How to fix XP when the boot files are missing

[meierfra.]

(For Vista or Windows 7 see Post 4 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5726832#post5726832#4))

This is a follow up on Herman's post (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4701367#post4701367) on how to boot XP from a logical partion. His post is not only relevant if XP is on a logical partition, it also applies whenever the boot files for XP are missing. Let me summarize and refine his method

Step 1) Boot into Ubuntu and mount the XP partition.

Step 2) Download the attached file Archive.tar.gz. Extract the three files boot.ini , NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM to (the root of) the XP partition.

Step 3) Edit "boot.ini". The number in ``partition(1)'' needs to be changed to the correct number for your XP partition. Windows starts counting at 1 and counts partitions in the order of the partition table (so far that's the same way linux counts) BUT skips over extended partitions and empty partitions.


If XP is on a logical partition:

Step 4) Do NOT use ``makeactive'' in menu.lst.

Step 5) Use testdisk to rebuild the boot sector.


Remarks:
I) In theory one should be able to replace Step 3) by "bootcfg /rebuild" from the Windows Recovery Console. But this did not work out for me. bootcfg did not detect XP, probably since it was on a logical partition.

II) Step 5) seems to be unnecessary in some cases.


Detailed Instructions:

Step 1) Mount your windows partition in Linux



sudo mkdir /Win
sudo mount /dev/sda5 /Win
ls /Win
(here /dev/sda5 must be replaced by the device name of your Windows partition. Use "sudo fdisk -l" to determine the device name)

The last command lists all the files in the System directory of your Windows Partition. Look for the files "boot.ini", "NTLDR" and "NTDETECT.COM". If you already have these files, skip Step 2.


Step 2) Get the boot files and copy them to your Windows partition


Download this file: http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=73056&d=1212690573
and save it to your home folder (/home/your_username). Then



cd /Win
sudo tar -xvzf /home/your_username/Archive.tar.gz
ls /Win

Make sure you now have the files "boot.ini", "NTLDR" and "NTDETECT.COM"


Step 3 Edit boot.ini


sudo nano /Win/boot.ini (don't use "gedit", since it does
not handle dos files correctly )


Change all "partition(1)" to "partition(3)" (there are two of them) Do not change anything else. Here "3" must be replaced by the correct number for your XP partition. See this post (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=829464#24) for some examples.

Save the the file.


Step 4 Add XP to the Grub menu

If you are using Grub 2


sudo update-grub
(if that does not work, try "sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg)

If you are using Legacy Grub


gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Use

title XP
rootnoverify (hd0,4)
chainloader +1


Do NOT use "makeactive".
Of course (hd0,4) needs to be adjusted. The first number is the hard drive and the second number the partition. Grubs starts counting at zero, and counts the hard drives according to the order in the bios. So the boot drive is always (hd0). The second number is always one less than the number in the device name. So if Windows is /dev/sda5, then the second number is 4.
The "hd" is always "hd", even if the device name contains "sd".
If Windows is not on the boot drive, you need to add "map" lines:

title XP
rootnoverify (hd3,4)
map (hd0) (hd3)
map (hd3) (hd0)
chainloader +1



Save the file and reboot. Sometimes this does not work right away and you have to do the fifth step.

Step 5: Rebuild the Boot sector of the Windows partition.

Install and run "testdisk:


sudo apt-get install testdisk

sudo testdisk /dev/sda

(Replace /dev/sda by device name of the XP partition without the number)

Press "enter" to "proceed"
Press "enter" to select "intel"
Use the "down arrow" and "enter" to select "advanced"
Use the down arrrow to select the "XP" partition and then "enter" to select "boot"
Use the "right arrow" key and "enter" to select "Rebuild BS"
This might take a while. Once done:
Use the "right arrow" key and "enter" to select "write". This will write a modified boot sector to the Windows partition.
Press q a few times to quit testdisk.

Reboot.

( You can delete "Archive.tar.gz" at any time, but I would wait until you successfully booted into XP)

If you do not have a working internet connection in Ubuntu

In Step 2: Download Archive.tar.gz on a different computer and use a flash drive to transfer it to your Ubuntu home folder.

