I have 160Gb hard disk in which i have created 4 partitions namely C20GB Windows XP installation),D40 GB),E20GB),F40 GB) while I have kept 40GB space as RAW partition. In that raw partition I tried to install Fedora 8.But after installation I was unable to access windows since in boot screen it did not show windows.Then again I tried to reinstall fedora with manually doing the partition.Then I chose GRUB boot loader installed on mbr. Now again I am not able to access my windows installation.
Then I recovered windows installation with recovery console but after doing that now I am unable to see the fedora in boot menu. Please suggest a solution.
Also suggest how to configure fedora partitions manually and using grub boot loader.

Regards
Prashant

unrelated to Linux From Scratch. Please pay more attention to the forum you post in. this will shortly be moved to the Fedora forum.

Fedora 8 identifies Windows XP as "Other." When setting up the boot loader during the installation, select the line marked "Other," click Edit, and change the label to Windows XP.

yes I did that but after doing that when it boots with Widows xp a black screen comes with a line written as sd(4,0) and nfso or somthing like that and nothing happens.
Also when i try to define custom partition in fedora.
I give 100 MB to /boot partition 2048 MB to /swap partition but when I give around 24 GB to / partition it displays a message and says not enough disk for / partition

During installation it is possible that the WinXP boot partition was not identified properly. We need to get grub back installed and then edit the /boot/grub/grub.conf file to point to the correct partition for WinXP.

1) Start by booting from the install DVD or a rescue CD.
2) At the prompt type linux rescue, you'll get a few other prompts like select language, keyboard, start up the network, and the last one is to find any Fedora installations. Use the continue option here and let it find the installation. Then you should get a shell prompt.
3) At the prompt type chroot /mnt/sysimage. This will change root to the root of your install.
4) Next type grub-install /dev/sda and that should get grub back into the MBR.
5) Next we need to modify grub.conf. Type nano /boot/grub/grub.conf. Then look for a line that says rootnoverify. Based on what you have told us so far it should read rootnoverify (hd0,0). If it doesn't, change it, save, and exit.
6) Now type exit at the prompt twice and you should reboot. Don't forget to pull the DVD/CD.

If things don't work correctly after this tell us what is happening. Stop doing reinstalls and messing with your partitions. It sounds like everything is there, we just need to point it to the right locations.

Bill

dear acid_kewpie
thanks a lot but for ur effort.but i could not see ur post yesterday.so i tried to reistall everything from scratch after one of my friend given a suggestion that u first partition ur hard disk with fedora then install windows after that. so i partitioned my hard disk as shown below
/dev/sda1 120GB (primary for windows)
/dev/sda2 100MB(primary for /boot in linux)
/dev/sda3 2GB (primary for /swap)
/dev/sda4 34GB (extended for '/'linux)

but after doing that when i rebooted the system and started installation of win xp then it showed following
c:<unknown partition type> 120 GB
E:<unknown file system type> 34 GB

Free space:
<73,000 MB> on MBR
i tried even to delete this space but i could not to that.

then when i tried to install windows on c:drive it gave an error that "you can not install windows on unknown file system" so i deleted the c: and d: partition and again created a single partition of 120GB in c:drive and left 34GB unpartitioned space without formatting. However i installed the windows successfully but it is still showing 73GB free space on MBR.
please help me i am really messed up now. I am really puzzeled that how can on 160GB hard disk it is showing around 210 GB space(120GB+34GB+73GB)And further why i am not able to delete this 73GB space and see the entire hard disk as unformatted single partition?
Did i made a mistake by partioning the hard disk with fedora fdisk.
Please help me I am even ready to install win XP again.

Regards
Prashant

Windows does not recognize file systems that it does not support. This is a normal response.

Please discontinue using words and phrases you do not understand. The MBR is the master boot record. It is a very small, special space at the beginning of the hard drive. I do not mean to sound critical, but if people read this, they will know you do not know what you are talking about and give you up as a "lost cause." If you don't know a term, say what you have to say in plain language.

