Fedore core 2 /windows booting problem
 

hi All,

my computer had a FC2 and Win XP dual-boot installed on it. It used GRUB 0.93 for the dual boot.

to start with, I am real newbie to linux...and had installed it just coz I wanted to use it for one of my projects.

the partition was: XP - 22 GB and FC2 - 15 GB
I thot, that since I was not using FC2 tht much....I should reformat tht partition for windows again.

My friend who helped me with installing linux, told me to reformat the partition w/o unistalling fedora...and I did it that way.
the reasoning behind it was the XP was the primary OS...also it was installed first and the FC 2...so we thot that jus formatting wud help.

however, after reformatting the FC2 partition and restarting the machine... it now fails to boot windows as well.

I get a command prompt screen...with a grub> prompt and I cant go anywhere frm there.

Is there any way...to boot up my windows ...now tht there is no FC2 on my m/c.????
I hv some imp. data in my windows drive and dont want to reformat and lose it.

Again...I am a newbie...in dire need of some help.

awaiting your replies.

thanks.

Eddie

grub is in your mbr and if there is no longer any files as /boot as been formatted you need to use XP cd and rescue mode to overwrite your mbr.

if you have no Xp cd......heh heh.....reinstall the barest linux with a /boot partition of 100 megs
redo grub to allow the ms menu then delete all patitions except /boot and you can have no timeout and no linux entries in that menu

Download Knoppix 3.6 ISO image, write it to a CD and boot from it. In the worst case, you should be able to recover the data from your windows partition before you do anything else to your hard disk like removing or creating new partitions.

Knoppix is a Live Linux distro which means you don't need to install it in a hard disk before you can run it. It is especially useful for recovering unbootable systems. It is downloadable from here.

will try it out in the evening...as I am in the office now.
hope, it works out.

thanks for your replies.

-ed.

did the fixmbr using the diagnostics menu.

now if i restart the computer, I get the windows screen....but it asks for a setup disk...and tries installing windows.


also tried the Knoppix download.
I can see my c drive contents out there (as hda1) after I boot frm the knoppix cd....

can I change ne settings frm there...so tht it will load windows properly?

thanks

eddie

The laptop jus has a single cd drive...which is gonna be used by the bootable cd...containing Knoppix.

Is there a way to transfer the data....someway... w/o connectin an external drive?

thanks

Ed.

You need to make a Windows Boot floppy. That is if you even still have a floppy drive.

You can try using UBCD to repair the Windows OS

here is the linK: http://www.ubcd4win.com/

Otherwise you need to find your Installation CD or recovery CD to restore windows to its former functionality.

Good Luck,

Thorn

Oh if all else fails...

Try using your ethernet connections to copy the files to another computer.

Once that is done you can reformat.

Good Luck,

Thorn

thorn,

this mite seem a relli stupid question....but does linux have an equivalent of a MY NETWORK PLACES.

I mean, if my m/c is on a network....and I hv booted thru Knoppix...and say, another m/c is also on the same n/w and has booted thru knoppix....can I access that m/c 's shared drive/folders??

Also, one more question....will a USB flash drive work in Knoppix or do I need to change any settings to access my USB port??

thanks

-Eddie.