In Step 5: Download the testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 package (http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2) on a different computer and use a flash drive to transfer it to your Ubuntu home folder. Then in a terminal



cd

tar xvf testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2

sudo testdisk-6.10/linux/testdisk_static /dev/sda

(Replace /dev/sda by device name of the XP partition without the number)

Press "Enter" to "proceed" and continue as in Step 5.



Windows 2000

This tutorial also works for Window 2000 with one modification:

Each occurrence of "\Windows" in boot.ini must be replaced by "\WINNT"


This thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=834864)successfully used the method and contains some more information.

[tamoneya]

that should be it. Post if it fails other than that you should be all set.
EDIT: sorry I read the post a little too quickly a little too late at night and took it more as a question. What was the purpose of splitting the thread?

[meierfra.]

and took it more as a question.


I rephrased the first sentence to avoid this confusion.



What was the purpose of splitting the thread?

The original post of Herman appeared hidden in a long thread about Grub error 17. But my post has absolutely nothing to do with "Grub error 17"

[meierfra.]

This HowTo shows how to fix the Vista's Boot Loader when the boot file "bootmgr" is missing. (the same HowTo works for Windows 7. Just replace Vista by Windows 7 everywhere).

Step 1) Edit menu.lst: (Skip this step if you are using Grub 2)

Boot into Ubuntu, open a terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and type



gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
This opens the file boot/grub/menu.lst.
Add this to the very end of the file

title Vista
rootnoverify (hd0,4)
chainloader +1

Do NOT use "makeactive".
Of course (hd0,4) needs to be adjusted. The first number is the hard drive and the second number the partition. Grubs starts counting at zero, and counts the hard drives according to the order in the Bios. So the boot drive is always (hd0). The second number is always one less than the number in the device name (use "sudo fdisk -lu" to determine the device name). So if Vista is on /dev/sda5, then the second number is 4. The "hd" is always "hd", even if the device name contains "sd".

If Vista is not on the boot drive, you need to add "map" lines:

title Vista
rootnoverify (hd3,4)
map (hd0) (hd3)
map (hd3) (hd0)
chainloader +1

Save the file.

Step 2) Repair the Vista Bootloader.


Boot from a Vista or Windows 7 CD/DVD. If you do not have one, you can download a Vista Recovery CD from here (http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,71039/description.html) or here (http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/), and a Windows 7 CD from here (http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/)

A Vista DVD can be used for Windows 7 and vice versa. Edit 5/3/09: There is some indication that is no longer true for the most recent version of Windows 7. So I recommend to use a Windows 7 CD/DVD for Windows 7.

There are two ways to repair the Vista Boot Loader: Automatic and Manual. The Automatic repair should work under normal circumstances, but will fail in more complicated situations.

Automatic Repair of the Vista Boot Loader

At the first screen select your favorite language.
At the second screen choose "Repair your Computer".

If a pop windows appears, offering to repair a problem with the "Startup options", click on "Repair and restart".

Otherwise, on the next screen select your operating system under "Use recovery tools ..." and click on "Next".

Choose "Startup Repair" at the next screen.

"Startup Repair" tends to fix one problem at the time. So you might have to run "Startup Repair" several times.

This link contains picture of the various screens: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html


Manual Repair of the Vista Boot Loader

At the first screen select your favorite language.
At the second screen, select "Install Now"
At the third screen, press "Shift F10".

This will open a terminal. In the terminal type


diskpart and then at the 'diskpart' prompt:


list volumeThis will list the drive letters for all the 'NTFS' and 'Fat' partitions on your computer. Determine the drive letter for your Vista partition. In the following I'll assume it is "C:". If the drive letter of your Vista partition is different, you need to replace all "C:" accordingly. Also determine the drive letter for the CDrom drive, I'll assume that is "E:". Type


exit to exit the ``diskpart'' prompt.

Type



copy E:\bootmgr C:\

mkdir C:\BOOT

copy E:\BOOT C:\BOOT

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /set {default} osdevice boot

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /set {default} device boot

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /set {default} path \Windows\system32\winload.exe

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /set {bootmgr} device boot

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /set {memdiag} device boot

Depending on the DVD you are using you might also have to type the following three lines


bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /deletevalue {default} detecthal

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /deletevalue {default} winpe

bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd /deletevalue {default} ems
Just go ahead and type those three lines. But you might get an "element not found" warning, which you can ignore.

