Failed Partition Attempt

[Vrrllyrr]

Hello,

I was looking into partitioning my HDD to run XP and Vista separately (Vista was pre-loaded and I wanted XP on it), and while discussing this with one of my "tech savvy" friends, he told me that all I had to do was have the OS disk in the disk drive when I restarted my computer. :D

Trusting fool that I am, I did just that. I was led to a screen with prompts that asked me if I wanted to partition the C drive (I said "yes") and then said it had to format the drive ("yes" again). I waited a bit while it formatted and then supposedly installed. :0

Then I got a message that the computer would reboot. I waited patiently as it did so. And as it started up again, the install process seemed to begin again as well. I followed the prompts, waiting for any difference or confirmation of an install, but it just repeated the previous steps.

I went the the above process about 4 times before I thought maybe having the disk in the drive after the reboot was the problem. So I took the disk out after all the installation steps, but before the reboot. When the computer started up then, it just went to the initial HP logo screen that has some F-Key options at the bottom ("boot", "set up" and "recovery"), switches to a black screen with a flashing cursor, shutdowns and goes through it all again.

I'm at a loss as to what to do. I don't trust the advise of my "tech savvy" friend any longer and I just want my computer to work. :(

I never received a Vista OS disk when I bought my computer and I all I have is an XP OS disk that came with my Gateway Laptop in 2001.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Welcome to the Windows Forum.

I hope your tech friend told you also to make a backup before starting into unknown waters. If so, just restore the backup, and everything will be as it was before you started. However, I have the suspicion that he did not tell you that.

Now I am not sure what your intention was: replace Vista with XP, or create an additional partition with XP beside Vista (a multi-boot system)?

Please clarify, and someone will be along with some additional info.

[Vrrllyrr]

Welcome to the Windows Forum.

I hope your tech friend told you also to make a backup before starting into unknown waters. If so, just restore the backup, and everything will be as it was before you started. However, I have the suspicion that he did not tell you that.

Now I am not sure what your intention was: replace Vista with XP, or create an additional partition with XP beside Vista (a multi-boot system)?

Please clarify, and someone will be along with some additional info.

Thank you for the welcome,

My ideal plan was to replace Vista with XP, but my friend had led me to believe that would be more trouble than it was worth and told me about partitioning as a way to get around Vista. If there's a way to be just be rid of Vista, I'd like that, otherwise, a separate drive with XP on it will work for me too.

Thanks again.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

While a multi-boot system with more than one Windows installation is usually easy to achieve, the rule is that the older Windows version (XP) must be installed first, followed by either the same or newer version. So installing XP after Vista would be more difficult, especially since Vista uses a different boot manager than previous Windows versions.

As for your current situation, I believe you have already overwritten (formatted) the Vista partition? If so, you should be able to simply install XP in that partition. You will need to remove the install disk before the reboot, and all should be well. If not, post again, and someone with more installation experience than me will assist you (I have only installed XP 3 times in the last 6 years).

[Seshomaru Samma]

I would suggest parting the disc into at least two partitions (C and D or even E)

You can install your OS on the first partition ( c) and put your data on the other partition(s), if your OS even breaks your data will be safe .

check this for a Windows XP HOWTO

[Vrrllyrr]

While a multi-boot system with more than one Windows installation is usually easy to achieve, the rule is that the older Windows version (XP) must be installed first, followed by either the same or newer version. So installing XP after Vista would be more difficult, especially since Vista uses a different boot manager than previous Windows versions.

As for your current situation, I believe you have already overwritten (formatted) the Vista partition? If so, you should be able to simply install XP in that partition. You will need to remove the install disk before the reboot, and all should be well. If not, post again, and someone with more installation experience than me will assist you (I have only installed XP 3 times in the last 6 years).

Thanks everyone!

Got my PC running again. I even figured out how to track down most of the drivers.

I appreciate everyone's help and now I have a chance of finishing my school work on time :D