Installing XP Problem

divine · 12-07-2009, 17:58

Having a juggle around of the PCs while my parents are away and to cut a long story short this has led to me putting a 160GB IDE drive in my old 3500+ machine as the primary HDD.

This was in two partitions, one was about 100GB and the other about 50GB. The 100GB partition has about 20GB worth of data on it that is being carried over from the old PC, the 50GB partition is empty.

In XP Setup, these show up as C: and D:, D: being the 50GB one I wish to use.

So first off I just tried to install it (it was already NTFS) and XP said no, not compatible it needed space on this disk, and listed the disk I was trying to use.

So I deleted the partition and recreated it and tried again. Still no.

From what I can gather, it's probably only going to let me install to the 100GB partition for a reason I cannot fathom. Is there anyway I can make it use the partition I want?

Blighter · 12-07-2009, 18:02

It can't just be saying no? Is there a error message or anything?

divine · 12-07-2009, 18:04

"not compatible it needed space on this disk, and listed the disk I was trying to use."

5 minutes and i'll try again and type out the message.

divine · 12-07-2009, 18:14

To Install Windows XP on the Partition you selected, Setup must write some startup files to the following disk:

152626MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi [MBR]

However this disk does not contain a Windows XP compatible partition.

To continue installing Windows XP, return to the partition selection screen and create a Windows XP compatible partition on the disk above. If there is no free space on the disk, delete an existing partition, and then create a new one.

To return to the partition selection screen press ENTER

...so yeah, wtf, that is the disk i'm using and it should have plenty of space?

divine · 12-07-2009, 19:50

*sigh*

Just spent an hour ****ing about getting all the back up on the 50GB part so I could delete the 100GB partition and it STILL says the same thing. FFS.

Mark · 12-07-2009, 20:00

It's not on a SATA/AHCI/RAID controller is it? I didn't ask because (a) I assumed you'd know about that and (b) the hardware looked like it might be too old anyway.

divine · 12-07-2009, 20:24

The board has RAID apparently but it's disabled in the BIOS.

I can't be arsed to be honest, I'm just going to buy a new one. It's not worth the aggro for the sake of £30.

12-07-2009, 17:58	#1
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	Installing XP Problem Having a juggle around of the PCs while my parents are away and to cut a long story short this has led to me putting a 160GB IDE drive in my old 3500+ machine as the primary HDD. This was in two partitions, one was about 100GB and the other about 50GB. The 100GB partition has about 20GB worth of data on it that is being carried over from the old PC, the 50GB partition is empty. In XP Setup, these show up as C: and D:, D: being the 50GB one I wish to use. So first off I just tried to install it (it was already NTFS) and XP said no, not compatible it needed space on this disk, and listed the disk I was trying to use. So I deleted the partition and recreated it and tried again. Still no. From what I can gather, it's probably only going to let me install to the 100GB partition for a reason I cannot fathom. Is there anyway I can make it use the partition I want? __________________

12-07-2009, 18:02	#2
Blighter Dubious Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Northampton Posts: 1,571	It can't just be saying no? Is there a error message or anything? __________________ Look at your signature, now back to mine, now back to yours, now back to mine. Sadly, yours isn't mine. But if you stopped writing about other things and made this your signature, yours could be like mine. Look down, back up. Where are you? You're on Boat Drinks, reading the signature your signature could be like. I'm on a computer. My Blog \| More Outdoors \| MSN \| Email \| Call Me

12-07-2009, 18:04	#3
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	"not compatible it needed space on this disk, and listed the disk I was trying to use." 5 minutes and i'll try again and type out the message. __________________ Last edited by divine; 12-07-2009 at 18:08.

12-07-2009, 18:14	#4
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	To Install Windows XP on the Partition you selected, Setup must write some startup files to the following disk: 152626MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi [MBR] However this disk does not contain a Windows XP compatible partition. To continue installing Windows XP, return to the partition selection screen and create a Windows XP compatible partition on the disk above. If there is no free space on the disk, delete an existing partition, and then create a new one. To return to the partition selection screen press ENTER ...so yeah, wtf, that is the disk i'm using and it should have plenty of space? __________________

12-07-2009, 19:50	#5
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	sigh Just spent an hour ****ing about getting all the back up on the 50GB part so I could delete the 100GB partition and it STILL says the same thing. FFS. __________________

12-07-2009, 20:00	#6
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	It's not on a SATA/AHCI/RAID controller is it? I didn't ask because (a) I assumed you'd know about that and (b) the hardware looked like it might be too old anyway.

12-07-2009, 20:24	#7
divine Moonshine Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Southampton Posts: 3,201	The board has RAID apparently but it's disabled in the BIOS. I can't be arsed to be honest, I'm just going to buy a new one. It's not worth the aggro for the sake of £30. __________________

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode