can't load Windows:):(
 

Hello,
I've installed Red Hat 9.0 and have been using it. When default boot OS was asked while installing, I had chosen Linux. But today I wanted to change this default to Windows XP which is installed on the other partition of my hard disk. I changed /etc/lilo.conf and run /sbin/lilo after hard disk master-slave settings(hard disk was as hdb, now as hda). "Loading DOS " and then "L" in a line.
Then I changed default OS by using Linux CD.But I couldn't start Windows.t's starting Linux without a problem.But when I choose "DOS" same problem --> "Loading DOS " and then "L" in a line.
In fact I'm happy with Linux, but my boss says that there are things which cannot been done with Linux.Since I'm not an expert on Linux I cannot insist.
Anyway , can you help me?How can I load Windows ?

Windows on hda1
my /etc/lilo.conf:
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
lba32

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-8
label=linux
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.20-8.img
read-only
append="root=LABEL=/"

other=/dev/hda1
label=DOS

Thanks...

ask your boss since he's such an expert on linux.

you changed your disk from hdb to hda, and windows couldn't handle it.
boot your windows cdrom and reinstall the boot loader for windows. then you'll have to reinstall lilo again probably.

How can I install Windows boot loader? I'm not a Windows expert, either.

usually if you boot windows off the floppy diskett, it'll re-install the boot loader all on it own, OR, boot with a dos diskett/windows boot disk that has "fdisk" on the floppy then at the dos prompt type " fdisk mbr" that will reset the mbr to boot windows (if i understand correctly, your windows disk is hda, correct?) Then after you have the mbr reset, then you have to use you linux installation cd and reinstall lilo. Leaving linux as the default OS will not hurt anything. you just have to choose windows at prompt if you are wanting windows....

from a windows floppy containing fdisk.exe the command is fdisk/mbr

from the 2000 or XP cd, the command is FIXMBR and FIXBOOT (no spaces)

Then how will I load LILO again
when i boot from linux cd --> "L" again....

Restoring windows MBR
 

I had a dual boot system for a bit that ran WinXP Pro and Redhat or Mandrake, and tried to remove the main drive with linux moving the windows drive back as the main. Surprise, the windows boot record wasn't there anymore and all you see is a screen full of "#". I booted off the WinXP cd and got to the command or console recovery (whichever they call it). There you will find a program called fixmbr or something to that effect. Just run the programand reset your computer. This program is also included on the Win2000 CD I think, just be sure to boot off the same CD as your existing OS and use that version of fixmbr or else you'll see problems only a format could fix :).

I run fixmbr that is on WinXP CD.But when restart the system it says that "booting from CD" and "L" on the screen although there is no CD on CD-ROM. When I attempted booting from Linux CD also same screen appears. I also think I will have to format my disk:(

would you mind providing a bit more information? can you list all of your disks and their partitions? you say that winxp was on a different partition on your hard disk, but then you say that you switched the winxp hard disk from hda to hdb...that would mean you're actually using two separate hard disks, not just two partitions...

if you have only one hard disk, ultimately you want to have LILO installed to the mbr (master boot record), for which you need the line boot=/dev/hda (which it looked like you had, at least to begin with)

when you say 'default' I assume you mean when you boot up your computer and it presents you with the choice of linux or dos, you want dos to be on top, and to boot automatically after 5 seconds if you don't touch anything. in order to have this setup, you simply need to list the dos partition first in your /etc/lilo.conf file. although i notice you have a line default=linux, which i've never seen before, so you may need to remove/change that. anyway, if you have those settings in place, and run /sbin/lilo from command prompt, i don't see why the computer isn't booting.

if you want more detailed advice, please let us know more about your current setup. how many hard drives do you have? how are they connected to you IDE cable? (which is master, which is slave)? which partition has windows and which has linux? when you boot up, do you get the LILO screen asking you to choose an OS? does one work, but not the other? or do neither one work?

I have one hard disk which has two partitions.While I was installing Linux(after Windows XP installation), these partitions were seen as hdb1-->windows, hdb5-->Linux, hdb6-->swap
After installation I tried to change /etc/lilo.conf as you said. only default= DOS But when I run lilo it said "hdb is not the first disk". I continued unfortunately, and after reboot the machine I could only see "L" screen. Then I realized that Linux was waiting for hda as first disk. I changed my hard disk to master mode (old was cable select) and LILO was on the screen. I could boot from Linux but not from Windows. Because Windows can not take account hard disk changes. To solve its problem, I run "fixmbr" on WinXP CD. And when reboot, any system could not start. Only "L" on the screen. Also if I attempted booting from Linux Cd, it can not boot.
I can not anything on my computer now:( And I do not know what I can do now. I guess I should format and restart everything. But I think there should be another way to recover this situation.
Thanks...

hmm. well the LLLLLLLL on the screen mean that the master boot record is faulty. the first thing to do is reboot your computer, and hold down the DEL key, or whatever key you need to enter system BIOS (usually DEL, sometimes F1 or something else though). in the BIOS, make sure that your boot order is floppy, then CD ROM, then hard disk. That should let you boot from a linux cd. (If you still can't boot from cd, then I don't know what to suggest)

If you can get something running, then try the following for your /etc/lilo.conf

[here you need the boot = stuff as above]

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

image = /boot/vmlinux
root = /dev/hda5
label = Linux
read-only


that should get linux running again, at least. i don't know how windows handles changing the master/slave settings though...i feel like it really shouldn't matter.

i just found this mini-how-to that might be helpful for you: http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/LILO.html

and it has a section here that might help get windows running again if you can boot linux.

2.4 How Can I Uninstall Lilo?

When Lilo overwrites a boot sector, it saves a backup copy in /boot/boot.xxyy, where xxyy are the major and minor numbers of the device, in hex. You can see the major and minor numbers of your disk or partition by running ``ls -l /dev//device''. For example, the first sector of /dev/hda (major 3, minor 0) will be saved in /boot/boot.0300, installing Lilo on /dev/fd0 creates /boot/boot.0200 and installing on /dev/sdb3 (major 8, minor 19) creates /boot/boot.0813. Note that Lilo won't create the file if there is already one so you don't need to care about the backup copy whenever you reinstall Lilo (for example, after recompiling your kernel). The backup copies found in /boot/ are always the snapshot of the situation before installing any Lilo.

If you ever need to uninstall Lilo (for example, in the unfortunate case you need to uninstall Linux), you just need to restore the original boot sector. If Lilo is installed in /dev/hda, just do ``dd if=/boot/boot.0300 of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1'' (I personally just do ``cat /boot/boot.0300 > /dev/hda'', but this is not safe, as this will restore the original partition table as well, which you might have modified in the meanwhile). This command is much easier to run than trying ``fdisk /mbr'' from a DOS shell: it allows you to cleanly remove Linux from a disk without ever booting anything but Linux. After removing Lilo remember to run Linux' fdisk to destroy any Linux partition (DOS' fdisk is unable to remove non-dos partitions).

If you installed Lilo on your root partition (e.g., /dev/hda2), nothing special needs to be done to uninstall Lilo. Just run Linux' fdisk to remove Linux partitions from the partition table. You must also mark the DOS partition as bootable.