Tripple Boot Grub2 Ubuntu Karmic 9.10, XP, and Windows 7

[boytoreckonwith]

I looked all over for this solution, and couldn't find it anywhere. Sorry if this is a repost.

I found a solution to get XP and Windows 7 both into Grub menu by trial and error. I started with Grub only showing Windows 7 boot loader, so I had to go there and then choose legacy OS to get to XP. The boot loader was actually on the XP partition since I had installed XP first. To fix it, all you do is (in ubuntu)
1) move (delete after copying) "bootmgr" and the "boot" folder to the Windows 7 patition from the XP partition.
2) sudo update-grub - it should find both the Windows 7 boot loader and winXP
3) Restart and choose Windows7 boot loader and start Windows 7
4) Right click My Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management
5) Make the Vista Partition Active (if you don't, you can't edit the boot manager)
6) start menu, right click on command promp and run as Administrator
7) starting in c:\windows\system32 type bcdedit.exe, then bcdedit /time 0 - this will make it boot almost directly to Windows 7 so you don't have to hit enter every time (0 seconds to choose default) - WARNING - if you have edited this before to make default XP, then make sure you edit it back.

You could also to try delete the xp entry, you can do this by typing bcdedit /delete <xp name> /f (usually it's bcdedit /delete /{ntldr} /f) .To be safe, read details by typing bcdedit /? - this will give instructions about your options. Get all the boot options like the xp name by just typing bcdedit.exe

Now you can choose Ubuntu (or your flavour), XP, or Windows 7 right from Grub2. Enjoy

As always, if you don't back up first....keep your install discs handy

[mrkazoodle]

WOW, this thread can save lives!
Thank you very much for posting it, I'll check it out later.

[gymophett]

It DID save my life.

[fedejofa]

Mine too!!!!!!