In my opinion, you should always install XP first. Here is a recommended general procedure.

1. Start off with a regular Windows installation. When it asks where to install, do not install on the entire hard drive. Instead, choose the option where you can use some smaller amount. Leave everything else you do not expect to use for Windows alone.

2. Insert your Fedora 8 DVD. Select "Install or upgrade an existing system."

It will then ask you if you want to run a test on the media. If you have not already done so, do so now.

When you are done, you will come to an introductory Fedora 8 splash screen. Click Next.

Choose your language. Click Next.

Choose your keyboard. Click Next.

Choose install.

You now come to the partitioner. Select the option "Create custom layout" from the top drop down box. Click Next.

You will see how your drive is partitioned on the next screen. One at a time, select any other partitions besides the Windows one and delete them. Now select the free line and click the New button. A window will pop up asking you to make choices for the new partition regarding how the partition will be mounted. Create one for / (root). Create another one for /home, and create one for swap. If you have about 40GB of drive space available on your hard drive for Linux, I suggest allocating 12GB to /, 2GB to swap, and the remainder to /home. Don't try to get fancy. Only do what you know. If you get lost, ask, but do not just go ahead and do something. I suspect this is why you are in your current situation. After this is set up, click Next.

Select "The GRUB boot loader will be installed on /dev/sda." The screen on your computer will probably display the labels "Other" and "Fedora". Select the line marked "Other," click Edit, and change the label to Windows XP. Click Next. The installation should proceed normally from this point on.

dear,Cogar
I know what is MBR and what it is used for.Sorry that I have quoted such words. I was also surprised when I saw that my PC is showing 74GB on MBR.but i told only what i saw. I am not able to delete this space. If u can suggest me how to delete all partition and see whole space of 160 GB in single unpartitioned space,i will be very thankful.
I have also installed Redhat linux and windows on a single hard drive before in similar way as u have described above.I am using fedora for the first time and facing such problems.

Regards
pdwivedi

the MBR is 512 bytes, it's not possible for it to be 74gb, it's not even possible to see how big it is, as it's just *always* 512bytes. do you have some actual output you can show us to clarify what you mean?

pdwivedi,

What I think you are seeing is an extended partition and adding it to the total disk space to end up with a number that is higher than 160GB. Since you are familiar with RedHat I would recommend booting with the Fedora installation disk and going into rescue mode. Do this by typing linux rescue at the prompt instead of performing an install. You will be prompted for language, keyboard, network, and finding Fedora installations. Then you will get to a command prompt where you can use fdisk -l /dev/sda to give us an idea of what your partitions actually look like.

At this point I am also confused about how you want your final installation to look. How much space do you want for Windows, Fedora, etc? How much do you plan on having for swap space? Do you want to use LVM or go with standard partitions?

Bill

Boot up the Fedora Rescue CD.
Run fdisk and delete all partitions.
Make 4 new partitions, all primary.
- Partition 1 = Win XP, size = 60GB
- Partition 2 = /, size = 20GB
- Partition 3 = swap, size = 2GB
- Partition 4 = /home, size = whatevers left
Reboot.
Boot up the Fedora Rescue CD and run the following from a root/su console.
- mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
Reboot.
Install Windows XP onto the FAT32 partition you created (the first partition).
Reboot.
Install Fedora 8.
- Use the custom layout layout and add the partitions you made before to the template.
- Make sure the boot loader is installed to the MBR on you primary hard drive.
- Complete installation
Reboot.

Make sure windows will boot when you choose 'other' on grubs bootloader menu. If not, boot into fedora, open a root/su console and cd to /boot/grub. Now edit menu.lst, and change the entry named Other to something like the one below.

All being well it will now work.

Also like previously mentioned, stop using terminology you dont understand. I read your first two posts and labelled you a noob and lost cause. I only post this in the hope that such a low level explanation might be sufficient in helping you to work your way through your problem.