Windows 7 disappeared from bootloader

[Jetro]

Ahaa, so maybe it got fixed because I used "repair" from the Win7 USB, and then went to do a 'sudo update grub'?

I suspect problems may arise if ever Ubuntu (and grub) are removed. I'm not sure Windows will then boot with the boot flag where it is. I could be wrong though, it's happened before

I hopefully won't be removing Ubuntu for a while...

I still find it weird that the boot files somehow are in sda2, surely it must have been Windows (during the Windows installation) who put them there? Oh well, I have no knowledge of this whatsoever. I wish I could give you some extra beans or something.

[coffeecat]

I still find it weird that the boot files somehow are in sda2, surely it must have been Windows (during the Windows installation) who put them there?

Indeed it was. If you missed my edit to my post at #8, there's an explanation there. But count yourself lucky! If you want to see the mischief that the Windows installer can get up to when it's in a really bad mood, have a look at my posts at #42 and #44 in this thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1687873

The Windows 7 installer will do the same as the Vista installer in the same situation.

[Jetro]

I see. I did miss that edit.
So, basically, Windows is bad and if I accidentally didn't have the other NTSF partition, Windows would never be able to boot in the first place?

[coffeecat]

I see. I did miss that edit.
So, basically, Windows is bad and if I accidentally didn't have the other NTSF partition, Windows would never be able to boot in the first place?

Yes. Windows cannot boot from a logical partition. Not never, not nohow. Which is why it will grab any primary partition it can find for that purpose. Whether that makes it bad or not, I really don't know!

But to be serious, this is why I like to create just one partition before installing Windows, and then to install Windows first. I create the one partition, sda1 for simplicity, for Windows so that it can't argue and only get Ubuntu installed once Windows is happy - or as happy as it ever will be.

The one exception was with my relative's machine. I had set up:

sda1 - Windows C:
sda2 - shared NTFS data partition.
sda3 - extended partition with Ubuntu logical partitions.

All very tidy and easy, but something went wrong with Windows (as it does!) and we had to reinstall it. This was XP. I pointed the installer at sda1. You wouldn't think it could get it wrong, would you? But, yes it could. The ridiculous thing installed the boot files to sda2, and the rest of the system to sda1. Why? I have no idea. So now my relative has a load of Windows boot files mixed in with their personal data files. And Windows calls sda2 "C:", and its own partition "E:".

What a mess!

[Jetro]

Haha. It seems we encountered the same things, more or less.

And yes, I see we're thinking alike here, the tidiest thing be installing Windows first, on the enitre partition, and then add Ubuntu afterwards, because Ubuntu is

Let me see if I got this right:
I use GParted to wipe out all data on the hard drive, and then make the whole thing NTFS. Then I install Windows, and this is now a primary partition because of that? (I realise that Windows have "no choice" but to put the boot files there.) Whereas compartmentalising a drive afterwards makes whatever you create become a logical partition?

[coffeecat]

Let me see if I got this right:
I use GParted to wipe out all data on the hard drive, and then make the whole thing NTFS. Then I install Windows, and this is now a primary partition because of that? (I realise that Windows have "no choice" but to put the boot files there.) Whereas compartmentalising a drive afterwards makes whatever you create become a logical partition?

Not quite. What I would do if I was starting over fresh is to remove all partitions with Gparted (you don't have to wipe the data) and then make one primary NTFS partition large enough for Windows, but not using the whole drive. Simply leave unallocated space in the rest of the disk for use later. Install Windows to that single partition and then use Gparted from the live CD to create whatever extra partitions you need, including a NTFS data partition if you want one; Windows will pick this up when you next boot into it. Finally, you use the advanced/manual option in the installer to install Ubuntu to your pre-prepared partitions.

Straightforward. You don't have to resize the Windows partition and Windows is nicely contained in one partition because that's all it could see when you ran its installer. You have to treat it like a naughty child. What it can't see won't tempt it to get up to mischief.

[Quackers]

Very sound advice - and somewhat amusing, but correct

[QLee]

...
Let me see if I got this right:
I use GParted to wipe out all data on the hard drive, and then make the whole thing NTFS. Then I install Windows, and this is now a primary partition because of that? (I realise that Windows have "no choice" but to put the boot files there.) Whereas compartmentalising a drive afterwards makes whatever you create become a logical partition?

Well, if you're going to reinstall Windows to the entire disk there is no pressing need to delete any data first or reformat, just let Windows use the entire disk. Coffeecat has given you a sane approach for making your system a dual boot system.

When you partition, you choose whether to use a primary (if there are less than four already) or a logical in an extended partition. The number of primaries it already has determines what your choices are, not the time period of when you choose to do it (.ie. "afterwards").

[Jetro]

Not quite. What I would do if I was starting over fresh is to remove all partitions with Gparted (you don't have to wipe the data) and then make one primary NTFS partition large enough for Windows, but not using the whole drive. Simply leave unallocated space in the rest of the disk for use later. Install Windows to that single partition and then use Gparted from the live CD to create whatever extra partitions you need, including a NTFS data partition if you want one; Windows will pick this up when you next boot into it. Finally, you use the advanced/manual option in the installer to install Ubuntu to your pre-prepared partitions.

Straightforward. You don't have to resize the Windows partition and Windows is nicely contained in one partition because that's all it could see when you ran its installer. You have to treat it like a naughty child. What it can't see won't tempt it to get up to mischief.

Oh, I wouldn't do that, as I assume I have to create a memory swap partition and whatnot. Installing as I said above have (almost) always worked out for me, is there a significant benefit to installing it like you suggested?
It occurs to me that your procedure is probably safer and cleaner. But I don't feel confident enough about it, besides the Ubuntu installer seems to enjoy splitting up Windows and installing beside it. However, I'd love to learn how to do it properly, and will try to next time, if that is the best. There's bound to be a lot of guides out there.

When you partition, you choose whether to use a primary (if there are less than four already) or a logical in an extended partition. The number of primaries it already has determines what your choices are, not the time period of when you choose to do it (.ie. "afterwards").

So you can have more than one primary partition, but GParted by default creates logical partitions? I'm also a little lost about what exactly "extended" partition means, sorry.

[coffeecat]

It occurs to me that your procedure is probably safer and cleaner. But I don't feel confident enough about it, besides the Ubuntu installer seems to enjoy splitting up Windows and installing beside it. However, I'd love to learn how to do it properly, and will try to next time, if that is the best. There's bound to be a lot of guides out there.

Be careful with the 10.10 installer "install alongside" option. It has a nasty design flaw that can lead to the Windows partition being erased. Manual partition isn't really that difficult, and it certainly gives you more control. Here's a good guide to start with:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowtoPartition

So you can have more than one primary partition, but GParted by default creates logical partitions? I'm also a little lost about what exactly "extended" partition means, sorry.

An extended partition is simply a special type of primary partition whose sole purpose is to act as a container for a number of logical partitions. In a disc with an mbr partition table you are limited to four primary partitions only, or 3 primaries and one extended. Logical partitions are used to get around this limitation.

Gparted doesn't create logical partitions by default. In fact if you start with an unallocated drive and want to create a partition, it will default to primary unless you tell it otherwise. You have to create an extended partition before you can create any logicals - of course.

You can distinguish logical partitions by their number. Partitions #1 to #4 can be primary (or extended) only. Logicals are numbered 5 and upwards.