need help with Mandrake 9.0

ok I installed Mandrake 9.0 since I do not have any other real OS. I have a burnt copy of Windows XP but it will not boot when asked for system disk. I know the Cd works because it works on this System. So I was planning on intalling Windows XP once I get Linux installed. but now I see that linux is very different from Windows. I can not access my Cd-Rom or my cd burner. so how am I suppost to install windows XP (or anything) If I cant access the CD roms?

If your going to have a dual boot system you should really install Windows first. If you have access to another computer you can download XP boot disks from here.

OS

Watch what you say about what might be illegal software. All disscussions of such topics are not allowed on these forums and could get you temporarily suspended or get your thread locked. I'll just assume your XP disk is a legal copy.

If your XP CD doesn't boot, you need to examine options of using boot floppies. www.bootdisk.com


You won't want to install any windows after having installed linux, as it will hose the linux install and leave the linux partitions as wasted HDD space. And once you clear those out, your windows will still be in the middle of the HDD instead of at the front of the HDD, which makes it somewhat slower. Best to wipe linux off, then install XP, then install linux again if you're planning to dual-boot.

If you want to mount your cd-rom or floppy drives, you should look at your /etc/fstab fiole and make sure it is correct. If you post the contents of that file, we can offer you advice.

You can also manually mount your cd drvies as root with a command typed in a terminal, but we want to fix it so they mount when you load a cd. Look for terminal or konsole or something similar in your "start menu". Or just press ctrl + alt + F1. That'll give you something like a DOS prompt where you can enter unix-like commands and get powerful results.

What usually works to mount a floppy or cd drive isd to insert the disk, right-click the icon for the drive on your desktop and choose mount.


Here's how to get the contents of your fstab file and post them for us to examine if the mounting doesn't work.

open a terminal
more /etc/fstab
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How do i completely wipe Linux off? I read that u type fdisk /mbr in a dos window. but where is the dos window? hod do i get to it.

blowing away linux

To blow it away easily, you will need to boot from a windows bootdisk, cd, or a linux cd or bootdisk and use a utility like fdisk, disk druid, cfdisk, etc to remove all the partitions.

Re: OS

Arkaine23 said:

If you want to mount your cd-rom or floppy drives, you should look at your /etc/fstab fiole and make sure it is correct. If you post the contents of that file, we can offer you advice.

Click to expand...

/dev/hdc1/exts defaults 1 1
none/dev/pts devpto mode-0520 0 0
dev/hdc6/home ext3 defaukto 1 2
none/mint/cdrom supermount dev-dev/hda.fo-aut.ro

the last lines are the same as the last one I typed except change cdrom to cdrom2 and Floppy

The font was so small ... I did the best I could.

If I go into this DiskDrake or something I can turn the Hdd into one big FAT.. should I do that?

partition utilites

hmm your cd's should mount automatically when you put them in in the drive.

If you want to get rid of it all you have to do is remove every partition. XP will let you do this during the install. Or you can boot from your mandrake CD and go through the install process, then remove all the partitions and abort the install procedure.

when I type in the ide/hda command it goes to open with... I right click and eject ..thats about all with the CD-rom.. I put windows Xp in and nothing happened so when I try to enter CD-rom1 it says that I do not have permission