Heavenly Bicorn
February 20th, 2009, 12:59 AM
Hey everyone,
This is my first foray into Linux so please be patient with me if I don't understand something.
Anyway, here's some background info before I get to the problem: I've built a new computer and have partitioned my 1st hd into 3 partitions; One for WinXP, one for Ubuntu, and one for data.
Unfortunately, something happened and I had to ship it to an IT specialist who proceeded to install my os'. I've gotten it back but when I turn it on, it goes straight to WinXP, not into the boot manager.
I've looked into my disk partitions and it shows itself having three partitions, all formally named. I've entered the Bios setup as well, and checked where it boots up from but all it shows are the hds and not the partitions.
I've tried booting from the source cd (live cd?) and it shows the menu but when I choose the "install or start Ubunutu," it shows the kernel starting and then the screen blacks out. Same with choosing the "OEM installation."
I've looked around online for the past 2 days for a solution and it seems my best bet is to download the Grub Superdisk, but I don't have any spare cds or flashdrives with me at the moment nor do I have a floppy reader on the computer. I'm itching to format the 2nd partition where Ubuntu is located and just do a clean install but this is also my first time trying out a dual boot system so I'm a little wary doing anything on my own nor do I want WinXp to implode.
My hypothesis is that the IT techie installed Linux first then WinXp, thus Grub boot manager was overwritten and the computer will only boot to XP.
Any suggestions/advice?
Thanks for reading. :)
This is my first foray into Linux so please be patient with me if I don't understand something.
Anyway, here's some background info before I get to the problem: I've built a new computer and have partitioned my 1st hd into 3 partitions; One for WinXP, one for Ubuntu, and one for data.
Unfortunately, something happened and I had to ship it to an IT specialist who proceeded to install my os'. I've gotten it back but when I turn it on, it goes straight to WinXP, not into the boot manager.
I've looked into my disk partitions and it shows itself having three partitions, all formally named. I've entered the Bios setup as well, and checked where it boots up from but all it shows are the hds and not the partitions.
I've tried booting from the source cd (live cd?) and it shows the menu but when I choose the "install or start Ubunutu," it shows the kernel starting and then the screen blacks out. Same with choosing the "OEM installation."
I've looked around online for the past 2 days for a solution and it seems my best bet is to download the Grub Superdisk, but I don't have any spare cds or flashdrives with me at the moment nor do I have a floppy reader on the computer. I'm itching to format the 2nd partition where Ubuntu is located and just do a clean install but this is also my first time trying out a dual boot system so I'm a little wary doing anything on my own nor do I want WinXp to implode.
My hypothesis is that the IT techie installed Linux first then WinXp, thus Grub boot manager was overwritten and the computer will only boot to XP.
Any suggestions/advice?
Thanks for reading. :)