I have installed Ubuntu Linux on my USB external Hard disk. The GRUB boot load is on the usb drive i guess. When I try to boot into windows vista without the external disk, it gives error that GRUB not found. If the external drive is connected, I can choose to boot to windows or ubuntu. Please I want to be able to boot to windows without the external drive. What I can I do?

hmm, it sounds as if the boot.ini file might have been modified at the same time when you installed ubuntu. copy boot.ini and rename it something like boot.bak and see if theres a line in boot.ini about ubuntu, if so delete it and see if that fixes the problem.

I doubt that this is relevant.....The normal Linux installer--including Ubuntu--does not do anything to boot.ini (or to anything else within the Windows system)


Here is what is happening:
When you put Linux on an external drive and take the default bootloader installation, the boot code (GRUB) goes on the MBR of the #1 drive, and the GRUB files go in the /boot partition of the Linux install. If the external drive is not there, GRUB cannot find its files.

There are several ways to proceed:

1. Always have the external drive connected when you boot up.

2. Put the GRUB files on a partition on the internal drive.

3. Put GRUB on the external drive and access it by changing the boot order in the BIOS.

4. As above, but set up a link from the Windows boot.ini

5. Put Linux on the internal drive. This generally requires shrinking the existing Windows partition.

Tell us more about the system and which option(s) you'd like to pursue. The "booting" link below may help, but also search here for member "saikee" and look at his links.

You won't find anything GRUB-related or Ubuntu-related in boot.ini, so no point in modifying it.

No question that your GRUB was installed on the first hard disk and not the external one like it should have been. You will need to:
1) Fix the MBR on the Windows hard disk. Do that by booting into Windows and running the 'fixmbr' command.
2) Reinstall GRUB on the external hard disk. Do that by booting the Live CD, mounting the Linux partition from the external drive (by double-clicking it it will be mounted automatically) and running "grub-install --root-directory=/media/disk/boot/grub /dev/sdb".

Now, if your BIOS supports booting from external USB drives, you will be able to boot Linux when the drive is connected (and Windows will load normally otherwise).

Tetebotan, Udi is right here.

Since you are able to boot Ubuntu with your external drive attached you should be ok. You might have to modify the boot order in your bios settings so that it boot from the external drive when it is attached.

If this doesn't work, you can also add Ubuntu to the Windows boot menu specified in the boot.ini file. Here is a thread on how to do that: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ows-xp-244728/

Mons