Hard Drive wont boot in Windows XP Post Linux Mint10 SOLVED

[MohsinShah]

Hi,

I have recently installed Windows XP on a Hard Drive which previously had Mint 10.

The laptop it was in only recognises the Hard Drive when Mint 10 is installed and when XP is installed it doesn't get past the BIOS Screen.
When I install Mint 10 again it works fine with it, but not with XP.

My Question is does installing Linux Mint 10 do anything to the Master Boot record which may cause it to fail running other Operating Systems, If so What can be done to rectify this problem please?

Please can someone let me know what may have gone wrong or how can I get this hard drive to work with Windows XP. I have used another drive and this has resulted in the same.

Regards,

Mo

[lmintnewb]

Not sure, you could try dban on it and see whatcha get.

http://www.dban.org/

[xenopeek]

I have used another drive and this has resulted in the same.

Did the other drive you used also previously have a Linux installed on it? If not, then the problem is not caused by you having previously installed Linux.

Windows XP overwrites the MBR during installation to be able to load after boot. So I think it unlikely the MBR is the problem. You may however try restoring the MBR, for which you normally use the Windows XP CD and boot to recovery mode. Google "windows xp restore mbr" for more help on that.

And agree with lmintnewb, dban might be a good idea. This completely wipes your harddisk, of anything there was on it. Even the MBR gets wiped.

[MohsinShah]

The other drive also had Linux Mint previously installed.
Maybe the problem is that.

A DBAN may help, let's give it a try.

Regards,
Mo

[MohsinShah]

Hi All,

Thank You Very Much.

A DBAN resolved this.

Regards,

Mohsin