Then type:


bootsect /nt60 C:

If you get a unknown command message try


E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:

instead. Although the actually path for "bootsect.exe" might depend on the CD/DVD you are using.


If you are using Grub 2: Reboot into Ubuntu and type "sudo update-grub" in a terminal


Reboot and select 'Vista' at the grub menu.

Sometimes this does not work right away and you have to do a third step.


Step 3) Rebuild the Boot Sector of the Vista's partition.

Boot into Ubuntu. (make sure that The Universe Repository is enabled in Systmem->Administration->Software Sources. Then install and run "testdisk via



sudo apt-get install testdisk

sudo testdisk /dev/sda
(Replace /dev/sda by the device name of the Vista partition without the trailing number)

Press "enter" to "proceed"
Press "enter" to select "intel"
Use the "down arrow" and "enter" to select "advanced"
Use the down error to select the "Vista" partition and then "enter" to select "boot"
Use the "right arrow" key and "enter" to select "Rebuild BS"
This might take a while. Once done just follow the instruction on the screen to save the new boot sector and quit testdisk.

Reboot and select Vista at the Grub Menu.

This HowTo has been applied successfully in many cases, but of course I cannot guarantee that it will work under all circumstances.

For more information on the Vista booting process see Vista_Multi_Booting (http://www.multibooters.co.uk/) and EasyBCD (http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/EasyBCD+Documentation+Home)

[caljohnsmith]

Meierfra, is it necessary to use "rootnoverify" instead of "root" in the Grub's menu.lst for the Vista entry? Usually you can use just "root" for Win XP/Vista, which actually I find a bit confusing, because NTFS is not a supported file system with Grub; thus I would think "rootnoverify" would always be necessary.

Also, just a small thing, but is:

(Replace /dev/sda by device name of the XP partition without the trailing number)
from step 5 a typo? Shouldn't that be Vista instead of XP?

[meierfra.]

Meierfra, is it necessary to use "rootnoverify" instead of "root" in the Grub's menu.lst for the Vista entry? Usually you can use just "root" for Win XP/Vista, which actually I find a bit confusing, because NTFS is not a supported file system with Grub; thus I would think "rootnoverify" would always be necessary.

In my experience "root" works in most cases, but sometimes it does not. And "rootnoverify" seems to always work. Grub cannot read the files on a "NTFS" partition, but "root" only mounts a partition without actually reading any of the files.



Shouldn't that be Vista instead of XP?

Yes, I fixed it. Thanks.

[Crafty Kisses]

Nice tutorial, good information in here. :)

[caljohnsmith]

One other question, meierfra: when XP/Vista are in a logical partition, if anything happens to the XP/Vista logical partition and the user needs to do a "Windows repair" or similar from the XP/Vista Install/Recovery CD, is it possible? I was under the impression that XP/Vista will not allow themselves to be installed to a logical partition (you have to manually move them there), and thus they also won't allow themselves to be repaired if they are in a logical partition. Any thoughts about this?

[meierfra.]

if anything happens to the XP/Vista logical partition and the user needs to do a "Windows repair" or similar from the XP/Vista Install/Recovery CD, is it possible?

Some of the functions of the Recovery CD's seem to work, others do not. I was able to run "fixboot" from the Windows CD, but "bootcfg /rebuild" did not work. Also "bcdedit" from the Vista CD did work, but "autorepair" did not.



I was under the impression that XP/Vista will not allow themselves to be installed to a logical partition (you have to manually move them there),


This is not quite true. You can install XP/Vista on a logical partition, as long as you have some primary FAT or NTFS partition. Windows will put the boot files onto this primary partition. Windows calls this partition the System partition. To boot Windows from Grub, you have to use "root (hdX,Y)" where "(hdX,Y)" is the System partition. (There are various threads where people are unable to boot Windows, because they do not realize that the boot files are on some partition, which seem to have nothing to do with the Windows OS)

I have a dedicated primary Grub Partition in FAT32 format. So I'm able to used the Grub Partition to install XP/Vista on logical partitions.

