cant boot to win xp

might be a sillly question.. but have you set the primary boot device to be your harddrive?

No; it's floppy; then cd; then HDD; but with no cd or floppy in drives, shouldn't I get a default boot by HDD ??

      (AND ALSO)

OR; does the system now need the ubuntu cd in to boot to ANYTHING?? Although, as I said, with the Ub. cd in, it seems to go straight to ubuntu only...no option of which OS to boot to. I WANT this to work;I really like the sound of Linux/ubuntu/it's whole purpose for being is TERRIFIC....but, if it don't work......very frustrated...

It should work with your boot device order..

But you can try to change the device order, it shouldn't make a difference but ...

When the black screen appears have you tried to press CTRL+ALT+F2 to get a pseudo-tty login
If you can get access to the system please login with your user and password then
try to discover into your system log files some warning or errors.

So type:
tail /var/log/messages

tail /var/log/syslog

dmesg

I'll try all that... tomorrow morning.... fingers crossed it sheds light on things...it'll have to be very bright light indeed; 'cause I am NOT a computer whizz...just about keep things working usually....more later...thanks!

Right....well; progress, but not much. I tried the command at start up; at ALL possible times of startup; nothing...nothing at all. I finally re-installed xp in it's 65 gig. potion of harddrive; which it did nicely.THEN... I restarted... up comes a dual boot message in startup !!!!!!.... YES... xp DOES startup very nicely; but ubuntu gets to first screen (loading bar)... then gives a short message :
busy box v. 1.13 (debian 1:1.1.3-5 ubuntu 7) built in shell (ash).... INITRAMF5.....

I start up with ubuntu cd in, choose ubuntu as the boot choice, I get ubuntu...but on the CD... it's STILL on the hard drive, just won't boot to it. I did a search on the "initramf5" message, got the following :

{{{{{{{{{{{{{Solution
1. Get hold of an Ubuntu Live cum installation CD. In all probability, you already have your installation CD. Just in case you can get one here <http://www.ubuntu.com/products/GetUbuntu/download>.[ubuntu.com]
2. Boot your computer with the livecd.(you might have to change your boot settings in CMOS)
Wait till the system completely boots with your cd.
3. Applications > Accessories > Terminal
... Opens up the terminal window.
4. Type in the following,
$>fdisk -l ..brings up a list of your drives
$>sudo mkdir /mnt/tmp ..note you wont be asked for a pass here
$>sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/hd** /mnt/tmp ...yours might be ext2 though unlikely, decide with the earlier displayed list
$>sudo chroot /mnt/tmp ..this changes your root temporarily to /mnt/tmp onto your recently mounted file system
root@ubuntu/$>sudo update-initramfs -u -k 2.6.17-10-generic ..this updates your generic kernel; note your changed prompt
$>sudo reboot.
At this point it's wise to shut down your system completely and reboot without your LiveCD. It should be working now.
It might also be wise to run an 'fsck' while on the root prompt.
Please note that this is a hack <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_%28technology_slang%29> and you might want to secure your system from chroot command <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot>. Or anyone with a bit of knowledge maybe able to hack into your system in your absence using this simple procedure{{{{{{{{

WELL... I got as far as the first line.... $>fdisk -1....and no matter how I phrased it...spaced it; held my mouth while i typed it... NOTHING....I am considering snapping ubuntu disk in half; and giving the world's worst press to anyone who asks; and anyone who DOESN'T !!!....one more go... please help!!!

did you pres "fdisk -1" or "fdisk -l"?

fdisk- 1 (one)...unless it's a typo; I'm sure that was what the "solution2 asked for. Since than; I've tried other permutations of installing...no luck; now trying a free partition/dual boot software; as apparently the one included on my ubuntu disk is CRAP.....

complete stupid luck; but managed (4th time each for win XP; and ubuntu)...to SUCCESSFULLY install ubuntu....please note; xp installed flawlessly every time....oh dear...NOW...please help me on prob. 2...see new discussion .... UBUNTU CD WOULD NOT INSTALL