Dual boot problems with Windows XP

[vince_dc]

Hi,

I had some problerms during the installation of ubuntu 9.10 (bad CD) which nuked Window, what was installed on another partition. I finally managed to install ubuntu, but he doesn't see my windows partition ...

I found the partition and mounted it.
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2 20919 168023835 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda2 * 20920 60801 320352165 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 2 20168 161991396 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 20169 20919 6032376 82 Linux swap / Solaris

But ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini where missing.

I copied both ntldr and ntdetect.com from an installation cd and recreated the boot.ini file. (not sure that is right)

I added the following to the /boot/grub/grub.cfg :
menuentry "Windows XP" {
set root=(hd0,5)
chainloader +1
}

But I still get an error trying to boot XP:
A disc error occured.

What am I doing wrong ? :-)

[coffeecat]

Somehow, you've managed to get your Windows C: partition onto a logical partition (sda5). Windows can't boot from a logical partition. It either needs to be in a primary partition itself, or have its boot files on a primary partition. This is a bit dated, but have a look at this link:

http://www.sousuke.org/wiki/Installing_Windows_on_a_logical_partition

It probably explains it a bit better than I can.

Out of interest: how did Windows get to be on sda5? Was that some sort of manufacturer's quirk? Was there a primary boot partition before you tried to install Ubuntu the first time?

[vince_dc]

It was a pre-installed crap that I got before ... But I re-installed it.
Never thought of that before ...

[vince_dc]

ok ... but now how to recover that partition ?
don't have a clue ...

[coffeecat]

don't have a clue ...

Me neither - I've only ever had Windows C:\ on a primary. However, this may or may not help. I found it in my bookmarks.

http://www.zyxware.com/articles/2008/07/20/how-to-install-and-boot-windows-on-a-logical-parition