[caljohnsmith]

You can install XP/Vista on a logical partition, as long as you have some primary FAT or NTFS partition. Windows will put the boot files onto this primary partition. Windows calls this partition the System partition. To boot Windows from Grub, you have to use "root (hdX,Y)" where "(hdX,Y)" is the System partition. (There are various threads where people are unable to boot Windows, because they do not realize that the boot files are on some partition, which seem to have nothing to do with the Windows OS)

So if the user has all his boot files on a primary partition, but his main Windows install is on a logical partition, is it the boot.ini file that then points to the logical partition? I.e. does "partition(X)" in boot.ini need to be the logical partition I would presume and not the primary partition where the boot.ini is located?

[meierfra.]

I.e. does "partition(X)" in boot.ini need to be the logical partition
Yes.

[Fleuris]

Ooops, the link, Vista_Boot_Files.tar.gz doesn't work...:(

[meierfra.]

I fixed the link.

[PinkRose]

Dears,

Hi , I have followed all the steps in post4 for my vista correction but when i tried to boot into it , i faced the error :
NTLDR is missing.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Could you please help me.?
Thanks in Advance
Best Regards

[meierfra.]

PinkRose:


Please post the output of


sudo fdisk -lu

and



cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

Could you also explain your situation? Do you know why the Vista boot files were missing?

[PinkRose]

Code:

sudo fdisk -lu

Disk /dev/sda: 58.5 GB, 58506416640 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7113 cylinders, total 114270345 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x313f313f

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 63 30909059 15454498+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 30909060 114254279 41672610 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 * 30909123 83345219 26218048+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 83345283 114254279 15454498+ b W95 FAT32

and

Code:

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 5

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
# hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=0be02841-d399-486b-a0d5-3d34f20becd0 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=UUID=0be02841-d399-486b-a0d5-3d34f20becd0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=UUID=0be02841-d399-486b-a0d5-3d34f20becd0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=0be02841-d399-486b-a0d5-3d34f20becd0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=0be02841-d399-486b-a0d5-3d34f20becd0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/hda1
title Microsoft Windows Vista
root (hd0,4)
savedefault
#makeactive
chainloader +1

Could you also explain your situation? Do you know why the Vista boot files were missing?

i have the same case , i have installed WinXp on C:/ then Vista on D:/ then decided to switch to linux so i converted the C:/ to ext2 and installed ubuntu on but the Grup did not read Vista and i followed the instructions said in post 4 to the end but i have the error i have written above

Thanks for your help , and hope to hear from you soon
Best Regrds,

[meierfra.]

Boot from the Vista CD and go to the terminal, just as before. Use


diskpart

list volume

exit

to determine the drive letter for you cdrom drive.


Then type


E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:

(Here E: needs to be drive letter of your CD rom drive and C: the drive letter of the vista partition.

If this did not solve your problem:

post the output of


bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd
from the Vista Terminal

Also open a Terminal in Ubuntu and post the output of




sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
ls -l /mnt
ls -l /mnt/Boot

[PinkRose]

Boot from the Vista CD and go to the terminal, just as before. Use


diskpart

list volume

exit

to determine the drive letter for you cdrom drive.


Then type


E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:

(Here E: needs to be drive letter of your CD rom drive and C: the drive letter of the vista partition.

When i tried to do this , i got the msg:
The System Cannot find the path specified.

If this did not solve your problem:

post the output of


bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd
from the Vista Terminal

please specify how to save it to a file to be read on Linux as it will be hard to copy them on paper and write them here

Also open a Terminal in Ubuntu and post the output of




sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
ls -l /mnt

total 3433318
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2006-09-19 00:43 autoexec.bat
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-11-26 23:24 Boot
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 443912 2008-01-09 17:22 bootmgr
-rwxrwxrwx 3 root root 10 2006-09-19 00:43 config.sys
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2006-11-02 15:02 Documents and Settings
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1600589824 2008-11-20 20:49 hiberfil.sys
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-03 20:57 Intel
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-11-15 13:44 LearnKey
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-05 21:39 MSOCache
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1914404864 2008-11-20 20:49 pagefile.sys
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-10-04 14:52 ProgramData
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 65536 2008-11-17 22:28 Program Files
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-09-02 22:05 $Recycle.Bin
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8192 2008-11-20 21:04 System Volume Information
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4096 2008-09-02 22:05 Users
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 16384 2008-11-20 20:49 Windows
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 146 2008-09-02 23:50 YServer.txt

