installed winxp alongside win7 and then ubuntu 10.10, can't load win 7

[chrisneedshelp]

When I load into winXP I can see the files for winXP and win7. When I load into ubuntu I can only see winXP. i did a sudo update-grub and got the windows loader, which then shows me winXP and ubuntu. what i would love is one boot page that has listed winXP, win7, and ubuntu. FWIW this is an acer netbook, winXP is on D:/ and win7 is on F:/, i used the windows installer wubi for ubuntu 10.10.

[Hedgehog1]

** Wubi Install ** my instructions were wrong...

[bcbc]

Windows combines it's boot files when you install a new windows on a computer with an existing windows. So there is only one 'boot partition' and therefore Ubuntu can only see one.

If you installed with Wubi, you cannot use Grub to boot - you have to go through the windows boot manager. If you try and bypass the windows boot manager, then only the Wubi will boot, and fixing this is difficult.

If you want to use grub instead of the windows boot manager, replace Wubi with a normal dual boot. You'll still only be able to boot xp and win7 via the windows boot manager.

[chrisneedshelp]

? was to the wubi installation instruction note.

to the later one...i think i understand, but have some questions but need to reboot to clarify what the current status is. brb

[chrisneedshelp]

okay, so when i boot i am in the windows boot loader and have a choice of windows xp or ubuntu. if i choose windows xp it loads windows xp. if i choose ubuntu it loads grub and i can choose ubuntu or windows 7 loader. If i then choose ubuntu it loads ubuntu 10.10 and if I choose windows 7 loader it loads be back to the original page.

i think i may have got myself into a mess.

Generally I would have just loaded win7 into a partition less than the disc size, then winXP, leaving disc size, then ubuntu. on this occasion i hadn't that option as there is no win7 disc available so I was trying to do this without needing to load win7.

[bcbc]

Ok... if you install an earlier version of windows on a computer with a newer version already installed, then it doesn't combine the boot files. So XP likely doesn't know about windows 7, but it would have set it's partition as the boot partition.

I'm not really clear on what's going on, but I'd suggest running the bootinfoscript (http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/).

[chrisneedshelp]

i am trying to use that but despite being absolutely sure i am typing the correct directory it repeatedly says not such file or directory....ugh

[chrisneedshelp]

go it...


Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts
at sector 63.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files/dirs:

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM
/wubildr.mbr /wubildr

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /Windows/System32/winload.exe /wubildr.mbr
/ubuntu/winboot/wubildr.mbr /wubildr
/ubuntu/winboot/wubildr /ubuntu/disks/root.disk
/ubuntu/disks/swap.disk

sda3/Wubi: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 16,065 25,157,789 25,141,725 f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 16,128 25,157,789 25,141,662 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 25,167,872 25,372,671 204,800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 25,382,700 312,579,759 287,197,060 7 HPFS/NTFS


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 f1fc1f84-8b01-4d65-ad70-5e2b7de101b1 ext4
/dev/sda1: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda2 7EF6DD81F6DD39DB ntfs SYSTEM RESERVED
/dev/sda3 1646DFA446DF8343 ntfs Acer
/dev/sda5 20C4F49FC4F4787C ntfs
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/loop0 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0)
/dev/sda3 /host fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,all ow_other,blksize=4096)


================================ sda2/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOW S

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

C:\wubildr.mbr = "Ubuntu"


======================== sda3/Wubi/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
}

if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.35-22-generic" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1646dfa446df8343
loopback loop0 /ubuntu/disks/root.disk
set root=(loop0)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=/dev/sda3 loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos3)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 1646dfa446df8343
loopback loop0 /ubuntu/disks/root.disk
set root=(loop0)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=/dev/sda3 loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 7ef6dd81f6dd39db
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

============================= sda3/Wubi/etc/fstab: =============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
/host/ubuntu/disks/root.disk / ext4 loop,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/host/ubuntu/disks/swap.disk none swap loop,sw 0 0

================= sda3/Wubi: Location of files loaded by Grub: =================


4.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
.9GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
13.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
.9GB: initrd.img
13.6GB: vmlinuz
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda1

