes permanent.
  2. (If you have an ATI/AMD card) ATI/AMD provides proprietary graphics drivers and Catalyst. Go to ATI's website and select your card and for the OS select "Linux x86" (if you installed Ubuntu 32bit) or "Linux x86_64" (if you installed Ubuntu 64bit). If you don't know whether you installed 32 or 64 bit, you can check in the "System Properties". Just download the package from the ATI website and install it like you would on Windows.
Shauna
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What you need to do is a clean install Windows XP.

Delete all partitions and create a new one in the unpartitioned space. Format it to NTFS and this should format the disk completely and therefore remove Ubuntu.

To Do
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