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Jan 19th, 2008
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Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

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First, Hello everybody.

I have an old laptop that I can not 'restore' with the WinXP cd.
Seems the loaded XP is newer than the cd that came with it.
Since it was almost toast I tried anyway and the product code is invalid.

I want to load ubuntu (cd on its way from on-disk.com) and I want to know if I need to re-format or will running install with the ubuntu cd just overwrite the XP?

I made a MSDOS boot disk on my desktop (also XP) but I can't remember how to get from the A promp to the C prompt and then the command(s) to reformat C.

Any point in the right direction would be appreciated.

TY, Thomas
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

yeah you can get ubuntu to either shrink the xp partition, or take over the whole disk. It can all be done from the ubuntu cd.

The problem of it complaining that the cd is older is because the cd is probably sp1 or the original xp, and the installed system is probably sp2. You can integrate sp2 into the disk and make a new one using a slipstreaming tool called "nlite".

whats the problem with the product key?
Last edited by jbennet; Jan 19th, 2008 at 8:15 pm.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by jbennet ...
yeah you can get ubuntu to either shrink the xp partition, or take over the whole disk. It can all be done from the ubuntu cd.

The problem of it complaining that the cd is older is because the cd is probably sp1 or the original xp, and the installed system is probably sp2. You can integrate sp2 into the disk and make a new one using a slipstreaming tool called "nlite".

whats the problem with the product key?
That's exactly what I want, a laptop with no Micro$soft on it. :-)
You nailed it, the OS was sp1 orig but I upgraded to sp2 at ms upgrades.

I lost the envelope and have 2 disks (lap and desk), they are marked ver 1.0 and ver 1.1 so I assumed the older laptop was 1.0 (nope... invalid product key on the bottom sticker).
Didn't work with disk 1.1 either.
So I was stuck with the laptop picking up in the middle of setup every time I turned it on.
msdos boot floppy got me to the A prompt but I can't seem to cd to C
(cd\ c:, cd\ c, every way I can think of to 'syntax it')

But if ubuntu will take over the entire drive I should just have to boot from the D drive.
Thanks for the info, particularly this...
Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by jbennet ...
yeah you can get ubuntu to either shrink the xp partition, or take over the whole disk. It can all be done from the ubuntu cd.
Last edited by tdm850rider; Jan 20th, 2008 at 10:51 am.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

yeah ubuntu is a livecd (it runs in ram) - you can boot the whole OS from the cd and try it out before installing - the icon for the installer is on the desktop.

I used it to shrink my XP partition and create a linux partition in the free space made.

512 of ram is reccomended. You want version 7 by the way (gusty gibbon) not version 6 (long term service edition) as it has better multimedia and driver support.
Last edited by jbennet; Jan 20th, 2008 at 11:26 am.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

cd\ c:, cd\ c

you don't need to change from A:\ to c:\,just type, format c:\

having said that ,you don't need to use it anyway as was said above the ubuntu cd will boot and install and format the drive anyway.
Last edited by caperjack; Jan 20th, 2008 at 12:10 pm.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

What's all this "cd"...if you are at the a: prompt and you want to go to the c drive just type c: and then enter. Maybe I'm missing something here. Either way - you'll enjoy the live file system...pretty cool stuff.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

Oh I do like that www.pugetsystems.com link... I do I do I do...
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by jbennet ...
yeah ubuntu is a livecd (it runs in ram) - you can boot the whole OS from the cd and try it out before installing - the icon for the installer is on the desktop.

I used it to shrink my XP partition and create a linux partition in the free space made.

512 of ram is reccomended. You want version 7 by the way (gusty gibbon) not version 6 (long term service edition) as it has better multimedia and driver support.
Getting ver 7.10, ram is no prob, I am running 2GB of it.
It should be interesting running a 'new' OS after 3.1, 95, 98 and then XP.

This problem is solved as far as I can see, please add another 'solved' to your tally.
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.



should run perfectly then

if you had less than a gig i was going to warn you that the livecd mode may seem sluggish but with 2gb it will be able to load the whole CD into ram so it should run at at a similar speed to an installed system.

Google "ubuntu restricted formats" to get media codecs etc... set up
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Re: Problem re-formatting C prior to Ubuntu install.

Click to Expand / Collapse  Quote originally posted by antioed ...
What's all this "cd"...if you are at the a: prompt and you want to go to the c drive just type c: and then enter. Maybe I'm missing something here. Either way - you'll enjoy the live file system...pretty cool stuff.
Im sure you know this but will post it anyway ,cd is use to change directory ,used if windows was installed on the drive like," cd c:\win98" then you could run commands in the win98 folder like setup.exe !! so if you were install win98 on a computer you could first copy the win98 folder from the cdrom to the hard drive and run setup from the harddrive instead of the cdrom ,faster data transfer ,and you will never be asked to insert the win98 cd at any time after the install !!
Last edited by caperjack; Jan 20th, 2008 at 5:19 pm.
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