dual boot
 

I have linux ubuntu installed and i have windows XP installed. Each one is on it's own hard disk. unfortunately now i cant boot windows xp. i opened menu.lst and didn't find the windows line there so i added it myself this is what i wrote:
but now when it starts up and i press esc and choose win XP it tells me this:
all this is because i didn't install linux in the MBR. i don't think it asked me for it...i tried playing around with the root (hd0,1) changing it to hd0,2 or 3 etc.. different types of error messages each time. i can't get to windows. windows is on the slave harddisk linux is on the master harddisk. sory for writing so much.
oh yeah and when i open the console and write fdisk -l nothing comes up!
:newbie:

As Windows is on the second disk, you probably need hd(1,0)

The first parameter is the disk number, and the second is the partition number (both starting from 0).

If windows is on the slave, you should use root (hd1,<partion no>)

EDIT: Sorry about repeating same thing, I guess me & trevelluk post this at the same time:-)

i just tried that
this is what it said
The windows harddrive is completely unpartitioned so (hd1,0) should work shouldn't it.

Try rootnoverify (hd1,0) instead of root (hd1,0)

this is what it says now:
EDIT: i removed the makeactive code and now it no longer gives me an error it just gives me a flashing underscore and that's it. been like that for a while now...

Are you sure your Windows files are still intact. Can you mount and browse the partition in Ubuntu?

Try this
Maybe rootnoverify (hd1,0), I'm not sure:-)

nope still giving me a flashing underscore
EDIT: i tried it both with and without the makeactive line.

how do i mount and browse the partition in ubuntu. sorry mate i just installed ubuntu and it's my first distro im a complete newb

OK, first of all, it may have been automatically detected and mounted for you. To find out, have a look at the file /etc/fstab
If this contains a line mentioning /dev/hdb1 (assuming you're using IDE disks - you probably are), then the Windows partition is already mounted, and the contents should be found in the directory specified on that line.

Otherwise, you'll need to do the following, as root:

1. Create a directory where you want to mount the partition (mkdir /mnt/windows).
2. Run the mount command, as follows: mount -t ntfs /dev/hdb1 /mnt/windows

If this doesn't give you any errors, then the partitions mounted.

To browse it, just use the file browser of your choice to navigate to the directory specified in /etc/fstab (or that you created).
Alternatively, to use the command line, type cd /path/to/directory (obviously, inserting the real path), and then type ls to view the contents.

this is what it says in fstab:

when i tried to make the directore using the console it said permission deniedd.

It's not in there yet then. You'll need to follow the steps I outlined in my earlier post.

I've got to go for the evening now, so I won't be able to give you any more advice until the morning. I'm sure kesara or someone else will be able to carry on helping though.

(edit)
Sorry, I missed the last line of your post the first time around. Were you root when you tried to create the directory? Type su and when prompted, your root password to get the necessary access.

ok. thanks man. i 'll try the mounting now.
EDIT: what on earth is the root password. i tried my normal login pass. nope. not my windows pass or my bios pass either! sorry you guys.
soz not su in ubuntu supposed to write sudo

i got fdisk -l to work and now this is what it says: