My story started like thousands of others. While running XP, I
installed Vista as a dual boot OS. And now I can't get XP back. But
I've read all the solutions and I can't even get back the recovery
console.

Specific history: I installed Vista at a point where I knew I needed
to reinstall XP. The kids games had trashed the installation. So when
I decided against Vista, I just reformated, wiping out both the XP and
Vista installations. From that point on XP has not recognized that
there is a hard drive in the computer.

But there is one of course. Vista can install on it still. I'm writing
this on a Ubuntu live CD just to get to the Internet and Ubuntu sees
the HD. But the XP CD I have is totally worthless. I can boot to it,
drivers load from it, but when the setup process reaches the screen
where I choose to install [Enter] or repair [R], I'm done. Either
choice leads to a message that says that no hard drives exist in the
computer.

Any ideas about how to get XP back on.

-David

<davidb1835******.com> wrote in message
news:1193105200.926973.203280@v29g2000prd.googlegr oups.com...
> My story started like thousands of others. While running XP, I
> installed Vista as a dual boot OS. And now I can't get XP back. But
> I've read all the solutions and I can't even get back the recovery
> console.
>
> Specific history: I installed Vista at a point where I knew I needed
> to reinstall XP. The kids games had trashed the installation. So when
> I decided against Vista, I just reformated, wiping out both the XP and
> Vista installations. From that point on XP has not recognized that
> there is a hard drive in the computer.
>
> But there is one of course. Vista can install on it still. I'm writing
> this on a Ubuntu live CD just to get to the Internet and Ubuntu sees
> the HD. But the XP CD I have is totally worthless. I can boot to it,
> drivers load from it, but when the setup process reaches the screen
> where I choose to install [Enter] or repair [R], I'm done. Either
> choice leads to a message that says that no hard drives exist in the
> computer.
>
> Any ideas about how to get XP back on.

Have you completely formatted the drive using the drive manufacturer's
tools?

That may help as XP may simply be refusing to overwrite a newer OS...I've
seen it before.

jim

davidb1835******.com wrote:

> My story started like thousands of others. While running XP, I
> installed Vista as a dual boot OS. And now I can't get XP back. But
> I've read all the solutions and I can't even get back the recovery
> console.
>
> Specific history: I installed Vista at a point where I knew I needed
> to reinstall XP. The kids games had trashed the installation. So when
> I decided against Vista, I just reformated, wiping out both the XP and
> Vista installations. From that point on XP has not recognized that
> there is a hard drive in the computer.
>
> But there is one of course. Vista can install on it still. I'm writing
> this on a Ubuntu live CD just to get to the Internet and Ubuntu sees
> the HD. But the XP CD I have is totally worthless. I can boot to it,
> drivers load from it, but when the setup process reaches the screen
> where I choose to install [Enter] or repair [R], I'm done. Either
> choice leads to a message that says that no hard drives exist in the
> computer.
>
> Any ideas about how to get XP back on.
>
> -David

You probably need to press F6 early on during the setup routine and
supply SATA/RAID drivers on a floppy diskette. Keep an eye on the text
at the bottom of the screen and you will see a prompt telling you to
press F6, if you wait too long and miss the prompt you will have to
reboot and start the setup again.

John

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:06:40 -0700, davidb1835******.com wrote:

>My story started like thousands of others. While running XP, I
>installed Vista as a dual boot OS. And now I can't get XP back. But
>I've read all the solutions and I can't even get back the recovery
>console.
>
>Specific history: I installed Vista at a point where I knew I needed
>to reinstall XP. The kids games had trashed the installation. So when
>I decided against Vista, I just reformated, wiping out both the XP and
>Vista installations. From that point on XP has not recognized that
>there is a hard drive in the computer.
>
>But there is one of course. Vista can install on it still. I'm writing
>this on a Ubuntu live CD just to get to the Internet and Ubuntu sees
>the HD. But the XP CD I have is totally worthless. I can boot to it,
>drivers load from it, but when the setup process reaches the screen
>where I choose to install [Enter] or repair [R], I'm done. Either
>choice leads to a message that says that no hard drives exist in the
>computer.
>
>Any ideas about how to get XP back on.

What kind of hardware do you have?

>
>-David

<davidb1835******.com> wrote in message
news:1193105200.926973.203280@v29g2000prd.googlegr oups.com...
> My story started like thousands of others. While running XP, I
> installed Vista as a dual boot OS. And now I can't get XP back. But
> I've read all the solutions and I can't even get back the recovery
> console.
>
> Specific history: I installed Vista at a point where I knew I needed
> to reinstall XP. The kids games had trashed the installation. So when
> I decided against Vista, I just reformated, wiping out both the XP and
> Vista installations. From that point on XP has not recognized that
> there is a hard drive in the computer.
>
> But there is one of course. Vista can install on it still. I'm writing
> this on a Ubuntu live CD just to get to the Internet and Ubuntu sees
> the HD. But the XP CD I have is totally worthless. I can boot to it,
> drivers load from it, but when the setup process reaches the screen
> where I choose to install [Enter] or repair [R], I'm done. Either
> choice leads to a message that says that no hard drives exist in the
> computer.
>
> Any ideas about how to get XP back on.
>
> -David
>

Missing hard drive: What does your BIOS report?