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I have a problem installing Windows XP.

I had single partition in which I have installed Ubuntu 10.04. Now I partitioned the disk and created a NTFS partition for installing Windows XP. But, when I try installing Windows XP from the CD drive, I get an error of not finding the disk. More specifically: I boot from the XP disk, and the very first time it tries to launch the XP setup terminal, I get something like:

There is no disk. Please insert disk to proceed.

Is there some way to hack this and install XP onto the machine?

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  • What is the exact text of the error?
    – SLaks
    Oct 26, 2011 at 23:15
  • It says something like -> "There is no disk. Please insert disk to proceed"
    – Sandeep Koirala
    Oct 26, 2011 at 23:23
  • At what point in the install process does it say this?
    – SLaks
    Oct 26, 2011 at 23:26
  • While I try to boot from the xp disk, the very first time it tries to launch the xp setup terminal. It asks for the disk.
    – Sandeep Koirala
    Oct 26, 2011 at 23:29
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    It is probably that Windows XP doesn't have drivers for the disk controller. What machine are you installing to?
    – Paul
    Oct 27, 2011 at 0:08

1 Answer 1

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For XP to install/boot I believe it requires all of the following:

  • Space for a boot partition on the first physical disk. (check bios)
  • That partition must be a primary partition, or empty space available for one during install.
  • A partition that is close to the front of the disk. In the past there were many OS limits where they couldn't boot unless located before cylinder 1024 or some such nonsense. Google for confirmation, I'm sketchy on this point.
  • As mentioned before it could be a missing driver, but if you don't have a fancy scsi controller it is much less likely than the reasons above.

You should be able to get it installed by moving Ubuntu out from the front of the first physical disk with something like partition magic or disk utility/gtkparted, etc. Remember to backup first!

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