istrikelast Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Okay so I wanted to set up a dual-boot system with OS X and Windows XP on my dv8000t notebook. Partitionaing appeared to go ok and Mac OS 10.4.6 (HOTiSO) installed fine. I followed this guide to set up my dual booting-ness. http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Simple_Dual_Boot Here's the thing, when I did it, I did not have the Windows XP installer (my disc was at my parents house) on hand so I did the partition and installed OS 10.4.6 (again, HOTiSO) with the intention of going back and installed Windows XP once I retrieved my disc. Anyway this is when I got problems. Setting the other partition active was not a problem but when I get to the XP installer, it tells me that there IS NO harddisk in the computer. Out of utter desperation, I've tried everything I can think of. I've re-partitioned both drives in my computer like 10 times by now and I've even tried deleting the entire partition a few times in hopes that Windows would see an empty disk and try to partition it for me. I've even tried physicalled removing the drives and swapping them, thinking that maybe the MBR on the main disk was horribly corrupted. Now here's the annoying thing. When I use the OS X Disk Utility (off the installer CD, as there is no OS X on my computer anymore), PartitionMagic BootCD, and even FDISK, they can all see and work with the partitions just fine. In fact, I'm able to even re-install OS X if I wanted. PLEASE. I've tried everything. I've called HP Tech Support and they are no help. My dad is a system analyst and he wasn't able to fix it. I'm absolutely begging you, help me get my computer back. Thank you. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 use the restore discs that came with ur hp. and load default BIOS settigns Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-178573 Share on other sites More sharing options...
istrikelast Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 use the restore discs that came with ur hp. and load default BIOS settigns HPs do not come with restore discs. They have a restore partition, but even then, it only restores software. I'm gonna try the BIOS thing (didn't think about that) and give it a go. Be back in a moment with results. EDIT: Okay I went into the BIOS and reset to the defaults, exited and saved changes. Same thing. Windows XP Installer STILL says there are no disks in the computer to install to or even partition. Thanks for the suggestion, though. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-178583 Share on other sites More sharing options...
istrikelast Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 UPDATE: Issue Resolved I Googled around and checked a ton of other forums and Wikis and I guess what happened was that during the OS X install when I was doing the commands in the terminal, I replaced the MBR with whatever Apple uses as their MBR (assuming it's not the same). So on the XP installer disc, I went into Recovery Mode and there was a tool called FIXMBR. After running it, it informed me that my MBR was non-standard and gave me the option to replace it, which I did and now XP installer completely recognizes both my drives. I was really worried for a few days that I would have to simply except that I've killed my brand new notebook. Thanks, Kiko. I genuinely appreciate your willingness to help me. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-178605 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 no probs man. anytime Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-178638 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I have the same problem on my 320 gig Seagate IDE. I formatted using OSX and then tried gettin gin using Knoppix to flip the boot switch to bootable for the drive and Knoppix would not recognize the drive. It said that there were 38,993 cylinders when there were only supposed to be 1,024 (Seagate website confirms this number for cylinders). Is this supposed to happen? I am a noob here - where do you find the FIXMBR in Windows install disk? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-182340 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mscman Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 I am a noob here - where do you find the FIXMBR in Windows install disk? To use fix your MBR using a Windows install cd: 1. Insert the Windows CD and boot to it. 2. Once the disc has loaded, you should have an option to "Press 'R' for recovery mode". 3. When you're in recovery mode (a large terminal screen), issue the command "fixmbr" (without the quotes). This should fix any boot problems and allow you to boot into your Windows partition Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-182597 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maine_Coon Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 To use fix your MBR using a Windows install cd:1. Insert the Windows CD and boot to it. 2. Once the disc has loaded, you should have an option to "Press 'R' for recovery mode". 3. When you're in recovery mode (a large terminal screen), issue the command "fixmbr" (without the quotes). This should fix any boot problems and allow you to boot into your Windows partition On my laptops (Dell 700m and 9300) OS X install had ruined my very dear XP installations as well. From the recovery console, FIXMBR did not do it for me. However, "bootcfg /rebuild" did. Hope it helps someone. Cheers. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/26355-os-x-killed-my-hard-drives-please-help/#findComment-195572 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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