Hi

I have a really bad problem with m computer. I attempted to install ubuntu as a dual boot with XP, however, the installer failed. Whenever I turn on the computer, I get a GRUB error 17 and neither OS will start. I can use the ubuntu Live CD (this is how I'm typing this), and I can see all of my Windows files on the hard drive.

My plea for help is this: from ubuntu Live CD, how can I either repair GRUB to allow me to use Windows, or (preferable) restore the normal Windows XP bootloader?

I don't have Windows XP CD, because my computer came with a recovery partition. I really don't want to reinstall Windows if possible, because this is a shared computer.

Any help would be warmly appreciated!!

EDIT: I have now used Supergrub to boot into Windows. From here is it easier to restore the Windows bootloader? Would formatting the linux partitions help at all, as I now have no desire to use Linux? Attached is a screenshot from Partition Manager to help me explain.

To explain, the C drive is my windows drive. The Green thing at the end is a restore partition that was on the computer when I got it. The orange parts are detritis from several failed Linux installations (ouch!). My Computer also displays an F drive, with 0 bytes used and 0 bytes free?!

Thanks

Robert

SGD has a menu option for "fixing windows boot"- that will restore ntldr etc, and not give you the option of booting into Ubuntu. Anyway, GRUB is surprisingly easy to fix. Hang on a second.

EDIT: using the live CD, can you get to boot/grub/menu.lst on the Ubuntu partition, and upload it here? Also, Paragon reports that you have 102 MB of Linux swap, where is that? And is FAT32 your Ubuntu partition?

EDIT Again: Whoops, sorry, I am not very good at reading it seems. The orange section isn't validating as ext3, so the original format must not have worked, or Windows wrote over it on first boot [this happened to me on my first Debian install, Windows swapped to my ext partition, overwriting GRUB stage 2!] Since you have been able to boot to Windows, reinstalling Ubuntu over that orange section should work fine.

or do this

quote:

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Originally posted by xen0h
should work as long as the boot ini on the primary drive looks like this

code:

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[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(0)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

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partition needs to be changed if your install of xp is on your d: not your c:
but that probally won't happen
that last bit isn't actually taking a new line

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quote:

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Originally posted by Knuckles
Alternatively, if you have an XP Home/Pro CD handy, you could try this:

quote:

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Originally posted by Tech-Recipes.com

You will need a Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional CD to be able to do this.

Check that the BIOS is set so you can boot off your CD\DVD-ROM drive and put in the Windows XP CD. Restart your computer so it will boot from it.

When it comes up with text: Boot from CD.... press ENTER or any other key to boot from your Windows XP CD. It should now start scanning your hardware.

When it comes up with the blue screen, press R for Recovery Console.

It will come up with a black screen with white writing. Give it a moment to load the default US keyboard. If you are using a different type press Enter and follow the instructions.

You may have to type your Administrator Password to be able to use the Recovery Console; if prompted please do or you will not be able to continue.

Now you should be at a prompt where you should be able to type. Type in the following commands:

1. type FIXMBR and press enter
2. Press Y if asked

(fixmbr means: fix masterboot record)

3. next type: FIXBOOT and press enter
4. Press Y if asked.
5. When you can continue, restart your computer
6. Remember to take the Windows XP CD out of your drive and it should be fixed.

Disclaimer:
Editing your bootloader can be very dangerous stuff. Only proceed after backing up your system and if you really know what you are doing.

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As for the deletion of the Vista partition, you can use the built in Partition Manager in Windows.
In Run, paste: %SystemRoot%\system32\diskmgmt.msc /s and find the Vista partition there. It should be pretty straight forward from there.

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Thank you everybody so much for your help. I have now sorted my problem, so I'll post how I did it just in case anyone else has similar problems.

Using the ubuntu Live CD (something I strongly recommend to everyone for such circumstances), I downloaded and burnt to CD SuperGrub, a wonderful tool which can basically force any OS to load. this enabled me to use Windows again. I then rebooted with SuperGrub, and this fixed my bootloader easily from a pleasant menu system. It can restore either the Windows MBR or a GRUB one. This meant that I could use my computer exactly as intended with only Windows. I used Paragon Partition Manager to format the Linux partitions to NTFS, and then merged my C drive into those, without losing one byte of my Windows data!

Thank you again for your help

Robert