Windows install doesn't see windows partition

[Jordashebasics]

I've run into a problem that I can't seem to find any information on.

I have a completely new iMac, bought last Friday.

After downloading and installing Boot Camp, I've burned the drivers disk, and then I created a windows partition - only the 32G size one.
Then after prompting, I put in my XP Pro disk, and restart. After awhile, it's ready to start installing.
It doesn't detect the partition for Windows. It only picks up the OSX partition.

Any better way to get around this?
The only thing that I've found that might cause a problem is that my copy of XP is old enough that it doesn't have service pack 2.
Will that cause a problem as well? I know their documentation claims that it will, but it also won't be looking for a disk change.

 

[jeremy.king]

Any better way to get around this?

Yep.

Get yourself a copy of XP Pro SP2

 

[Jordashebasics]

That still doesn't explain why it doesn't acknowledge the partition's existence.
Everything I've seen says that it's possible to move on without SP2, it just won't be able to complete the installation.

 

[VideoFreek]

Run Boot Camp Assistant again--delete the partition you created and then re-create it.

You will need SP2 however. You can create the necessary install disk by following these instructions.

 

[flyinmac]

I ran into this as well with Vista Ultimate. It would get as far as the choosing your install partition before stopping with a message that there were no supported partitions available.

I had used Windows Boot Camp to create the partitions, and had also tried doing it from the OS X disk utility (creating an NTFS partition).

Neither method would yield a partition that Windows Vista would install to.

So, I tried another trick, I booted into MS-DOS / command prompt, and checked using FDISK to see that a partition was in-fact there. And, then from the Command Prompt formatted the drive C: Using the "Format C:" command.

I know I could do a quick format using Format C: /Q

But, I wanted a full format since it would be the least likely to have issues later.

It took about an hour to do a full format on the partition (100 GB), and then I was on to installing Windows again. This time it worked fine.

I would try booting from your Windows CD into a Command Prompt. And, if that doesn't work, try getting a disk that does provide that option.

In my case, I happened to have Norton Ghost. Norton Ghost had the option of booting to a command prompt and running the commands I mentioned. Symantec has a trial of Norton Ghost that should be usable for that purpose (download from Symantec).

Otherwise, try FreeDOS (http://www.freedos.org/).

So, in-short, use bootcamp to partition the drive as you should. Then, boot to a command prompt to re-format the drive C from DOS.

Then, try installing Windows again.