Had Linux Back to W7 "big problem"

I installed Linux Zorin om my W7 HP Pavilion G Series laptop, originally planning a dual boot. Somehow I ended up with only Linux. Now I need to install Windows XP (didn't have a W7 disk and I don't see the recovery partition) from an optical disk. The problem is that when I go to the bios to set it to boot from the optical drive, the bios is different, it's not the original Windows bios that I am use to. I set it to boot first from the CD/DVD and it does and begins to install Windows then it halts at a blue screen which I can't seem to get past.

Len

If the laptop originally had Windows 7, why not just reinstall Windows 7?

You don't need the recovery partition if you have wiped it out and you can download a Windows 7 ISO and burn an installation disc.

Or are you installing XP because you prefer it and have no interest in Windows 7?

I am installing XP because I need to run a windows program and my W7 did not come with a disk but I have an XP disk. Where can I download a Windows 7 ISO? I have a Windows & serial number on the laptop.

Len

Look here:

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7


You can download a legit ISO here:

Windows 7 Direct Download Links, Official Disk Images from Digital River

Then burn it to a disk, install, and activate with your existing product key.

NOTE:

The sticker on your laptop must be for Windows 7. You MUST download the exact version specified on that sticker--Home Premium or whatever it says. The 25 character Product Key on the sticker will not activate any other version. The sticker is good for 32 bit or 64 bit, so you need to know which your hardware will accept.

This won't be a restore to factory specs. It will be a clean install without any of the stuff HP may have put on it. If you need any of that stuff, you need to get it from HP website.

I'd probably go to HP website and download the drivers it says your model needs anyway. You may not need any of them, but it's good insurance to have the Ethernet driver before you install because there is some remote chance that Windows won't install it and you'd be in tough shape if you couldn't get the laptop on the Internet.

I burned an ISO image and when I try to install it I am stopped by the computer telling me the hard drive needs to be formatted NTFS but the format command is grayed out. Can I remove the hard drive and connect it with my USB adapter to my desktop and format it that way? Then put it back in the laptop and do the install?

Len

lenberman said:

I burned an ISO image and when I try to install it I am stopped by the computer telling me the hard drive needs to be formatted NTFS but the format command is grayed out. Can I remove the hard drive and connect it with my USB adapter to my desktop and format it that way? Then put it back in the laptop and do the install?

Len

As far as I know, you can connect it to another desktop for the format.

When you boot from that new burned ISO, can you get to the first screen where you are asked to pick a language?

If you can, you should be able to format at that point by using Diskpart. But if it's simpler to try your USB method, go ahead.

Linux may have done something odd to your disk, so you may have to jump through some hoops to get it formatted. I know next to nothing about Linux.

Thanks for your help, I removed the hard drive and went into disk management and was able to format it. It is now installing, keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again,
Len