Well, my mythtv project is on hold until I have enough time to devote to it, so instead I decided to install Windows on the PC I built so I could play some computer games. I'm (generally) not a dumb guy. I work on computers professionally. Hell I even work on an OS full time. So I figure no problem. I pop in the Windows XP Home CD, it boots up, I choose to partition the drive into two big partitions, and start the install.
Then the fun starts. Windows reboots after the CD portion of the the is complete. It should boot of the HD. It doesn't. So I stick in the CD, delete all the partitions and give Windows the whole drive. It reboots, same problem.
I reboot the CD enter its recovery console, and start looking at the tools. I notice one named "fixmbr" which sounds about right. I run it, tells me my master boot record is fucked up, and that it can fix it, but I might loose data. No skin off my back so I tell it to go ahead. It completes, says everything is fixed, so I run it again. It tells my mbr is still fucked up. I decide to try an install since it should be fixed, it still won't boot. I look for something on the CD to just totally wipe the mbr, no luck.
So I stick in a Redhat 9 CD, use its rescue mode to get a console, run fdisk, wipe the mbr, reboot off the Windows CD, tell it to install. This time when it reboots off the HD it works.
Of course now I have a totally unpatched Windows install, just waiting for SoBig or Slammer. So I start running Windows update to try patch it up, which of course involves me plugging the machine into the net. It looks like I got the 60+ patches installed quick enough. Which just leaves me with having to install video drivers (Nvidia made things relatively painless), and audio drivers (DFI and C-Media made things a PITA).
All told I am not sure it was worth the 5+ hours it took, just so I can play Magic.
Posted by louis at September 3, 2003 12:13 AM | TrackBack