installing windows after linux
 

LOL. back again, havent gotten out of the newbie catergory yet.

i am going to reinstall xp pro to my windows partition. after i do the install i assume nasty microsoft will automatically write over the master boot partition, so how easy is it to restore grub back to its state?
is it as easy as just using the recovery cd and installing MBR again or is it a bit trickier than that?

oh using debian-etch if it makes any difference.

thanks.

Yes, it is as easy as knowing how to boot your distribution from another source and reinstalling Grub. Just confirm you know how to do it.
Boot your Debian CD and make sure you can boot your Debian partition.
Running "grub-install" is the command usually used to rewrite Grub.

mmm...thanks.

is using the grub-install command the same as using the MBR option from the boot disk menu.

wait im confused now you say boot your debian CD and make sure you can boot your partition too, doesnt the boot cd just go straight to the install/recovery menu by default? what do you mean by make sure you can boot your debian partition too?

ive never used the boot/recovery disk after an initial install so im unsure about how to use it?

Yup... Thats the easy way...
The hard way :
1. Run grub from Debian CD
2. In grub, type "root /dev/hd**" where hd** is your harddisk plus your partition number
3. Then type "setup (hd*) where * again is your harddisk number
:)

Haven't used Etch yet. I don't know?
Does the "MBR option" from the boot disk menu install the Grub configuration from your current installed partition?
Okay, booting from my Woody DVD to see how that worked.

HELP Please.

i used my recovery/install cd and typed in rescue and it says kernel not found? so i tried going back into the menu/install part to try something from there but it wont let me go into the menu because i have my eth connection down because i use wifi and it wont let me get past that point.

AAHHH! is there another utility i can download to restore grub back to its original state?

GODDAMN you windows.

If you can get to a command prompt then just modprobe the module for your wireless.

thats exactly my problem, i cant get to a command prompt, the closest i can get is the initial prompt to set boot parameters for the cd. unless you guys know of a way to get to a command prompt.

what i dont understand about the cd is why it just doesnt let you go straight to the menu, why does it assume youre doing a new install and make you go through all those initial steps with mapping your keyboard and setting up your internet connection, as the rescue command wont work in this case.

thanks.

i found this in another thread:

boot up from Debian installation CD and type 'boot=/dev/hda1' at prompt. Debian will boot up. execute 'grub-install /dev/hda' in konsole to reinstall GRUB.

i dont have my laptop with me right now but am wondering if you guys can tell me that it will work or not?

Yes it should work.

ok i am just about there. i have made into the rescue menu and have reloaded the grub bootloader. only thing i have to remount my /home and swap partitions. i do not know how to do this from command line and prefer to do it from the menu, but when i go to partition settings i remount my partitions to my preferences and have the format option set to "no, keep existing data" but when i go to save changes it says ALL EXISTING DATA WILL BE DESTROYED if i proceed?
if i dont format the partitions, how can the data be destroyed? is this the debian installer trying to trick me? i already have too much important stuff on those partitions to accept without reassurance from you guys. is anyone here familiar enough with debian etch's installer to verify what will happen.

thanks.

am not sure why something that should be so easy has turned into a nail-biting nightmare for me.

When It says that is it listing all the drives or is it just listing the ones you wish to reformat? Or did you not choose any of the partitions to be reformated?

Have you also tried creating a rescue floppy yet from the cd's? if you do a search for debian rescue floppy you will get ton's of information.