LinuxQuestions.org - Fedora 11 install on Vista Dual Boot fails to load back Vista

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- - Fedora 11 install on Vista Dual Boot fails to load back Vista (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-laptop-and-netbook-25/fedora-11-install-on-vista-dual-boot-fails-to-load-back-vista-757249/)

The only way Grub would overwrite information of your windows bootloader on the windows partition is if the person installing chose that partition. Grub doesn't actually boot windows, it just points to the area on the partition windows is on where its boot files should be.

If you chose to install Grub to the partition where Fedora was installed then Grub would not boot because it would have no stage1 file in the master boot record.

If you select do not install bootloader with your Fedora install, you will then need to manually edit vista boot files to make an entry for Fedora. Also, Fedora does not put an entry for windows in the menu.lst file, as far as I know, and you need to do this manually. It's easier than the vista method but, if you are a long time windows user, you may be better off using vista bootloader. There is a program called EasyBCD (free download) from neosmart technologies which people have had success with.

Worked Worked Worked !!! :)

This was what I did, as suggested the (hd0,x) in the /etc/grub.conf file was pointing to different partition than the partition on which the boot files of Windows were loaded. So I changed the value to the correct as per suggested by mobinskariya and it worked. :)

Thanks a million for your responses guys :) Now I know how it works .

Quote:

Originally Posted by yancek (Post 3694788)

I did try the EasyBCD software yesterday and I actually used it to uninstall Ubunt 9.04 from my laptop.
But in this case of Fedora 11 - Vista, since GRUB was the boot loader, when I tried to use BCD to rewrite the MBR for Vista, it did not even open EasyBCD application and it said, COULD NOT FIND A ACTIVE BCD FOR YOUR WINDOWS. SO FAILED TO OPEN. (This was because there was no Windows Boot Manager and EasyBCD only works if there is an existing Windows Boot Manager).
So, I had to use the Windows Restore Boot Loader tutorial to restore back the MBR with Windows Boot Loader from the Vista DVD and all worked.:)
Thanks for your reply :)

Quote:

Now I know how it works .

thats great..thank your grub since it helped you learn something :D

congrats.. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobinskariya (Post 3694215)

if windows is installed in /dev/sdan (n an integer).. then you should use (hd0,n-1) not (hd0,n)..hope u got it..

Perfect !!! It worked :) As you said, the value of n in hd(0,n-1) was wrong. I fixed it and now all booted fine. Infact I have remove Fedora 11 and going to try Open Solaris for a try :)

Thanks a lot:)

Be careful with OpenSolaris. You have to do a lot of chain loading to be able to boot different operating systems, including Linux, when running grub off OpenSolaris. Double check me on this, but I think installing grub on OpenSolaris is also different from the way it's done in Linux, although everything is pretty much done for you by the OpenSolaris installer. Also, menu.lst isn't located in /boot/grub in OpenSolaris.

Quote:

Originally Posted by btncix (Post 3695180)

If you could post a link which atleast gives me a heads up before I even try this, then it would be great.

BTB, thanks for your help.

Here's what I found from a quick search on LQ.

triple boot linux, winxp, opensolaris - info from LQ

I'm sure there is better info with a more careful search.