00000000 49 c4 e9 6f 01 9b e3 2f 34 87 f1 e5 ef c7 61 a5 |I..o.../4.....a.|
00000010 8a 12 05 48 ad ae ee 53 b1 bc 78 4a 35 21 09 14 |...H...S..xJ5!..|
00000020 cb ab 01 00 55 a3 db dd 5a 51 80 34 47 e7 c4 f5 |....U...ZQ.4G...|
00000030 bf bf 3f 5a 5a 28 57 fe 7f 50 39 87 bb 69 5f 37 |..?ZZ(W..P9..i_7|
00000040 64 19 19 f2 11 4f 2a 30 bb 4e e3 95 6d 2b 36 ec |d....O*0.N..m+6.|
00000050 eb 16 86 2a 56 e2 c1 a0 bb 38 68 5e 02 25 62 77 |...*V....8h^.%bw|
00000060 8f 2b 0c 80 2b 09 c6 d6 de be 06 20 95 04 9c b4 |.+..+...... ....|
00000070 80 9e e5 bf 8c 85 d3 5b 15 25 15 da 29 a0 c6 2f |.......[.%..)../|
00000080 d4 70 68 5c a2 6c e2 44 96 8b f6 f6 e9 6a b5 4f |.ph\.l.D.....j.O|
00000090 9b 00 e9 f2 7d 7d af 60 7c f9 8a e2 9b b3 df b1 |....}}.`|.......|
000000a0 47 f6 93 b7 ab bf 4f 79 c7 de c3 a1 c0 2d 14 a6 |G.....Oy.....-..|
000000b0 09 59 b4 68 1e 36 0a 6c 13 df c3 28 13 cb 8f 72 |.Y.h.6.l...(...r|
000000c0 68 da 9e 04 5e 83 cf be 46 63 71 2b c3 e1 57 de |h...^...Fcq+..W.|
000000d0 b3 70 92 bc 0e 89 a0 93 0f d0 e9 fe cb b2 b3 e3 |.p..............|
000000e0 69 8b 3b 43 19 69 33 58 00 75 f6 c7 d7 24 b6 c3 |i.;C.i3X.u...$..|
000000f0 9b 02 3e 5f a8 13 c1 d1 1f 12 b1 5f 51 59 26 29 |..>_......._QY&)|
00000100 44 71 cd 6e 44 72 5e fc 71 e5 fa d1 42 31 c8 ed |Dq.nDr^.q...B1..|
00000110 d5 a1 7f 37 b9 3c 91 a5 73 50 5d 6d 3b 9b 91 e8 |...7.<..sP]m;...|
00000120 14 fb f8 e5 24 98 8d 3a fa 7c f4 71 ba d4 1d 7f |....$..:.|.q....|
00000130 4e c3 f9 51 7a 6e 14 62 7d 47 6f 9f 37 28 4a 12 |N..Qzn.b}Go.7(J.|
00000140 b1 ba 8f ca 09 60 c9 89 ba 9a e5 ff 05 a2 ea e1 |.....`..........|
00000150 32 ef 8f a3 51 59 e5 e9 70 bf 91 5a ae 87 74 cc |2...QY..p..Z..t.|
00000160 45 cd 39 ca a8 74 6a a6 16 c9 71 4f fe a5 52 9d |E.9..tj...qO..R.|
00000170 1d 93 7c fe 60 ee ab 3f 0a f1 7b f6 bb e6 83 e5 |..|.`..?..{.....|
00000180 e5 26 d8 95 fe fa e4 b5 4f 1e 89 6a 4d 97 06 d9 |.&......O..jM...|
00000190 c5 5f 12 c5 1e 51 20 12 29 6c 0f f6 fc d5 f2 29 |._...Q .)l.....)|
000001a0 4d 62 32 27 62 7d 7b 6f af a1 30 34 84 63 79 77 |Mb2'b}{o..04.cyw|
000001b0 d1 89 00 34 e0 9a 16 f5 ff 02 70 e7 f7 59 00 01 |...4......p..Y..|
000001c0 01 01 07 fe ff ff 3f 00 00 00 9e a1 7f 01 00 00 |......?.........|
000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

[bcbc]

It looks to me that XP has hijacked your win7 boot partition. The win7 boot files are there, but they are being ignored. So Ubuntu thinks it's win7, but it just boots XP (the boot sector is XP). So you probably need to boot from a windows 7 repair disc that you can download, and then repair your win 7 and it should pick up win 7 as well as XP. Then you'll end up with Win7 or XP, XP or Ubuntu, Ubuntu or Win7. :)

http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/

Check out microsoft or windows forums for other people who have done this. (You are not alone)

[chrisneedshelp]

seems clear enough said the blind man in front of a cliff...i'll be happy to try it and post feedback. thank you for your help.

