Here's the situation: I had a dualboot, WIND XP Media Edition and Ubuntu. I didn't have enough space on my drive because the 100gb were devided between xp and ubuntu. So i went to configuration, and partitions. I took the advise of my brother and removed the non-windows partitions. Result: When in rebooted, it said 'Grub Loading ... Error 18' So basicly, i couldn't use neighter xp or ubuntu. I removed the harddrive and placed it in another computer, the device couldn't be read. I have a bootcd for windows xp so when i used it, windows setup ran and when i had to choose the device, none of them could be read and i recieved an error. Later, i placed another (new) harddrive and same result when i tried to install windows. Unreadable and an error. After that, i tried to install kubuntu. Suprisingly, that worked fine. And now my desktop runs Kubuntu. I tried to install windows again, same result. What i want is to completely whipe my harddrive, so i can install windows with my boot cd and nothing else. What could cause this error and not being able to read my harddrive ? I suppose it has something to do with deleting the partitions, how can i restore or reset them ? Hope someone has an anwser for this issue :? Regards, Thomas

Print these articles for reference --- http://support.microsoft.com/defaul... How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/defaul... How to partition and format a hard disk in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/defaul... How to install or upgrade to Windows XP

I read the articles, but one thing is diffrent: When i startup with my cd, there appears a blue screen windows setup. All blue and below, a bar with information about the fact that setup is installing windows. When that is done, i have to choose a device (that can't be read) So the options Repair, install press enter and f3 to exit aren't present.

What i believe may have happened is that the linux partition cannot be seen or read by windows...so when you removed the linux partition using grub then grub damaged the XP partion and disc formatting.... determine the maufacturer of the harddrive and download from their website the disc utillity tool. Use it to reset the partition information and format the disc to NTSF. You should be able to do the installation without any problems. Definition of a Liberal: He has never had to fight for his Freedom He is only good at enjoying it! "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

I guess this is a lesson learned not to blindly delete partitions, especially non-windows partitions without knowing what you're doing first. EASEUS Partition Manager would've done what you wanted to accomplish easily. What probably happened is you deleted a partition on your hard drive that your BIOS needs. I've never messed with PCs that have this kind of partition, but I know that deleting it causes lots of problems. Not all systems have this partition, but some do. Kubuntu probably works because it doesn't need the files on that partition. Another thing that could have happened is that your drive is a SATA drive and Windows XP couldn't detect it because it needed the right driver first. What model is this Acer Aspire? WinSimple Software