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Help! Install Windows through Mandrake


Guest Mason
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Hey

 

I have a Windows XP Pro CD - actually Windows Corporate, but *shrug*. My laptop won't boot off of it (says Non-Bootable ISO, or something similar). However, I know the CD works as this computer (my desktop) boots on it just fine.

 

I managed to install Mandrake 9.1, as that CD would boot perfectly.

I now want to install Windows CD, but as I can't get the CD to boot... I'll need to do it from Mandrake.

 

Any ideas how I can get it going?

I'm a major Linux newbie, so any instructions have to be idiot proof.

 

My next idea was to download WINE and try that - would it work?

 

 

Cheers guys,

 

 

Mason

mason7 at gmail.com

 

 

[moved from Software by spinynorman - welcome aboard :)]

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I don't understand how is it possible that one CD boots on a computer and doesn't on another. Did you check you BIOS? Though if the Mandrake CD boots fine that should be OK.

Anyway I don't think that it's possible to install Windows with Linux. You have to boot from a Windows media e.g. a boot floppy.

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I have no idea why it doesn't recognise the CD. It's an extremely odd situation.

I checked the BIOS, it was already set to CD boot. I changed it, then changed it back and the same happened.

 

It being a laptop, doesn't have a floppy drive. I don't have any Windows floppy disks anyway, nor an external floppy drive.

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I'm thinking you might be able to get it setup so that your bootloader will allow you to boot from the CD, but I'm not sure exactly how to do that. I looked through mcc but it won't let you select CD drives. Might have to edit the text configuration file or something...I dunno. Maybe someone else knows how to do this. Or maybe it's not possible. hah

However, you could also use a boot floppy image to create a bootable CD, copy the files from the windows disc over as the data on the CD, and then run them from the command prompt. I could help you figure out how to do that with Nero...not sure about anything else though.

Edited by Urza9814
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Fair enough, Mason!

First of all I would install a recent Mandriva version. Mandrake 9.1 is really old. To give you an idea, Linux develops way quicker than Windows and 9.1 seems like light-years behind..

Secondly, what the dickens could be wrong with your CD, never heared of a problem like that? Maybe it really is an ISO?

 

Anyhow, Windows needs to be installed on its own partition which MUST be at the beginning of the drive. For example, hda1 (linux term) equates to "C" in Windows terms. Then you could create an extended partition (eg: hda5) and then create all other partitions, including a common FAT32 partition, and everything else linux needs ("/" being linux's main=root partition, then a "swap"-partition, and maybe a "home"-partition) inside that extended partition. Btw, linux lets you put up to 64 partitions on one drive! When installing a modern-day Mandriva, it will ask you about partitioning. Go to "expert mode" and you can do whatever you like with its excellent built-in partitioning tool. I do not know of any other distribution having a better partitioning tool.

Good Luck!

Helmut

Edited by Helmut
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I'm assuming this is a CD-R... and your drive might be dirty or something.

 

Yeah, but my Mandrake 9.1 is also a CD-R... straaange?

I'll try cleaning the drive and see if I have any success.

 

I'll aslo burn another copy at a lower speed and see if that helps.

Stinky Microshite.

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I don't see how Mandrake will help you "boot from the CD". When you boot from the CD, you aren't running Windows and you aren't running Mandrake, you're just booting from the CD. Mandrake can help you do lots of things, but it can't help much with booting from a CD cos it's not running then.

 

The only thing I can think of is that the XP CD is too broken to read with a not-so-fault-tolerant CD drive, but can be read by another (perhaps cleaner / better?) CD drive. And maybe the Mandrake CD was sufficiently error-free to be read by both drives. Just a guess.

 

With this, you can boot from floppy, and when inside the boot manager program, instruct it to boot the CD.
Not much use when he's already said he hasn't got a floppy drive ;)
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With this, you can boot from floppy, and when inside the boot manager program, instruct it to boot the CD.
Not much use when he's already said he hasn't got a floppy drive ;)

Well, he could take the floppy image, burn it to a CD, and then when it brings up the boot manager program, swap CDs...

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You may (or rather you should) contact Microsoft to find out why the very expensive Corporate CD you have purchased isn't bootable... they might have made a mistake... :D

Are you sure it's a genuine XP Corporate CD, or there's some chance you got fooled?

The other options (the Mandy bootloader and wine) will certainly not work.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Anyhow, Windows needs to be installed on its own partition which MUST be at the beginning of the drive.

 

No. :-) I've managed to get the winthing installed and working on a different partition. However, it must be a primary one, extended (i.e. logical) does not work.

 

I've heard it's possible to install Windows using VMware (a virtualization app with a different concept as wine). It's not completely free, but you can install a server version.

 

http://www.vmware.com/

 

 

HTH,

 

scoonma

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  • 2 weeks later...

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