Windows XP Installation Problem

raoul_1101

raoul_1101

Member
Hello everyone,
I'm troubleshooting an XP installation and can use a little help..
I just installed XP on a system (That also had Vista and Windows 7). However, after the first time the system reboots, nothing boots. It goes through the BIOS and passes POST, but I just get a blank black screen when it tries to boot. I'm going to repair the Vista OS to restore the computer to a working state, but I'm wondering what could be causing this problem... Bad Master Boot Loader maybe?
 
It does sound like it could be a problem with the Master Boot Loader. Did you install XP over Vista on the same partition?



fmw said:
Too many operating systems on a single drive maybe?
Click to expand...

You can install quite a few OSes on the same physical drive. Triple booting XP/Vista/Win7 Beta is not out of the question. You could throw a Linux flavor or two in there for good measure as well.
 
No, I put them on different partitions. But the problem has now changed, so I'll re-explain whats going on. Thanks for the help thus far.

I completely wiped both HDD because nothing would boot correctly, and the installation repairs did not work right (even Vista and 7). Sooo, again, I wiped both drives and decided to start over, doing XP first just to make things easier. So, right now, I have this:
  • HDD 1- 120 GB. XP is installed on a 50 GB Partition.
  • HDD 2- 320 GB. Completely unallocated.
My problem, right now, is when I boot into XP. When I open Disk Management, it shows my XP partition as healthy and active, but my second disk, the 320 GB, only shows up as 128 GB Unallocated space.. What happened to the rest of this space? Is there a third party repartitioning tool I could use to maybe find out what happened, or is this XP just not begin capable? Help is appreciated, right now I'm not sure how to go about this problem.
Thanks again.
 
You can install quite a few OSes on the same physical drive. Triple booting XP/Vista/Win7 Beta is not out of the question. You could throw a Linux flavor or two in there for good measure as well.
Click to expand...

Haha, I don't like the taste of Linux. It's bitter and disgusting :D
 
Last edited:
Have you installed SP2 for XP yet, without it there is a maximum limit on HD's of 135GB.
 
raoul_1101 said:
Haha, I don't like the taste of Linux. It's bitter and disgusting :D
Click to expand...

:) No problem. I know it is not fit for everyone's pallet.



TFT said:
Have you installed SP2 for XP yet, without it there is a maximum limit on HD's of 135GB.
Click to expand...

Excellent point. I think this was even "fixed" with SP1 if I'm not mistaken.

Let us know what you come up with Raoul.



raoul_1101 said:
... Is there a third party repartitioning tool I could use to maybe find out what happened, or is this XP just not begin capable? Help is appreciated, right now I'm not sure how to go about this problem.
Click to expand...


Additional thought: It would not hurt to grab the drive manufacturer's specific setup tool as well.
 
Last edited:
Hello all again!
I'm happy to say I've put SP2 on finally, and it turns out it did fix the problem. I'm installing SP3 as we speak, for security's sake.
God, making a freash install of XP is so tedious.. I've forgotten how much work it is after working so much with Vista..
So, onto setting up the triple boot. Shouldn't be too too hard with XP installed first ;)
 
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