ls -l /mnt/BOOT

ls: cannot access /mnt/BOOT: No such file or directory

but trying ls -l /mnt/Boot
total 728
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 262144 2008-11-27 07:17 BCD.LOG
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2006-11-10 23:59 BCD.LOG1
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2006-11-10 23:59 BCD.LOG2
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 28672 2008-11-27 07:17 BCD,txt
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 65536 2006-11-10 23:59 bootstat.dat
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 cs-CZ
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 da-DK
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 de-DE
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 el-GR
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 en-US
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 es-ES
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 fi-FI
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 Fonts
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 fr-FR
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 hu-HU
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 it-IT
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 ja-JP
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 ko-KR
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 386664 2006-11-02 11:51 memtest.exe
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 nb-NO
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 nl-NL
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 pl-PL
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 pt-BR
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 pt-PT
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 ru-RU
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 sv-SE
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 tr-TR
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 zh-CN
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 zh-HK
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 2008-01-09 23:32 zh-TW

Thanks

[meierfra.]

E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:


(Here E: needs to be drive letter of your CD rom drive and C: the drive letter of the vista partition.

When i tried to do this , i got the msg:
The System Cannot find the path specified.

Strange. What kind of Vista CD are you using? Are you sure that you used the correct drive letter for the CDrom Drive?


If you did use the correct drive letter, try this in Vista CD Terminal


bootrec /fixboot

[meierfra.]

please specify how to save it to a file to be read on Linux as it will be hard to copy them on paper and write them here

Good point.


bcdedit /store C:\boot\bcd > C:\bcd.txt
This writes the output of "bcdedit" to the file "\bcd.txt" on your Vista partition. You can access this file in ubuntu via


sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
cat /mnt/bcd.txt

[PinkRose]

Dear meierfra,

Thanks alot the problem is solved and my Vista is back
the problem was thta i wrote : boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:
in the terminal without the DVD letter but when i entered it again
E:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 C:
the problem was fixed

Again thank you for ur quick replys and ur kind help

Best Regards,

[sadiqdude]

hi thanks for the post its an important pice of infor mation....rock on:):):)

[meierfra.]

Thanks alot the problem is solved and my Vista is back

Glad to be of help. Have fun with Vista and Ubuntu.

[kazemizuhi]

Can't thank you enough for this post/guide. It's 5:30AM in the morning right now and I've been working on this since midnight. Fell asleep for an hour half-way through... but thanks to this, everything is working again.

Why does Ubuntu default entries in menu.lst to incorrect values (as that is where my issue lay. I had a backup of XP from which I extracted my boot.ini etc.)? I mean, it had the values right during the partition stage of install, so why change the values to something that is incorrect? Should this be reported as a bug?

[mintar]

Thank you a thousand times, Meierfra! I just used this method to install the Windows 7 Beta on my Eee PC, and it worked like a charm!

I'll continue using Ubuntu as my primary OS, the rest is just for playing around. But with Xandros, Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac OS X and Ubuntu on the same machine, you quickly run out of primary partitions. And all of them, except Ubuntu, gave me trouble installing them in a way that they don't need a primary partition. Thanks to you (and GRUB ;-) ), I managed to get the last of the bunch onto the machine in a bootable form.

[theDaveTheRave]

Thanks

this was great.

I needed to do a refresh on my XP install (dual boot) and of course I lost my grub menu in the process.

I'm going to tag this one I think, and store it for good measure

David

[Hachi-Roku]

This tutorial was awesome. Thanks.

I used the vista recovery disc i had for the fix vista section and ended up wiping my hdd clean....hmm. Next time ill be obtaining an install disk instead.

Thats one of those 'once only' mistakes! but at least i learned alot about fixing boot sectors!

cheers.

[gundam1965]

I would like to buy you a drink meierfra. You just saved my Life.

