is there a way to empty the hd completely,

[Devra]

I was here a while ago today with the question of how to get a windows program up on an hd alongside of linux, I was told to get a copy of xp and install it so I did..I was given an xp disk and since i have a product key number I'm good legally, so I put the disk in, rebooted and got an error message.

Windows Setup....

Problem detected

blah blah blah set up was shut down to
check for virus's - remove any newly installed hd's or hd controllers
Run chkdsk/ f to check for hd corruption

technical information:
***stop. ox0000007B, (oxf78d2524, 0xc0000034, 0x0000000, 0x000000

so..........
I shut down,
took the xp disk out and rebooted
it said my installed pclinuxos had errors.
I put in my linux disk and here I am, online via linux...

and all i wanted was to put xp in a itty bitty partition so i could do my ebay turbolister...
my question:  is there a way to empty the hd completely, so i can install xp, then come back with linux and reinstall it ......................
thanks

[bicol_willem]

Seems a job for killdisk

http://how-to-erase-hard-drive.com/downloadfree.htm

[Rudge]

Seems to me, it's a job better suited to VirtualBox.

Have you looked into installing XP in a Virtual Machine? It runs quite well that way and might even be a permanent "fix" for your situation.        
No re-installing or messing up your PCLinuxOS install, It will give you an "empty" hd to work with. 

[Devra]

ok, i'm in,

so now I guess since i've got errors on my inital installation of pclinuxos, i should reinstall it and then find virtualbox in synaptic, then what?  I figure if this doesn't work, i'll try the killdisk thingie

[Rudge]

ok, i'm in,

so now I guess since i've got errors on my inital installation of pclinuxos, i should reinstall it and then find virtualbox in synaptic, then what?  I figure if this doesn't work, i'll try the killdisk thingie

Installing VirtualBox is a piece of cake once you have your Linux install working.

I don't know how you want to proceed with that problem.

Do you want to fix it, or just reinstall it?

[Devra]

which would be easier and more accurate?

[Rudge]

which would be easier and more accurate?

Well I don't know the answer to eithor of these questions.

How much data is on the hard drive and what plan do you have for backing this data up?  (if any)

How much tweaking of the desktop have you done?

How much do you want to learn?

Do you just want the quickest path to a working Linux desktop with VirtualBox running XP?

Only you can answer these questions.

Rest assured, someone will be here to help.

[Devra]

oh, there is no data, i had a new, empty drive that I installed pclinuxos on last week, i've been playing with it and love it....well, i did want to try voyagerlive, or kubuntu, but I couldn't get them burned...

so i'll stick with pclinuxos...

after i re-install and get virtualbox up, how do i go about putting xp into it?

[Old-Polack]

which would be easier and more accurate?

What errors are you seeing? Exactly, word for word.

[Devra]

well, shoot, it was in the terminal mode, black with small white letters..(stop laughing), it stopped and asked for my root password, which didn't work, then some red letters came up and i just shut down, stuck my cd in, and booted from that..

[Rudge]

O-P you got this? You're better with VB than me anyway, no doubt.  

[smileeb]

well, shoot, it was in the terminal mode, black with small white letters..(stop laughing), it stopped and asked for my root password, which didn't work, then some red letters came up and i just shut down, stuck my cd in, and booted from that..   

Sounds like he would be better off reinstalling PCLinuxOS and putting Xp in virtual machine.

[Devra]

SHE agrees with you....................i'll be back to ask how to get xp into virtualbox

[Rudge]

well, shoot, it was in the terminal mode, black with small white letters..(stop laughing), it stopped and asked for my root password, which didn't work, then some red letters came up and i just shut down, stuck my cd in, and booted from that..   

Sounds like he would be better off reinstalling PCLinuxOS and putting Xp in virtual machine.

Me too.

Devra, let us know when you have a clean and FULLY updated install and we can walk you through the process of setting up VirtualBox and installing XP.

It's easy to do.  

[Rudge]

well, shoot, it was in the terminal mode, black with small white letters..(stop laughing), it stopped and asked for my root password, which didn't work, then some red letters came up and i just shut down, stuck my cd in, and booted from that..    

Sounds like he would be better off reinstalling PCLinuxOS and putting Xp in virtual machine.

I just knew that was a mistake. LOL

I know people tend to try and give out as "little" info as they can (I looked at the profile) but sometimes, if you haven't given the info, no one is to blame when assumptions are made.