Can't setup WinXP

[pf1111]

hey guys, i got a hard drive that was running XP (on computer A), i formatted it to play with linux, but linux is becoming more of a hassle than its worth for me. So i want to switch back, problem is i cant get it to install XP on the disk. I used another computer (computer B) and set it to slave and formatted it back ntfs with managment tools. however back on the computer A i got the bios set to load from the CD-rom before the HD but after the post it wont do anything. So i tried it on compb setting this drive by itself to master again, now i windows xp install begins but once the install reaches the point where it has copied the files and reloads, nothing happens after the reload. i tried using the recovery console and running fixmbf and fixboot, but these did nothing for me. any advice guys? this has been driving me in circles for a couple of days now. thanks (sorry for being long winded in my briefing)

 

[kylef]

If you have the WinXP setup CD in your drive, and you don't see the "Press any key to run Windows Setup..." prompt a few seconds after your system POST, then you're not booting to the CD.

The black screen is common when systems can't find a bootable partition.

Edit: I had a system once that would black-screen hang after POST if I had a USB mass storage device plugged in... That was a BIOS problem. If I removed the USB device, it would boot to the drives in the correct sequence again. Just a thought.

 

[pf1111]

Thanks man, it is booting to the CD device first, it asks me to "hit any key" to boot from CD, says its inspecting the hardware configuration...and then nothing, the black screen...