Mutli OS computer troubles

M

MrHood22

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
4,312
Hi. I had Windows XP Home and a week ago I decided to get a 3rd hard drive (which was SATA) so I could put a Linux (Ubuntu) and a windows (XP x64 Pro) then my other 2 hard drives would be dedicated to just my other applications so if windows crashed (which it did a few weeks earlier) I wouldn't have to reformat a drive that has some applications on it that I would miss.

I now can't seem to install the OS's. We'll start with windows x64 Pro.

I install it (pick partition, go through formating and installations, ect) and then it prompts me to restart and when it restarts it SHOULD go to the next step in the installation process which should be more GUI based. Once I restart I take out the CD and go into BIOs to set it to boot from that hard drive. So it reboots after I make the changes and all I see is a blank screen with a cursor (white) in the top left blinking. It stays like that and I have no idea what to do next.


Linux (Ubuntu):

I put the disc in and install it. I get past the part where you go to the desktop and hit "install" then you pick your partitions. Before I go on i'd like to ask what partitions I should have for linux? I decided to just format my other HD because I haven't installed anything special on there since I had to reformat a week ago due to a windows crash. I put XP on there and like I said above it doesn't finish the installation.

My first partition:
Primary (Primary or Logical)
30gig (out of 80 gig)
Beginning (Beginning or end)
Ext3 (ext3, fat32, ect)
mount point = /

My 2nd Partition:
Primary
2 gig
beginning
swap
mount point = I left that blank

After I make the partitions I install, after the isntallation it prompts me to restart and says I can restart or I can continue to run off of the CD but if I change anything it won't save. I then restart and take the CD out and go into my BIOs and boot from the HD. Once I change the bios it boots and gives me a screen that says something like this:
"Grub Loader step1.5

Grub is loading, please wait...
Error x"

x= 15, x = 16, or x = 17. It varies.


With both OS's I sometime get messages that say
"Error loading Operating Systems" or that blank cursor.


If you've gotten this far THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance for the help. :)
 
Ok... so if I understand correctly, you are trying to install all three OS's on one 80g hdd...Assuming that is correct, here is what I would do.

Start over.

Back up all of your data to your spare drives, and start over. Disconnect your storage drives, boot from your XP cd, create a 25g partition and install XP home on that partition. Next boot from your XP pro 64bit disk, have it create 25g partition and install XP pro 64bit there.

Now, download and install PartedMagic and burn a live cd. Boot from that disc and have it make a 20g partition in ext3 and a 2g partition as swap. Boot from your Ubuntu cd and use the manual install... it should set up grub as your bootloader and you should be good to go...

I'm sure that there are other ways to go about what your trying to do, but this method has worked for me when dual/triple booting more than once.... Good luck..
 
I'm sorry I left a small part out actually lol.

What I want to add is I had Windows XP Home x32 from my friend and the same friend offered to give me x64 and i said no thanks because I didn't feel I needed to have both but now that I have to install my OS's again anyway I figured I might as well pick up the x64 from him when he gives me the ubuntu.

So i'm only trying to install 2 OS's on the hard drive.

Basically what you say i should do is.

1) Put in the x64 disc and boot from it. When it gets to the part about making partitions I should delete my partition (+ installation which didn't work anyway) on my other hard drive and then on my 80 gig I should DELETE ALL PARTITIONS and make a 25 gig NFTS partition for x64 and install that.

2) After XP installation download partedmagic and boot from it and have it make a 20gig ext3 and a 2 gig swap then take that CD out and put ubuntu in and install.


Question: But what am I supposed to do if I have the same problem I had before with XP not being able to complete the installation after the restart?
 
MrHood22 said:
Question: But what am I supposed to do if I have the same problem I had before with XP not being able to complete the installation after the restart?
Click to expand...

I don't think you should have any problems......

And if your only installing XP pro and Ubuntu, you can make your partitions bigger... 40g XP 35g Ubuntu and 2g for swap....

It's really a rather straight forward process... just be sure to disconnect your storage drives first... shit happens sometimes and you don't want to accidentally overwrite your data drives...
 
Well what i was asking was what's to make this time different? If it gave me that problem before why wouldn't it give it to me again?

Thanks for your help by the way.

Also, It sometimes takes a while to install Ubuntu for some reason. Like tonight it went from 33%-39% in an hour and it just says "Copying Files..." But i'm pretty sure I did it the same way this afternoon and it only took about 10 minutes.
 
I tried to install windows like you said and i got an error. This all happened after I have a COMPLETELY UNFORMATED DRIVE. It happens to be the new one I just got from newegg.

"Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged.

Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is a SCSI Disk, make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated. Consult your computer manual or SCSI adapter documentation for more information."

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106

That's the hard drive I got.

Does anyone have any other suggestions in that general price range? This will mainly be used for OS's and maybe some small programs and/or music.
 
Well I just tried to reinstall on my other HD and I got to the part where you restart but when I restart I just get to the black screen with the cursor.

Any ideas?
 
Bump


This is still an issue unfortunately.

I just upgraded my computer to the stuff below. I basically changed Mobo's (+ sockets), CPU's CD/DVD Drives, RAM, and hard drives. I'm going to hook it all up tomorow when the rest comes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top