At Thu, 14 May 2009 15:41:02 +0100 CentOS mailing list <centos at centos.org> wrote: > > Sorin Srbu wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > You know how I asked about procedures to build a dual-boot system with > > CentOS and WinXP a while ago? Well, I I've begun with a test machine. > > > > What I had from start was a working CentOS 5.3 32b system. What I did was to > > just add another empty drive configured as slave and then boot from the > > Windows install cd. > > > > The most curious thing happened now, I get a blank screen after the Windows > > installer screen saying something about "Setting up install procedure..." > > just at the beginning. That is to say, this happens only if the hd with > > CentOS is connected to power. If I disconnect the power connector to the > > CentOS drive, the Windows installer happily goes on. > > > > Is this to be expected, that Windows won't install if it sees a hd with > > another OS as master? > > > > Thanks for any hints. > > > > It's a known issue - I've seen it affecting other distro's (Fedora in my > case). It's a Windows XP thing, not specific to the distro, and only > affects WinXP afaik (doesn't affect Win2K, couldn't care less about > Vista). I first came across it trying to install WinXP on a system that > had previously had Fedora on it and the installer hangs at a black > screen. The "solution" is to do as you've done and disconnect the drive. > If it's a single drive system, then install Windows first for dual > booting, or if you just want to reinstall Windows over the top of a > previous Linux installation then remove all Linux partitions with fdisk > first. Windows NT 4.0's installer also is wonky if the first disk is not available for the MS-Windows install. I had this problem with a SCSI system and ended up re-numbering the drives making the disk with the existing Linux install drive #1 (/dev/sdb) and the 'new' drive for MS-Windows NT 4.0 drive #0 (/dev/sda). In the OP's case, this would mean making the disk with Linux installed the 'slave' (/dev/hdb) and the new disk (for MS-Windows) the 'master' (/dev/hda). The OP would then have to boot up with a rescue disk to fix the /etc/fstab file (unless it uses labeled file systems) and re-install the boot loader. > > > _______________________________________________ > CentOS mailing list > CentOS at centos.org > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos > > -- Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows heller at deepsoft.com -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/