[revolver4ever]

Thank you so much! Not only did this fix my problem (after installing Ubuntu over a Vista partition, trying to dual boot with Win7, Win7 wasn't coming up in GRUB) but I actually learned a lot about how these things work.

Thanks.

[meierfra.]

Not only did this fix my problem (after installing Ubuntu over a Vista partition, trying to dual boot with Win7, Win7 wasn't coming up in GRUB)
Glad to be of help.


but I actually learned a lot about how these things work.
Great. If you still have question about the whole booting process, just asked.

[Nixie Pixel]

This is an extremely informative and useful post, thank you!

[dapaintballer331]

You fixed my windows 7 installation! Thanks so much, very comprehensive.

[ebro173]

I'm posting here hoping to get on someone's radar. I've started another thread describing a problem I'm having trying to boot into Windows in this other thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1394394

When I mount the partition where Windows is installed, it looks to me like I do have the windows boot files so I'm not sure I have the exact same problem being addressed here in this thread.

Thanks for any help.

[meierfra.]

ebro173: I'll respond in your thread.

[vivekratnavel]

Thanks a lot... It saved me a reinstall.... :P U guys rock...

[bilboinamerica]

Hey meierfra,
unfortunately your instructions don't seem to help in my case. The symptoms are the same as above though. I messed up the mbr when deleting a partition and resizing another one with gparted. I can now boot a working Ubuntu installation on a hard drive connected via USB. The same works for the W7 start disk (I copied it onto a hard drive as my computer does not have an optical drive).
When I try using bcdedit it produces this error:


the boot configuration data store could not be opened
the system cannot find the file specified

The problem seems to be that the drive is not set to be active:
http://neosmart.net/forums/showthread.php?t=767
When I try setting it to active using diskpart though it doesn't work:

Virtual Disk Service error:
The specified partition type is not valid for this operation

What am I doing wrong?
Help would be very apreciated as I really need my computer for work over the weekend (and I'm afraid that a re-install might not even help)!

[kansasnoob]

Hey meierfra,
unfortunately your instructions don't seem to help in my case. The symptoms are the same as above though. I messed up the mbr when deleting a partition and resizing another one with gparted. I can now boot a working Ubuntu installation on a hard drive connected via USB. The same works for the W7 start disk (I copied it onto a hard drive as my computer does not have an optical drive).
When I try using bcdedit it produces this error:


the boot configuration data store could not be opened
the system cannot find the file specified

The problem seems to be that the drive is not set to be active:
http://neosmart.net/forums/showthread.php?t=767
When I try setting it to active using diskpart though it doesn't work:

Virtual Disk Service error:
The specified partition type is not valid for this operation

What am I doing wrong?
Help would be very apreciated as I really need my computer for work over the weekend (and I'm afraid that a re-install might not even help)!

Please begin by posting the output of the Boot Info Script as described here:

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

Alternative instructions;

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1291280

[guitarmaniatico]

The easiest way to do this is just by extracting the tree files from here: http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=73056&d=1212690573 (previously mentioned), on the XP partition and thats it. Then just run the Startup-Manager (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/StartUpManager) from System> administrator.

If you do not have it just look in the program installer and type Startupmanager.

That applies for GRUB2, thats just the worlds most powerful tool for starting OS.

Thanks to all the good working linux genious!!!

[pooyakhp]

Hey meierfra, seems as if all roads lead to Rome, i.e. your post;). now I've got a question, or two:



If Vista is not on the boot drive, you need to add "map" lines:

title Vista
rootnoverify (hd3,4)
map (hd0) (hd3)
map (hd3) (hd0)
chainloader +1


how do we know we need to map the drive? And which one is hd0, hd3 and hd4?

[oldfred]

Better to create a new thread as this is now very old. But still useful on some older XP issues, but now there are some newer better ways to solve issues.

The example you post is from grub legacy where we often had to manually edit the limited boot stanza grub legacy would create. hdX are physical drives in a multi-drive configuration - drives 3 & 4 not partitions which Windows calls drives.

Grub2's os-prober almost always finds a Windows install and creates a boot stanza. Sometimes it confuses recovery and full install partition but that is just a label change with Grub Customizer. Grub2's os-prober will also add a mapdevice command if required. mapdevice has replaced the old map commands from grub legacy.