14.04 WIN 8 Disappeard

[yehia2]

I have an HP laptop that came with Windows 8 installed. I installed Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS along with Windows without any problems. Was always prompted to choose between Win or Ubuntu in the GRUB boot menu. Decided to upgrade from 12.04.1 LTS to 14.04 LTS. This is what happened:

----1. Downloaded and started installing 14.04. When it rebooted to finalize the installtion, it showed a black screen with the words error and "grub recover>". Nothing else. I was unable to do anything.

-----2. Used a different computer to create a USB bootable 14.04 LTS version. Changed BIOS settings to boot from USB. Used the USB drive to boot and install 14.04 LTS. Installation was completed successfully.

----3. Changed Boot order back to boot from computer. When I restarted, there was no GRUB menu, just goes straight to Ubuntu.

----4. Created a Boot-Repair USB using UnetBootin and ran recommended repair. After repair, it said "Please do not forget to make your EFI-BIOS boot on sda 1/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi file!" I checked the boot menu, that is not a listed option. This is the log for the boot repair : http://paste.ubuntu.com/7367458/

My question is:

a. How can I add Windows 8 back to the boot menu ?

b. When I click on files, I can no longer mount my hard drives the same way I could when I was running 12.04.1 LTS? Any advice would really help, as I really need to access the rest of my files. Thanks!

[Bucky Ball]

Welcome. Just a tip: Please use paragraphs. The 'big black blob' approach will put many off, they won't bother reading and will simply move on ...

[yehia2]

Thanks for the tip. I actually wrote it in separete paragraphs (that's why I put the numbers), when I previewed it, it grouped it together, thats why I added the ----. Any tips on how to make it show the spacing correctly?

[yehia2]

Edited the text, thanks.

[oldfred]

You have ubuntu, but HP's often have UEFI that are modified to only boot Windows.
Did you run the 'buggy' fix in Boot-Repair with 12.04? That renames the Windows file and makes shim/grub have Windows file name. Then UEFI thinks it boots Windows but really boots grub.



BootOrder: 0000,3000,3001,2001,2002,2003
Boot0002* USB Hard Drive (UEFI) - KingstonDT 101 G2
Boot2001* USB Drive (UEFI)
Boot2002* Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive (UEFI)
Boot3000* Internal Hard Disk or Solid State Disk
Boot3001* Internal Hard Disk or Solid State Disk
Boot0000* ubuntu.

One HP user just posted this, as less than optimal work around.

It seems hp firmware do not allow you to boot anything other than windows. Hence no ubuntu option in the UEFI. To work around it
1) press esc key while booting to access start up menu 2) press F9 for boot devices menu.



A Sony user did this, and I think you set UEFI to boot internal hard drive.
One Sony user

The trick was to manually copy the ubuntu Boot directory in place of the \EFI\Boot Directory, and rename shimx64.efi to \EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi (not \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi )


Systems that only boot Windows from UEFI. Often Sony & HP
Users who manually moved efi files around see post #6
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2101840
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2219452
some find this changing this to be shim or grub /EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi
Then booting device or hard drive works also.

Boot_Repair - Always say no until proven that you only can boot Windows entry from UEFI menu.
buggy-kernel detected. Do you want to activate [Backup and rename Windows EFI files]? yes (if any choice fails, please retry with the other)
To undo & to rename files to their original names, you just need to tick the "Restore EFI backups" option of Boot-Repair.

Any rename either manually or with Boot-Repair will need to be redone after a Windows update as it will restore Windows files.

Alternative to Boot-Repairs rename of shim.
Some systems work better to register grub/shim from inside Windows - for those that keep resetting Windows as default
http://askubuntu.com/questions/371559/grub-not-showing-on-startup-for-windows-8-1-ubuntu-13-10-dual-boot
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi
https://coderwall.com/p/vfyqkg

Some install rEFInd which seems to be another workaround.
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/index.html
http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/secureboot.html

[yehia2]

As far as I understand, I no longer have 12.04 and it's replaced with 14.04. How can I run buggy fix on 14.04?

When I click F9 for boot devices these are the options

1. OS boot manager
2. Ubuntu (ST750LM022 HN-M750MBB)
3. Boot From EFI File

If I click on "Boot From EFI File" it goes to
"EFI" then click on that goes to
Either <ubuntu> <Boot> <Microsoft>
If I click <Microsoft> it goes to
<Boot> then that goes to these 4 options

bootmgfw.efi.grb OR bootmgfw.efi OR bootx64.efi.grb OR bootx64.efi

I tried all of them and none of them lead to windows. Only the GRUB screen without Windows option.

Also, I'm a very basic user, with limited knowledge, so could please highlight what you think is the best course of action? Also, does this mean I've lost my Windows installation?

Thanks a lot

[oldfred]

If f9 shows ubuntu does that not work for Ubuntu?

You totally overwrote system with Ubuntu, so there is no Windows. Was that not your intent?

How did you reinstall? See note at top of link in my signature.

[yehia2]

It works for Ubutu, which I'm using now.

My intention was not to overwrite Windows. I was running Win and 12.04 and did the upgrade through 12.04 thinking that it only upgrades Ubuntu without affecting the Windows installation.

I reinstalled using a bootable USB drive. I would like to use Windows again, but my computer doesn't recognize that there is a recovery for Windows installed. What options do I have to install Windows as well? Any ideas how to get all my drives to show up?

[oldfred]

The reinstall erased entire drive.

You may be able to contact vendor and see if they offer the recovery set of DVDs. Some will only charge a small shipping charge. Others will not.
Or you can buy the full Windows installer. You cannot use your existing product key that is in UEFI as that is only for the vendor version.

This is why we suggest full backups before any major system change.

Reinstall says overwrite Ubuntu but it also erases existing Windows.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+bug/1265192