Adding WinXP to LILO

insanebluecow · 06-18-2003, 03:08 PM

Ok, I think I just locked myself out of WinXP and I don't have a boot disk... not good. I was wondering if there is any way to add WinXP to LILO so it'll be an option when my computer boots. I really need to fix this be for my dad gets home in a few hours :-( Thanks for any help...

pioniere · 06-18-2003, 03:16 PM

So WinXP was booting through LILO before you started having problems? If that is the case, why not just go into Linux and make the necessary changes to LILO.

Otherwise, if XP was the default and you added Linux (and can no longer get to XP as a result), get a boot disk from any Windows or DOS platform and make sure it has FDISK on it. Then, boot from the disk and run FDISK /MBR . This will rebuild your boot record and enable you to access XP once again.

Hope this helps; if not then try to provide more detail.

insanebluecow · 06-18-2003, 03:39 PM

Now it looks for Win98 instead of XP and says "Operating System missing." Can anyone just tell me where to find a boot disk for XP? When I go into FDISK it says that hda1 (my XP partition) is of the "Hidden HPFS/NTFS" type. Could that mean anything?

manthram · 06-18-2003, 04:02 PM

you dont need a winxp boot disk. you can use any windows boot disk. or you can use the windows xp cd. when the menu comes select repair exsisting OS in the repair console.

or else you can download boot disk from here

in case your dad finds out tell him that you can learn to fix only when you screw up something first

insanebluecow · 06-18-2003, 04:48 PM

Man, I am SO screwed. I've tried a boot disk and the WinXP CD... It still says "Missing OS." Crud :-( I can't even get my computer to recognize WinXp.

insanebluecow · 06-18-2003, 05:36 PM

OK, I was wondering if changing the type of drive (FAT32/EXT2/etc.) with fdisk will format the disk. If it doesn't format it, I could just change the type of drive to NTFS again, right? Heres what my partition table looks like:

Code:

    Name        Flags      Part Type  FS Type          [Label]        Size (MB)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    hda1                    Primary   Hidden HPFS/NTFS [^G]            63885.75
    hda2                    Primary   Linux swap                         542.87
    hda3        Boot        Primary   Linux ext2                        3224.31
    hda4                    Primary   Linux ext2                       12346.15

DrOzz · 06-18-2003, 06:13 PM

when you lock yourself out of a windows xp or windows 2000 box, all you have to do is locate the sam.exe file located somewheres in the windows folder, i say somewheres cause i don't remember the exact location, and then you will be able to get back in, but there won't be any user accounts, so you will have to make a new admin account and whatever users you want, and then when you reboot you can use the newly created accounts..

insanebluecow · 06-18-2003, 06:17 PM

Thats the thing, I can't get into Windows, so I can't access the drive cuz it's NTFS.