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I am trying to install Windows XP on a machine which at present has Ubuntu. I want the installer to format the disk and remove Ubuntu. The Windows installer starts, but when it gets to the screen where one should be able to request formatting of the hard disk drive, it does not appear on the list.

Peter Mortensen
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  • Robert .. if Sven's answer gave you what is necessary, you ought to "accept" it, which gives him a bit of reputation and also tells the rest of the community that you are done and no more help is needed. – tomjedrz Jun 30 '09 at 13:35

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Maybe you need a driver disk for the SATA disk controller (XP Setup asks for it at the beginning, the "Press F6 ...." part), but usually you can change the settings in the bios to use a device independent/legacy mode for the controller (look for AHCI options in the bios setup).

Sven
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  • look for AHCI options in the bios setup..... that was the answer. thank you! –  Jun 30 '09 at 13:30
  • +1 I think this must be what is going on. Window setup should still see the hard drive, regardless of how it is formated (ext3 right now, probably). It should show up as Unknown Partition. – Andy May Jun 30 '09 at 13:32
  • If that was the answer, please mark it as such, thanks! – Andy May Jun 30 '09 at 13:32