Dual boot laptop problem

[Barry Gamblin]

|> 
|> On 4/8/05, Suraj Chandrasekaran <csuraj at gmail.com> wrote:
|> > Hi,
|> > 
|> > Actually, the boot.ini file is hidden and is not visible until you 
go
|> > to Tools>Folder Options and select Show hidden files and folders 
and
|> > also, and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files". Now, you
|> > should see the boot.ini file in the root windows partition, most
|> > probably C: drive.
|> > 
|> > Hope this helps. Give me an update if it does or doesnt work.
|> > 
|> > -Suraj
|> > 
|> 

Jason Brown wrote:

|> Once he reinstalled Windows it wrote over the top of the MBR. 
|> Shouldnt he be looking there first since grub/lilo was actually 
|> taking care of the boot process.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|> > >
|> > >
|> > > -----Original Message-----
|> > > From: redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com
|> > > [mailto:redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of Barry 
Gamblin
|> > > Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 11:33 AM
|> > > To: redhat-list at redhat.com
|> > > Subject: Dual boot laptop problem
|> > >
|> > > I have (or should I say had) a laptop (Thinkpad T23) that
|> > > dual boots Redhat 9 and Windows 2000. I needed to upgrade the 
Windows
|> > > side to Windows XP. The upgrade didn't go well so a
|> > > clean install of Windows was needed. I selected the Windows 
partition
|> > > during the setup process and told it to format the partition. The
|> > > install evidently wiped out the partition table, and I forgot to 
save a
|> > > copy of the boot.ini file, so now I cannot get to my linux 
install.
|> > > msconfig does not give me the option to edit the boot.ini file. 
In fact
|> > > I cannot even find the real file, just a backup file. I think the 
linux
|> > > partition is still there, but I do not know how to get to it.
|> > >
|> > > Is there any way to get the partition table back so I can boot 
into the
|> > > linux side?
|> > >
|> > > Thanks, Barry
|> > >


I probably should have followed up on this. I was actually using 
the windows boot loader, but I switched over to grub.

Here is what I ended up doing with the help of some linux nerds 
here at work:

------
It's pretty easy with grub. Boot the install CD, mount the old root, 
cd to the old root, then execute:

sbin/grub

when you get the "grub>" prompt, type

root (hd0,#)

where "#" is the partition number of your /boot partition (or the 
root partition if you don't have /boot on a separate partition), 
minus one.
Example: if you have /boot or root on hda2, type:

root (hd0,1)

Then type:

setup (hd0)

That's it, you're done. This assumes that your data is still intact, 
and that your /boot/grub/grub.conf file is configured correctly for 
the system.

------

Here is my partition table:

Device     Boot    Start     End    Blocks      ID   System

/dev/hda1   *          1    1625   12284968+   c    Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2           1626    6036   33347160    f    Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3           6037    6201    1247400   1c    Hidden Win95 FAT32
/dev/hda5           1626    4416   21099928+  83    Linux
/dev/hda6           4417    4559    1081048+  82    Linux swap
/dev/hda7           4560    6036   11166088+   b    Win95 FAT32

So I found the linux install on /dev/hda5 was intact by booting the
redhat 9 install cd. So running grub and putting in

root (hd0,4)
setup (hd0)

and then examining the /etc/grub.conf file to make sure it was correct
I could then boot into both windows and redhat.

I have since upgraded (or actually re-installed) Fedora Core 3 on the
linux side. All is well.

Barry Gamblin