How do i boot back to Windows

I installed Mandrake 9.2 with a hitch, but now it only boots to Linux, how do I boot back into Windows XP? In the startup it doesnt ask if I want Linux or Windows, just automaticaly boots to Linux. How can I boot back to Windows?

Login into Mandrake and edit the lilo.conf file to add an entry for ur Windows partition and then run /sbin/lilo and reboot the machine. You should get the windows option in Lilo prompt.
Click here for more.

Also, you can define your default OS and the delay time. In your case, the windows partition should be hda1.

Ok, i can get into the lilo.conf file fine, but what should i type in to get windows to boot up? Im a total noob and this is sorta my first time with linux

no problem, as newbie few weeks back I faced the same problem.

Please post the contents of your lilo.conf file.

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
default="linux"
keytable=/boot/us.klt
prompt
nowarn
timeout=100
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5 splash=silent"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5"
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=nomount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5 failsafe"
read-only
other=/dev/fd0
label="floppy"
unsafe

I read somewhere that windows was supposed to be on the boot loader at start up too but its not there, i swear i am gonna cry if i cant get back to windows

Just a question, how did you partition while installing Mandrake ?

Um, i think i just threw in a linux swap partition and on my empty 2nd hd, but looking at the lili.conf i think it may have just installed on some empty space on my 1st hd,

Try adding this to your lilo.conf (refer to the portion in bold.) and don't forget to run /sbin/lilo from your command prompt before re-booting. I am assuming that your windows partition existed and still exists on hda1.


******************************************************
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
default="linux"
keytable=/boot/us.klt
prompt
nowarn
timeout=100
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5 splash=silent"
vga=788
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5"
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hda1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=nomount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=ht resume=/dev/hdb5 failsafe"
read-only


other=/dev/hda1
label=NT
table=/dev/hda


other=/dev/fd0
label="floppy"
unsafe

Ok i added that stuff but it wont let me safe cuz it says i dont have write permisson(!?!). Also, I found the boot loader option menu and managed to add a windows boot from hda1 to the list, but then it says it didnt find a valid boot signiture on the first sector. what does this mean?

I am assuming that your system had Windows installed first and then you installed Linux. If that is the case, Windows partition should ideally have been on hda1, but from your lilo.conf file it seems that linux resides on hda1 now. "root=/dev/hda1"

Do you have more than one hd ? Had you left empty space on your first hd for Linux ? Did you have Windows on hd 1 & 2 both?

I do have 2 hds but the 2nd was completely empty. I had Windows XP installed on the first hd but ya it looks like linux took it over or something. But Windows is still on there and im just trying to access it. Is there a way to just uninstall Linux for now and force my computer to boot windows?

Your scenario is different to what I faced. I had just a single hd and then I had kept empty space for Linux on it and the installed Linux. While partitioning, it occupied the empty space left. And that was definitely, not hda1, coz hda1 is where my windows C-drive is.

I really doubt uninstalling will help.

ya i dont really want to uninstall since id like to try linux out. I guess all i really want to do is to get Windows on my boot list. Any more ideas on how i can do this?

Please go to Control Center on Linux and then to Information --> Partitions and check and post the partition details. You will know from here that how much space your Linux partition is occupying and you will come to know whether the Windows partition has been over written or not.

Please post the result of your partition details.

i have 3 partitions on my 1st hd, 2nd has no partitions and is blank.

1st Partition

Mount Point: /
Device: hda1
Type: Journalised FS: ext3 (0x483)
Start: Sector 63
Size: 3.3GB(6%), 7100667 Sectors
Cylinder 0 to 441
Formatted
Mounted
Partion booted by default
(for MS-DOS boot, not for lilo)

2nd Partition

Mount Point: swap
Device: hda5
Type: Linux Swap (0x82)
Start: sector 7100793
Size: 3.1GB(5%), 6682977 sectors
Cylinder 442 to 857
Formatted
Mounted

3rd Partition

Mount Point: /home
Device: hda6
Type: Journalised FS: ext3 (0x483)
Start: sector 13783833
SizeL 49GB(88%) 103394277 sectors
Cylinder 858 to 7293
Formatted
Mounter