Thread: LINUX dilemma

  1. #1
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    LINUX dilemma

    hey, i just installed linux and for some reason it didn't get on the partition i made ... so now WINDOWs XP doesn't boot up... how can i fix this (to get XP back on)

  2. #2
    aurė entuluva! mithrandir's Avatar
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    I swear I read the other day how exactly how to fix this problem, but for the life of me I cannot find where I read it. Man, I wish I could remember!

  3. #3
    aurė entuluva! mithrandir's Avatar
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    Well I found something similar...if you used Lizard (the installation wizard) it does not install a boot manager, so there is no way to directly boot to Linux. If you installed Linux from Windows (say from a CD-ROM) when you reboot, the computer will go back to Windows (or in your case, nothing) and you'll need to reinstall Linux.

    You aren't entirely screwed if you have a Windows XP start-up disk, allowing you to go through DOS, to boot up Windows XP. Otherwise, you may just have to format the disk, and reinstall XP. I hope you backed up before you decided to install Linux!

  4. #4
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    If you were using Win95 or 98 I would say to boot to a dos prompt with your boot floppy and execute the following at the command line.

    fdisk /mbr

    Assuming your windoze partition didn't actually get eaten that would problably work. I don't know if you can do it in XP though.

    I ran into a similar problem on a dual boot Win95/RH7.1 install some time ago. Found out the cause was having used Maxblast installation software to copy a 2G HD to a 13G Maxtor upgrade.

    Something about that type of install messes with dual booting. Finally had to LLF the drive and install everything from scratch to get it working the way it should. Not fun. Good luck.

  5. #5
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    i went to best buy today and got it fixed)
    (i think i'm gonna wait until i get to college and after several months i'll attempt the dual operating system gig again... with the help of a 4th yr graduate student lol~!)

  6. #6
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    lol hey i just had the same problem a few days ago. i formated my system like 10 times trying to get it to work but i finally got it installed. what linux are you using? redhat's?? if you want help email me or post a reply. its not very hard.
    Last edited by VooDoo; 08-03-2002 at 10:45 PM.

  7. #7
    Registered User billholm's Avatar
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    I have a dual boot system.

    1) Windows 95
    2) DosLinux (ext2 fs) (by Kent-Robotti) (related to Loop Linux)

    The problem is I don't have a C compiler along with the package.

    It was quite easy installing mine. The only problem I had was that my 83Meg (only) Western Digital HD is physically damaged.

    I had to install OS, reformat HD, install OS again, reformat HD again and so on until everything fell in the right place and not into the damaged sectors hehehe.
    All men are created equal. But some are more equal than others.

    Visit me at http://www.angelfire.com/my/billholm

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