Urgent help required

**adjbck** · September 16th, 2012

Hey guys and gals, ive got an urgent problem i need to ask your help for in dealing with. Two - Three years back my mother bought a dell inspirion mini 910 which came preloaded with ubuntu which was great. Except she has no idea what shes been doing. Shes doing a uni dissertation atm and shes been using this to type it up (with no backup) i last saw it running hardy but i remember her saying she had updated so it could be up to maverick atm.

The problem is when she turns it on it comes up with

"error: unknown fielsystem.
grub rescue> "

now ive done some digging but all i can find is references to people having used wubi and messing up their grub

id really appreciate all help in this matter as im trying to save her work and its due in less than a week. Thank you for your time

**MC_Claus** · September 16th, 2012

It seems the Master Boot Record has somehow gone missing.

Since you most likely just want the data, have you tried with a live CD/USB stick? If it is just the MBR that has gone missing, the rest of the data might still be there, so you can backup your (moms) data, before trying anything fancy to restore the MBR

**adjbck** · September 16th, 2012

@MC_Claus - im currently downloading 10.10 netbook edition. should it be as simple as make a live usb from the iso > boot into ubuntu > host folder and recover data > fresh install of maverick over current one ?

**MC_Claus** · September 16th, 2012

It has been awhile since I messed up my own MBR, but I remember from my dual booting days, that some Windows Updates had overwritten the MBR, thus making dual boot impossible again.

Then I had a live CD/USB stick handy, which enabled me to rewrite the MBR by selecting a certain 'boot from HD' option from the Live CD boot menu.
This is somewhat faster than to reinstall the entire thing, but reinstalling will work too.

Whatever solution you choose, the live CD/USB stick should at least enable you to recover your data.

**adjbck** · September 16th, 2012

@MC_Claus Thank you for your help, i have 17 minutes until the iso has completed downloading (poor internet speeds atm) after which i will create a live usb (5 mins) and let you know the results in possibly just over 30 mins.

Thank you so very much for your time and patience

**MC_Claus** · September 16th, 2012

No problem, glad to help

**jrog** · September 16th, 2012

In case it isn't clear to you from what MC_Claus said, your best (i.e., safest) bet is to use the Live USB to first recover/back up any data on the hard drive. I would do this immediately, before attempting to restore the MBR and/or recover the system.