'Install alongside' not available while trying Dual Boot with Win7 64bit

[Quackers]

Just a question as I'm a noob too.
I had a laptop running Windows XP. I popped in the Ubuntu 10.04 install CD and it asked me specifically if I wanted to keep Windows. I said yes and then told it how much of the Windows partition to give to Ubuntu. Now I have a dual boot machine.

Can someone clarify why this is different in his situation? That is, why doesn't Ubuntu see Windows and ask him if he wants to keep it? Was I just really lucky?

It may be because of a partitioning problem or it may be because a GUID partition table may have been used at some time. (Yours is likely to be a MBR type partition table).

[amjjawad]

1)No. Will do
2)I will do that
thank you.



thank you, i ll wait

1) Then what are you waiting for?
Check the MD5Sum of the .iso file that you downloaded (Ubuntu).
The result should be the same, otherwise, your downloaded iso file is damaged.

2) You'll noticed it'll be faster

[sfotakis]

1) Then what are you waiting for?
Check the MD5Sum of the .iso file that you downloaded (Ubuntu).
The result should be the same, otherwise, your downloaded iso file is damaged.

2) You'll noticed it'll be faster

ok don't know why everything is messed up that much...

downloaded again the .iso of ubuntu 10.10 desktop amd64 and checked md5, found it ok.

tried Universal USB Installer (as it says @ubuntu.com) to create a USB from another win machine but when i try the usb stick on the machine that has the issue, although it boots and shows me the purple background with the ubuntu logo the system stays there for long time and does nothing. The dots are blinking but nothing else. I burned the same .iso (which is MD5 checked and found ok) to a new cd and re-tried with the same results. Show me the ubuntu logo in purple background and stays there.

The 1st Ubuntu LiveCD still boot ok and i'm able to 'Try Ubuntu' but with the same problem (NTFS partition not getting displayed)...

thank you all for your support.

[srs5694]

I don't know why grldr is there and I suspect that
"GUID Partition Table detected, but does not seem to be used." will have something to do with your problems.

You're exactly right. It appears that the disk was partitioned using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme (perhaps in a Mac) and was subsequently repartitioned using Master Boot Record (MBR) software that doesn't understand GPT. This tends to throw libparted, the library upon which the Ubuntu installer is based, for a loop.

Fortunately, the solution isn't all that difficult, although you will have to download and manually install some software:

1. Boot into the Ubuntu Live CD. Alternatively, get the latest version of Parted Magic or System Rescue CD, boot it, and skip the next two steps.
2. Go to the GPT fdisk (gdisk) download page and obtain the latest version (0.6.13) for your architecture. I'm afraid I missed what that was, if it was stated. It'll be either the gdisk*i386.deb or gdisk*amd64.deb file.
3. Install the gdisk package file. Double-clicking on the desktop should do this, or you can type "sudo dpkg -i gdisk*deb" in the appropriate directory.
4. Open a shell and type "sudo sgdisk --zap /dev/sda". It'll complain about partition problems, but it will still work. Be sure to use the --zap option, not --zap-all; also, note that the command name is sgdisk, not gdisk.
5. Proceed with your Ubuntu installation.

Alternatively, if you can boot Windows, you can use the Windows version of the gdisk program; however, you'll have to use the interactive gdisk program rather than the command-line sgdisk, since I've never compiled the latter for Windows. (If you want to install all the libraries, it can theoretically be compiled, but I've never tried.)

If you have questions, please ask.

[sfotakis]

You're exactly right. It appears that the disk was partitioned using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme (perhaps in a Mac) and was subsequently repartitioned using Master Boot Record (MBR) software that doesn't understand GPT. This tends to throw libparted, the library upon which the Ubuntu installer is based, for a loop.

Fortunately, the solution isn't all that difficult, although you will have to download and manually install some software:

1. Boot into the Ubuntu Live CD. Alternatively, get the latest version of Parted Magic or System Rescue CD, boot it, and skip the next two steps.
2. Go to the GPT fdisk (gdisk) download page and obtain the latest version (0.6.13) for your architecture. I'm afraid I missed what that was, if it was stated. It'll be either the gdisk*i386.deb or gdisk*amd64.deb file.
3. Install the gdisk package file. Double-clicking on the desktop should do this, or you can type "sudo dpkg -i gdisk*deb" in the appropriate directory.
4. Open a shell and type "sudo sgdisk --zap /dev/sda". It'll complain about partition problems, but it will still work. Be sure to use the --zap option, not --zap-all; also, note that the command name is sgdisk, not gdisk.
5. Proceed with your Ubuntu installation.

Alternatively, if you can boot Windows, you can use the Windows version of the gdisk program; however, you'll have to use the interactive gdisk program rather than the command-line sgdisk, since I've never compiled the latter for Windows. (If you want to install all the libraries, it can theoretically be compiled, but I've never tried.)

If you have questions, please ask.

hi and thank you for your reply.

currently @work, pc in case @home. Will try in a few hours and let you know.

[sfotakis]

You're exactly right. It appears that the disk was partitioned using the GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme (perhaps in a Mac) and was subsequently repartitioned using Master Boot Record (MBR) software that doesn't understand GPT. This tends to throw libparted, the library upon which the Ubuntu installer is based, for a loop.

Fortunately, the solution isn't all that difficult, although you will have to download and manually install some software:

1. Boot into the Ubuntu Live CD. Alternatively, get the latest version of Parted Magic or System Rescue CD, boot it, and skip the next two steps.
2. Go to the GPT fdisk (gdisk) download page and obtain the latest version (0.6.13) for your architecture. I'm afraid I missed what that was, if it was stated. It'll be either the gdisk*i386.deb or gdisk*amd64.deb file.
3. Install the gdisk package file. Double-clicking on the desktop should do this, or you can type "sudo dpkg -i gdisk*deb" in the appropriate directory.
4. Open a shell and type "sudo sgdisk --zap /dev/sda". It'll complain about partition problems, but it will still work. Be sure to use the --zap option, not --zap-all; also, note that the command name is sgdisk, not gdisk.
5. Proceed with your Ubuntu installation.

Alternatively, if you can boot Windows, you can use the Windows version of the gdisk program; however, you'll have to use the interactive gdisk program rather than the command-line sgdisk, since I've never compiled the latter for Windows. (If you want to install all the libraries, it can theoretically be compiled, but I've never tried.)

If you have questions, please ask.

thank you so much!.. Everything worked as described above.

can boot on both ubuntu 10.10 and win 7 using ubuntu bootloader and i can see the 'shared' partition without a prob.

thank you all for your support.

[amjjawad]

HOOHAA
Congratulation

[Quackers]

Very, very niiiiiice

[antileet]

Fortunately, the solution isn't all that difficult, although you will have to download and manually install some software

wow man, you saved my day!! i've been trying to solve this problem for days!<3