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How to delete REDHAT & install XP

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wanna be hi-tech - Dec 26, 2009 at 12:55 PM
 wanna be hi-tech - Dec 29, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Hello, I've recently erased my XP & installed REDHAT Enterprise linux [as v4.0 - update 7]. I would like to run XP again & erase REDHAT completely, which i could not when i tried. From the forums that i have checked i've come to understand that the REDHAT should be deleted from hardisk before XP can be run again. My pc doesn't have a floopy drive & Bios doesn't have a option to boot from a usb drive. I am not a tech guy, so can someone guide me in PLAIN English on how to get the XP to run again. I also cant connect the REDHAT to the net or run any files at all. PLEZZ HELP!!!!!
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2 responses

Answer 1 / 2
xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,825
Dec 27, 2009 at 07:29 PM
I assume you have a CD drive to load the Windows XP CD. You can download a free product called Killdisk from this site http://www.killdisk.com/killdisk-home.htm

you down it and burn it to a CD. boot from the CD and have it erase all partitions on the hard drive. Then boot from the Windows CD and install Windows.

Good Luck
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wanna be hi-tech
Dec 28, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Thx xpcman, i appreciate your reply. I came across this "killdisk" utility when i was surfin around forums, but i was a bit reluctant to do it as there were some feedbacks sayin that it was only trial version and also that it did not do a good job. I also had not tried it coz i could not get my redhat to erase/write a disk. But i will try it (will get my disk written elsewhere).
I also came across this command sudo rm -rf which is said that it will wipe out the whole harddisk. Can this option be used or will it cost me another headache?

Thx xpcman.
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wanna be hi-tech
Dec 28, 2009 at 10:14 AM
And i forgot.... thanks for the PLAIN English explanation!
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Answer 2 / 2
xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,825
Dec 28, 2009 at 01:14 PM
sudo rm -rf deletes every file on all disks. But I don't know if it deletes the partitions.
This is a link to Microsoft's instructions for deleting Linux

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/314458

Good Luck
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wanna be hi-tech
Dec 29, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Hi Xpcman,

Lucky thing i asked u about the rm-rf, coz it didnt cross my mind that it might only delete the & not the partition itself.
I did come across the Microsoft link, which u have mentioned above but i didnt quite understand the procedures and i dont have a floppy drive (guess could have done witha cd-r).
However here is the great news. I decided to give it a try to your prior suggestion with the Killdisk. I downloaded it & burnt the Iso image on a cdrw & ran it.... and yessss it worked. I guess the forum which said that the Killdisk wasn't good, could have meant that it (the free version) only deleted the disk contents at a single "0" pass, which was not sufficient if the contents were deleted whereby privacy was the reason. Unlike my situation whereby i only wanted to delete the contents and privacy was not the concern .
As i am typing this post, my machine which had the redhat is now running the XP setup.
Thanks to you xpcman, i really appreciate your help as i was really nearly out of options and was about to take the machine to my friend to solve the matter, which now i do not have to! And now i'm tempted to run Ubuntu in the same machine, which will not be a problem to get rid off it. You rock xpcman!!
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