# Using fdisk in Vista



## clintmc (May 8, 2008)

Hi Guys,

I wonder if anyone can help me.

I have a pc running Vista and would like to replace with XP ive inserted the disk restarted the machine it has started the first phase of setup when it tells me no hard disk drive could be found. I have subsequently found out that you need to fdisk any partitions in vista before attempting to install any other operating systems.

If anyone has knowlaedge of this i would greatly appreciate any assistance.

Regards

Clint.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

xp does not have the sata drivers like vista
set sata as ide in the bios and you may need to load a driver also with f6 when it asks
if you are completely wipeing vista clear the drive with killdisk and then format and install with the xp disk
http://www.killdisk.com/downloadfree.htm
make sure you collect all the required xp drivers together before you start


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## TheShadowFl (Feb 12, 2008)

I don't understand the reference to FDISK.....that's a DOS program and is used to set partitions in FAT mode....not NTFS, which is the format mode required by both Vista and XP.

Unlike Vista, which requires an NTFS partition, Windows XP WILL run just fine on a FAT-32 partition.
I set all my HD's that way when installing XP.
I boot up the PC with a Windows ME boot disk with both FDISK and Format on it. Then I use FDISK to remove any old partitions that may be on the drive and create new partitions (2).
Then I use the DOS format program to format both partitions.
This exercises the drive and certifies it to be 100% OK.

Since FDISK is a DOS program, you will need a DOS boot disk to run it.

Having a floppy disk drive in your system helps too.

Good Luck,
The Shadow


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## clintmc (May 8, 2008)

Thanks Shadow,

However i do not have a floppy drive on this machine,
so this wont help me.

Any other suggestions.


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