Hello, this is a kind of backwards problem I'm having compared to most people... You usually get people having problems installing who are going from Windows to Linux, but my problem is the other way around.

I have a machine which did have RHEL 4 Update 1 installed on it. I want to re-install Windows XP, not dual boot, just a straight install (don't worry I'm not turning my back on Linux in favour of Windows, god forbid...I've got a bigger better machine which is going to be my Linux rig!).

What happens when I try to install Windows XP from a bootable CD-ROM, it comes up with "Setup is inspecting your computers hardware..." then the screen goes blank, and it just hangs. The monitor signal light stays on.

I've tried doing an fdisk /mbr on the hard disk to wipe out any traces of GRUB, but it still won't have it.

I'm currently running Memtest86 on the system to see if there are any problems in that department. Does anyone have any ideas why this might be happening?

My Machine's Hardware Details are:

Athlon XP2800+
MSI KT6 Delta FISR Mobo
PATA Maxtor DiamondMax 9 80gig Drive (IDE)
1024MB Corsair XMS Memory
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro

Many Thanks

try using a 3rd party software to format the windoze installation drive. my collegue had the same problem. he formatted the drive with partition magic and then tried installation from bootable windowsxp cd. it worked then.

Common windows xp installation issue probably video related. So trying things with the
harddrive just a waste of time.

Bios update usually fixed this issue

it has to do with how windows xp initializes the video with agp if you have anything other
then 4x it gets pissy and can do this.


This problem is known to occur with Nvidia based video cards MS knows about it they don't
care to fix it so there you go.



BTW i used to be a support rep for windows xp this is why i know this but in any case now
that my job is in India you can call a lovely Indian rep who will screw up your computer more for
$35 *removes self from soap box*

RHEL has overwritten your MBR and now windoze does not recognize it. This has been addressed on LQ dozens of times.

You can wipe the whole drive including the MBR if you want with.
Boot up with a LiveCD and zero the whole drive. This is good for getting rid of virii and other disk problems. It zeros the MBR and all.

You can put in your XP install disk and repair the MBR with the recovery console if you can get that far.

I like to just zero the whole drive.

LIES LIES I SAY !!!!!!!!!!!

seriously tho maybe it will help who knows.... Windows xp is full of voodoo anyway.