Chances are that when you installed Linux on your hard drive, you
partitioned the drive as part of the process.  These Linux partitions need
to be removed, and usually the best way to do this is to reuse the utility
that set them up to begin with.  Depending on the version of Linux you
installed, you may be able to go through the same first steps that you did
when you installed Linux and use the partition utility step to remove the
partitions on your drive.  After you doing this, bail out of the Linux
installation.  You should now be able to pick up with your windows
installation process.  If you are using a Win98 setup disk, use the MS fdisk
program to make a new partition and then format it.  If you are booting from
a WinXP CD, the installation process will walk you through these steps.

Depending on where Linux put the boot loader, you may still have a problem
with your hard drive acting like it wants to boot into Linux.  You can use
the fdisk /mbr command to overwrite the master boot record to fix this, if
you need to.

Another option would be to use the diagnostic utility from your hard drive
manufacturer to write zeros to your drive.  This should let you have a fresh
start at your windows installation, too.

If you have more questions, it might be helpful to know what version of
Linux you installed (for example, Red Hat 9.0) and what version of windows
you are installing (for example, Windows XP Home Edition.).

Rather than installing Linux to your hard drive to see what it looks like,
Knoppix Linux, which runs live from a CD-ROM, may be an easier option for
seeing what Linux looks like.  There are other major Linux distributions
that also offer this "Live CD" option, but I think Knoppix probably is the
best optimized for this.  http://www.knoppix.org/

John Sproule

----- Abbreviated Original Message -----
From: Marc Reinbold
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004 12:19 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Linux/Windows Problem


A friend of mine talked me into putting linux on my computer. However, I
don't have any clue how to use it, it is not like he said, backwards
compatible, and I want to re-install windows. Now, I put in the startup disk
and CD and it doesn't work. I use the floppy in DOS and do the little
autoexec and then it tells me that it installed the drivers but that there
is a problem with Harddrive space. Then it says that I am missing Command
and readme. Now, I was wondering if there is a way I can wipe my harddrives
and start over again.

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