PLEASE HELP. I ruined windows booter while fixing GRUB

Frelov · 03-09-2005, 11:16 PM

In my efforts to restore grub after having to reinstall xp on my multiboot I fixed grub but overwrote the windows loader that xp uses before fixing grub.

current configuration:
grub is stored in mbr on /dev/hda
windows me is /dev/hda1 (hd0,0)
win xp is /dev/hda2 (hd0,1)
linux root is /dev/hda3 (hd0,2)

How I messed it up - by typing grub-install /dev/hda1 after booting into rescue mode w rh9 boot floppy. (I have since fixed grub so it boots linux and gives an option for windows but loops back to grub splash screen when I select windows)

does anyone know a method of restoring the windows boot record without having to reinstall xp and without screwing up linux again? Or can anyone point me to a resource that easily explains how? thanks

Vijayasarathy · 03-10-2005, 12:26 AM

Hi Frelov,

so I finally found a fellow RH9 user !!

I am not getting a full picture of your problem, but still I can tell you ways to work it out yourself:

If there are any problems with grub and windows boot loader, I would ideally want to check the grub configuration file /boot/grub/grub.conf, and see if all partition numbers are directing to the right OS partitions.

If you want to install grub, you should be installing on /dev/hda. The command should be:

grub-install /dev/hda

If you are sure that you want to get only the windows boot loader installed, it can be done with a windows boot floppy with the following command:

fdisk /mbr

The command creates a boot loader and loads it into the Master Boot Record. After you do this, you have to re-install grub, this time with the proper command ...

You dont have to worry about reinstalling any operating system....your OS is alright, just that the pointers to the OSes need to rectified..

Regards.

chii-chan · 03-10-2005, 02:59 AM

I would add the following lines in /boot/grub/grub.conf

Code:

title Windows Me
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader +1
title Windows XP
    rootnoverify (hd0,1)
    chainloader +1

Frelov · 03-12-2005, 09:05 AM

Thanks for the efforts folks. I ended up re-installing both me & xp and redoing the correct grub-install procedure from my previous post. here's a summary of what happened so others can laugh and avoid my mistakes:

What created the problem (I think):
while trying to fix grub boot loader I typed "grub-install /dev/hda1" when my windows boot partition was hda1. I thought this ruined the pointer to the ntldr file that is stored on the windows partition.
What I found:
after reviewing all the notes I took while checking things out, I realize that the windows partition had been deactivated (no active boot partition) Would making that partition have fixed it? I don't know.

I'm going to repost (in a new thread) for an fyi to other newbies how I should have done all this the first time so I wouldn't have gotten into this mess especially since this forum fills up so fast.