Partition disk with fdisk and windows can't be installed.

Question

so I have been running ArchLinux for a few days, have successfully trashed my partition table once and lost everything on my systemdisk sh*t happens thats why I have one drive as system disk
Anyway, since all my partitions died I thought I could repartiotion the disk (I had been thinking of doing it anyway). So I booted the ArchLinux install disc once again and then partition my disk something like this:
/dev/sda1 - ntfs (for my windows xp)
/dev/sda2 - /
/dev/sda3 - /home
/dev/sda4 - swap
All partitions are primary since I only need 4. So off I go install Arch, config everything and so on. Then today I decided to install windows, so I reboot and insert my windows disc and press any key too boot from the CD and then Nothing. My computer just stands there black screen my CD spindowns and stops my HD is chewing away like crazy.
I have no idea what to do, thought my disk has been broken or something so I open my computer case and disconnect all disks attach my secondary disk as my only one just to see if the install starts and so it does (but I don't install because it is wrong disk ). Then I thought it might be the sata-cable who is bad (happend before) so I tried another one and my systemdisk again, but no luck. After that I boot archlinux installdisc and clear  my entire partition table, recreate one 20gb ntfs partition make sure it has boot-flag and reboot. Still no luck, so back into linux and remove everything on that disk and reboots. And now the installation finally starts but instead of creating a partition during xp-install I reboot linux once again to create it in fdisk, and once again the installation doesn't start. So now I have cleare the entire disk from partitions again and created my XP partition during the XP install.
WHY can't I create my partitions by using fdisk in linux? and yes I did create ntfs filesystem on my partition (mkntfs or what the name was, exists on archlinux ftp install disc)

Answer 1

Yes I do know Windows will overwrite the MBR but that isn't the problem and overwriting the MBR doesn't destroy my partitions just uninstalls lilo (yes I use lilo, to lazy to learn using grub when lilo do the job god enough for me)
My problem is that I can't start the windows install. Here is what I did after ArchLinux was installed
1) Start my computer
2) insert windows install CD when computer is doing the BIOS startup stuff
3) Now I get a message to press any key to boot from the CD, this is from the Windows install CD and I do press the key.
4) Normally I would get into the Windows Install program here But now I Don't, NOTHING happens.
Then I started my search on what was wrong. I have installed Linux many times before windows and I have reinstalled windows lots of times without the need of reinstalling linux or repartition my drive.
In short, after lots of testing my computer does not start the windows install if my first disk has been partitioned with fdisk in linux (havn't tried other partition tools in linux).
EDIT: The windows install starts if I boot into linux and use fdisk to clear the entire drive from all partitions, yes no partitions at all not even one for windows.
Last edited by McZ (2008-02-01 20:07:42)