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Hi guys!
Ive installed Windows 7 + XP + Ubuntu 10.10 and Mac Os X on my PC. The problem is that XP wont boot :/ Ive tried a lot of fixes for the last 2 days but still nothing. So ive come to conclusion that it might be probably due to its partition (dev/sda8) being inside of another Extended partition (dev/sda3) as you guys can see on the attachment. Is that the real problem? If so, how can i move it out of the extended partition.
Thx in advance
this shouldn't be the problem, btw, MAC OSX is inside an extended partition too. You might want to try the
command to update your grub rules.Code:sudo update-grub
I already did it lots of times when i had lost grub2 because of the xp instalation or trying to sort things out :(
That is the problem, I'm afraid; windows will refuse to boot from an extended partition and must have a primary partition, so you will need to install again, unless you can clone it or copy it some way to a new primary partition.
Alright man :D So, just to be sure, theres no way to move it? :(
thx for the reply guys!
I don't think you can move it with gparted, but you may be able to with something like clonezilla, which is actually cloning and then restoring rather than moving the partition.
I have never used clonezilla so can't tell you any more, I'm afraid.
While you cannot easily boot XP in the extended partition, you should be able to boot it from your other windows install. Windows combines boots into the one primary active (boot flag) partition. You may just need to update windows to find the XP install.
I have seen some advance users here make windows XP work. Not sure the details, but I saved some links:
Way to boot windows in extended logical partition with lilo's MBR
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1367323
Major windows repair with dual boot and logical partition
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1411495
You mean ntdetect and ntldr can't be on a logical partition, that is right. Yes the boot is via sda1. sda1 is there only for that purpose.
But it still needs a primary to boot from.
http://www.sousuke.org/wiki/Installi...ical_partition
Boot WinXP from extended partition - Herman
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1192147
How to fix XP when the boot files are missing & info on windows in logical partitions
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=813628
missing boot files meieifra - post 10
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1241394
Vista Win7 missing boot files meieifra
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=813628#4
meierfra. - How to fix XP when the boot files are missing
How to fix Vista/Window 7 when the boot files are missing post4
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5726832
Alright guys, thx a lot! :D
There is another option, although it's messy and uses a flaky and dangerous hack: You can convert the disk to GUID Partition Table (GPT) form and then create a hybrid MBR for Windows, containing your three Windows partitions. Most modern OSes, including Linux, FreeBSD, and OS X, are quite happy to boot from a GPT disk, and they'll see GPT disks with hybrid MBRs as GPT disks. Windows, being the special needs student of the group, will see such a disk as an MBR disk and will use the MBR side of the partition table. You'll need to use a tool that's flexible enough to create a hybrid MBR containing precisely those partitions you need; some tools for this job just blindly take the first three GPT partitions and convert them to MBR partitions, but you'll need to select the correct partitions. GPT fdisk (gdisk) can do this, as can some versions of gptsync (but most versions of gptsync just convert the first three partitions). GPT fdisk can also do the lossless MBR-to-GPT conversion.
If you go this route, be aware that you'll have to re-install your boot loader. You may also need to create a BIOS Boot Partition for use by GRUB. (You've definitely got room; the BIOS Boot Partition can be as small as about 35 or 40 KiB, and you've got at least 1.62 MiB free between /dev/sda8 and /dev/sda9.)
One other caveat: If you previously installed Windows on /dev/sda8 and somehow converted it to its present state, chances are it won't boot no matter what you do with it, at least not without some heavy-duty coaxing. Windows is very fussy about its boot partition, and its repair tools can seldom fix problems like changes in the partition's start sector, in my experience. Thus, you should count on re-installing Windows no matter what you do, at least if it's installed to /dev/sda8. If it's installed on /dev/sda2, OTOH, there shouldn't be a problem even now, since that's a primary partition.
Got XP booting with the method/link in bold. But not entirely :( XP freezes in the loading screen. Ive tried once with the log info on and from what i remember it stopped reading at mup.sys or something :( What should i do now?Quote:
Originally Posted by oldfred