Snafu Installing Ubuntu

Helixtwice · 02-16-2009, 03:41 PM

Hi!

I have Ubuntu installed on my computer, a Windows Vista Home Premium System, but I can't access it.
I partitioned it with the Vista Partition Utility, and installed it in the largest empty space, and removed the CD and ran off the installation, so I know that Ubuntu is installed.
During the installation, however, I mistakenly chose the Windows Boot Manager, instead of sticking with the default Linux Boot Manager, so now I cannot access Linux, except off of live CD.
Maybe I could use the installation disc to swap boot managers, but I am not certain, and I naturally do not want to lose a whole lot of Windows programs and data!
If I had a spare hard drive, I would duplicate this one onto it and release the hounds, but I do not.
Is there a safe way to swap the Windows Boot Manager to the Linux one?
Or should I just wait and get another hard drive?
Item C which I have not thought of?
Thank you all!

jkzfixme · 02-16-2009, 04:01 PM

here is a good article explaining all the complexities I would personally just run grub-install after you boot w/ the live cd.

Regards
JKZfixme

digerati1338 · 02-16-2009, 04:01 PM

You can install the grub bootloader from within Linux by running grub-install. You will need the grub package installed. More detailed instructions are at http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...ub_002dinstall or by googling.

CJS · 02-16-2009, 04:10 PM

If you would like specific instructions for how to install Grub and also make sure your Grub menu offers an option to boot Vista, I can give you a hand if you first download the Boot Info Script to your Ubuntu Live CD desktop, open a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and do:

Code:

sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

That will create a "RESULTS.txt" file in the same directory from where the script is run, namely your desktop; please copy/paste the contents of the RESULTS.txt file to your next post, highlight the copied text, and click the pound/hash sign "#" graphic button in the forum message box so that the text will get "code" tags put around it. The results of that script will help clarify your setup.