[bcbc]

Sorry that last bit was me rambling about what your menus would look like after the repair:
1. Win 7 or Win XP (pick XP)
2. XP or Ubuntu (since you installed Wubi in XP, pick Ubuntu)
3. Ubuntu or Win 7


Basically you need to let Win 7 take ownership of /dev/sda2 again. And the only way is to repair the boot sector and then rebuild the BCD to include Windows XP as a boot option.

[chrisneedshelp]

well i tried that and after a while it said it could not repair. after rebooting i found my options in a windows boot manager for ubuntu and windows 7. windows 7 will not load, fails soon after the splash screens loads. ubuntu will not load either as it says i need to run a windows repair because the mbr file is missing (/wubildr.mbr)

[bcbc]

well i tried that and after a while it said it could not repair. after rebooting i found my options in a windows boot manager for ubuntu and windows 7. windows 7 will not load, fails soon after the splash screens loads. ubuntu will not load either as it says i need to run a windows repair because the mbr file is missing (/wubildr.mbr)

That doesn't sound good. I have read reports that windows repair needs to be run multiple times. Some people have said 3 times. I would persist getting win7 to repair itself. I'd be very surprised if it couldn't recover. Regarding Ubuntu, you can probably sort that out after you fix windows.

I am puzzled that you now have Windows 7 and Ubuntu as your boot options. That doesn't make much sense.

[chrisneedshelp]

it didn't make sense to me either and i was also surprised that it didn't work, but i will try a few more times.

[bcbc]

Just bear in mind that none of your data is affected. OS boot issues look more serious than they are. However, reinstalling will often wipe out that good data - so while it might 'fix' the issue, it's a sledgehammer approach.

Same goes for Wubi. Reinstalling will remove your existing install.

If you do give up on the repair, boot an ubuntu live CD, plug in an external drive and image your hard drive or manually copy all your data first. For wubi it's the files in \ubuntu\disks that are important (in your case it's just the root.disk)

[chrisneedshelp]

i'm not quite prepared to give up yet, but would be nice to boot. I have had boot issues before and always been able to repair them but that was back before win7 and with grub, not grub 2. things have changed quite a bit since then.

as of now i have tried the windows repair three times. in each case it boots from the disk, conducts its work, then reboots onto the hard drive and opens a repair utility. after a lengthy time it says 'startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically' then either send info to ms or not. there is no restore point available either

[bcbc]

I think the manual commands are:
bootrec /fixmbr (probably not required since you have not messed with this)
bootrec /fixboot (repair boot sector)
bootrec /RebuildBCD

I really am not qualified with win7 repairs. here is a site: http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+from+the+DVD

Or, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927391

[samacaster]

I would like to add that when you get the repair disc from neosmart use the command prompt option.

At the command prompt window switch to the drive where win7 is located.

bcbc gave the correct commands to type. They are:

1. bootrec.exe /fixmbr - fixes the master boot record on the 1st sector of the 1st partition

2. bootrec.exe /fixboot - if the boot is corrupt this will address it

3. bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd - This will change the entire boot configuration data!!

It will scan for active boot files for windows installs only! If grub is on the 1st partition it will be moved (don't worry, it's still there)

Upon completion you'll see a message that says all repairs successful, or something to that effect.

Reboot and if all went well you'll boot into windows 7. Then you can get EasyBCD from Neosmart and add winxp and Ubuntu to the BCD.

[Mark Phelps]

Selecting Startup Repair from the Windows menu and running it three times accomplishes the same results as entering the three commands -- it just takes longer as you have to reboot twice.

IF you still have problems afterward, and can get into Win7, consider installing EasyBCD from Neosmart Technologies. That will give you a GUI app that will allow you to add entries to the BCD. That should then allow you to modify your OS selection menu to include all three.

[chrisneedshelp]

sorry, work caught up with me and i've been off a day or so.

tried all those commands to no avail, but didn't think to transfer to the drive win7 is on, haven't played with dos for a while, and cd: f/ is not working, but will research, thanks for the suggestion.

trying repair three times did not have the desired result, i've tried it 6 times with still no change

[chrisneedshelp]

well, when i am booted on the repair disk i am in drive x: and it will not let me change over to e: where my win7 partition is, ugh