The first instinct might be... "OMG! REINSTALL!"
But that's a
Windows instinct. This is
Linux ...
Here's what to do. Ask yourself
how you managed to make Windows go-away from the boot menu. What changed recently? Is there a backup-file handy?
Okay, let's suppose there isn't. The next question is: are you using
grub as your bootloader, or
LILO? In Linux, look for a directory called
/boot/grub. That is, from the topmost directory, look for "boot" and within that look for a folder, "grub." If so, you'll find a
grub.conf file in that folder, and the command
info grub will tell you all about it... with examples.
If, on the other hand, you see a
/boot/map file, and a file
/etc/lilo.conf, you're probably using LILO. Once again,
man lilo will tell you all about it. A little bit more complicated but it'll get you on the right track.
In both cases you do need to know
where the Windows operating-system is: on which drive, and which partition.
"Simply scrambling for a reinstall disk" is
not the right thing to do.
It will only make things
needlessly worse... Now that you find yourself unexpectedly thrust into this situation
... work your way out of it
... learning
as you go. These woods will never be so dark-and-scary again.
