So I haven't used linux in over two years and things might have changed esp alongside win7

Win7 crapped out on me. It says ram is broken, but it's a lie. It got haxx0red.

sdb was my backup drive and will now become /
sda was the win7 drive and is now my backup drive.


Eventually I might want to install win7 on sda again. Can it be added to grub? Or can I add Ubuntu to the win7 boot manager or sumthin without messing things up... keeping the most recent kernel on top of boot priority etc.

You CAN install Win7 later, but it is not as straightforward. You will need to install (or re-install) grub to the MBR from a live-cd after installing Win7, because MS install assumes that only MS products do or can exist and will overwrite it.

A better option, if you have the space and horsepower, is to install virtualization and run Win7 in a virtual guest under Linux. Avoids all the hassles, and you get to run both desktops at one. SEE them at the same time, if you have dual monitors.

I run the other way: WinXP as a base, with virtual guests of Win7 and Debian, but only because the company demands I run Windows on my laptop.

First off, you should go back and re-look at this memory deal. Try memtest for a few days. Microsoft's memory diagnostic is a good program. It is reports an error, it is most likely correct.



I am a big fan if VM's but you might not get your OEM copy of W7 to load on it.

You can copy what you have of grub.

I'd think about a "repair" of W7 using a W7 DVD booted.