Hello im a real noob with linux i have an asus laptop with 2 hd 1st has a windows partition.
my problem i think came about when i ran lilo now i cant use windows or my linux thumbdrive. I thought that by using my vista recovery cd that i could use windows again but no luck.

If i use my thumbdrive it comes up saying - boot: with a lilo menu in red above so i can maybe type in some commands but no idea what to do. All i really want is to get my computer back to the way it was and be able to use windows again

can anyone help me plz


thx in advance.

Ok, a couple of things. Firstly, what exactly did you do, and what was the specific result, when you attempted to use your Windows CD?

Second, post the contents of your /etc/lilo.conf so we have some idea what you're dealing with here.

Also, was lilo installed to the MBR?

Hi thanks for the reply, i was using bt3 and was trying to update kernels and got way over my head, i think i just typed lilo into a command next time i logged out my bt3 usb loaded up saying kernel panic, when i rebooted without the usb i got the L 010101 thing all over my screen.

After entering bios and loading the windows cd it went through and reinstalled windows and factory defaults rebooted itself and i ended up back with the L 010101 thing again. Not very happy coz i waited like a month for the CD to be shipped from Australia and thought that it would fix my problem but no.

I now have a bt4 on my usb thinking maybe i could boot into something but it just says lilo in red box up top with boot: if i try run this bt4 it just says loading linux ................... then stops and does nothing.

how do i get to this config file u speak of?

thankyou for the help

bt3 means Backtrack Linux?
Windows version??
Was this system working (dual-booting) prior to your doing whatever you did?
You refer to a usb device and to having 2 harddrives, does this mean you have two hard drives or one hard drive and the usb? You indicate windows on the first hard drive and bt3 on another drive? usb?

Reading over your initial post, I'm not sure you had bt3 installed to your harddrive?

Hi,

The boot was from the hdd since lilo was the bootloader and looking for the system on the flash that you removed.

Place either the M$ CD in the drive or boot bt3 cd. You can then write the MBR from M$ depending on version. If WinXP you can boot to the command prompt and issuing 'fdisk /mbr', without quotes. For Vista then use the 'fixboot' or 'fixmbr' commands from the repair console, same for 7.

If you wish to modify lilo then the easiest way would be to use the BT3 install cd1 to boot the system as if you were going to install.

After you get to the login then from the cli (command line);

You should now be able to re-boot your system.

Hello again thanks for the replies, i was under the (wrong) impression when playing around with backtrack 3, which is installed and loaded through a usb drive that it only writes to the usb not my 2 hard drives. 1st hd has an 8gb windows vista partition + the other 310 odd gb for the remaining, and another hd that has no partitons and 320 gb.

if your wondering why i typed lilo into a command prompt i have no idea :P i was just stuck and kind of fed up not realizing that it could screw with my windows, so now i have the problem if i try to boot the old bt3 usb then it goes to load but b4 i can startx or fixvesa or anything it says kernel panic and stops.

if i try my bt4 usb then it comes up with the red lilo v22.8 box and has a command that says boot: however anything i type into this it just says something like "no image found push [tab]" or something like that. If i load up with the windows cd it goes to a windows type space with 3 options to format - 1st partition only - both partitions - both hds. I seem to get no working command prompts whatever i do.

So like i said im a real noob and dont know what to do. I rang Asus and exausted all things to try over the phone, hard reset, reinstall windows, and they said my only other option was to return it to them. The Laptop is under warranty M70-SA but im overseas and there is no Asus repairer here. As i said b4 i think the reason im at this point is because of either trying to update kernels for bt3 and doing it wrong or running lilo which i really have no idea about at all.


thankyou for the help.

how do i get to a "repair console" vista when all i get if i remove my usb is the L 01 01 01 01 thing

1. Download the OLDEST version of Super Grub Disk found in my signature.
2. Boot the CD.
3. Wait for it to load.
4. Using the keyboard and enter key; select "MBR => Win )))))))))))))))))))))))):"
5. Fixed

Hope your issue gets resolved.

Yay progress at last after months thank you very much for your help. Leopards advice has put me on the right track windows at least tries to load now, but has an error "the computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click "ok" to restart the computer, then restart the installation"
then proceeds to reboot with the same problem so im going home to again load my Asus recovery cd and try that again hopefully windows will work again


thank you so much wish i came here earlier

ok so now windows tries to load but with an error. It wont load my factory recovery cd - which doesnt have those repair tools. Ive downloaded and ran that and it cant find any errors with the booting however when i try to run something like bootfix in the command window it does nothing as if the file/exe doesnt exist. its default is x:\support i think do i need to change directory to get these tools to work ?
Any ideas why the factory cd wont boot now but this recovery environment cd will?

anyhelp much appreciated thx in advance

Hi,

You've been had!
'Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download' should aid in your recovery.


The above link and others can be found at 'Slackware-Links'. More than just Slackware® links!

hi yea i found that site already downloaded the iso burnt ran it fixed an error rebooted still the same error, run it again no errors to be found and still wont work i think im very close. it loads to a point where it asks me to restart but if i push shift 5 times (stickykeys) i can actually go into control panel and use everything??? for some reason it doesnt like loading my Asus recovery disc i got lucky once after about 10 restarts and thought it was going to work but no

any ideas?

I think it's 'fixboot', not 'bootfix'.

Hell jaywade. Could you provide a bit more information?

Such as:
- What are you trying to achieve? Re-install Windows, or just fix a current installation?

- Here, we like errors. The more detailed information you can give about what happens and what the computer says, it could be the thing we could use to help you!

- How are you partitioning your hard drives?

- And I know this may sound weird, but could you summarize in one short paragraph what you have done to resolve the problem after it had first appeared?

- Two HDD's could be a problem here. Which is why I am asking you the above!

That info could help alot! Best of Luck!

Hello, thank you all for the replys. I have fixed my problem by running another windows install. It worked and i got my backtrack 4 work sorted as well leopards advice was what got me out of the origional problem i was in, thanks Leopard ended up wiping both my hardrives which was unwanted and unfortunate but at least i can use my computer again.

thanks again for all your replys