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Thread: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

  1. #11
    Join Date
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    Kubuntu

    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    Yes except you only copy the Windows boot stanza into your current 40_custom. Best to have both edits open at same time or one version is gedit and the other is gedit with admin rights to edit system files.
    Do not remove the couple of lines at the top of your 40_custom. And you should not have to do any edits unless it is a version that is not working. You may want to slightly change menuentry description so you know it is the one you edited as the other is still there.

    Be sure to include the last } which is the end of each boot stanza as a separate line.

    One script finds the other systems you have installed, but if you manually add the one you want and do not add others, you may avoid confusion by turning off os-prober. With it on you get the os-prober version and your version. If you add another Ubuntu or any other system you can just turn it on then.

    gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub
    GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true
    or turn off executeable bit which determines which scripts run.
    sudo chmod a-x /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober
    sudo update-grub
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    Thanks very much for your help and patience, Oldfred. I'm about to try it. I'll report back as soon as I can. Then hopefully we can mark this thread as solved!

  3. #13
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    Mar 2014
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    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    I did the above and it works perfectly. Now there's a custom Windows 7 boot option in GRUB, and the old Windows 7 boot option no longer shows. Everything is working perfectly.

    I can't thank you enough, OldFred! And thanks to Yancek for your input too! This is a brilliant community


    For anyone else facing a similar problem who wants to cut to the chase without reading all of my blundering through OldFred's great advice, here's a quick summary of what I did:

    1. I'd tried the usual bootrepair, etc. to no avail.
    2. In Grub, I pressed 'e' on my Windows 7 loader, and made the following changes:

    Code:
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    insmod ntldr
    set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 6060682360680260
    ntldr ($root)/bootmgr
    The salient changes are adding 'insmod ntldr', removing the 'if' condition that was before 'search -- no floppy', removing the 'else' condition and the 'fi', then adding 'ntldr (%root)/bootmgr'.

    3. Then I pressed F10 to load those edits. It worked. If it works for you, you can permanently edit the GRUB options by following OldFred's advice above.
    Last edited by Matthew_Bird; July 19th, 2014 at 03:28 PM.

  4. #14
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    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    The salient changes are adding 'insmod ntldr', removing the 'if' condition that was before 'search -- no floppy', removing the 'else' condition and the 'fi', then adding 'ntldr (%root)/bootmgr'.
    Interesting. I have windows 7 on my computer and the grub.cfg file I have on Ubuntu 14.04 does NOT have 'insmod ntldr', nor does it have 'ntldr (%root)/bootmgr' and it does have the if/else and boots without problem. Not sure what the reasons are for that.

    When I install a new system to another partition, I usually boot directly from an iso file from Grub2 or an extracted file from either Grub2 or Grub Legacy so I don't have to bother with a CD/DVD or flash drive. In that situation, where if they entry is correct, I am only going to boot it once so I can't see the point in putting an entry in a 40_custom file, running update-grub to get it in the grub.cf file to show on the menu, then booting, doing the install and going back and removing the entry from 40_custom and then re-running update-grub. It's a lot simpler in that situation to edit grub.cfg. I then have the entry to try multiple times if I want then when finished, just delete the entry from grub.cfg, no need for update-grub. This is why in my earlier post, I said NOT to run update-grub if you made the change in grub.cfg manually. The method described by OldFred is the official and correct way to put a permanent entry in the proper files.
    Last edited by yancek; July 19th, 2014 at 06:48 PM.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    27

    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    Yeah - I've no idea why mine has to be different. The version that doesn't work must be the default one (and probably the one you use). I imagine this is fixing some peculiarity of my system that's a result of my idiocy ;-p

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    237

    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    So hopefully i'm not hijakcing here, but I have the same-ish issue. My 40_custom has:

    menuentry "Windows 7 (bootmgr on /dev/sdb3)" --class windows --class os {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    insmod ntldr
    set root='(hd1,msdos3)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 463CC2483CC2332B
    ntldr ($root)/bootmgr
    }

    This gives me an error "/boot/grub/x86_64-efi/ntldr.mod not found"

    Sure enough, ntldr.mod isn't in /boot/grub. What package do I need to get that to work? Thank you.

  7. #17
    Join Date
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    SW Forida
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    Kubuntu

    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    @DigiAngel
    I have ntldr in both my 12.04 and 14.04.
    But in 14.04 this is my path as I boot with BIOS.
    /media/trusty/boot/grub/i386-pc

    You show x86_64-efi which to me would say you have an UEFI boot of Ubuntu. Did you install Windows 7 in UEFI mode or do you have the issue that UEFI and BIOS are not compatible and grub can then only boot systems installed in the same boot mode?

    If still an issue may be best to start a new thread and post link to BootInfo report as it seems you have added UEFI which is a major difference.
    UEFI boot install & repair info - Regularly Updated :
    https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295
    Please use Thread Tools above first post to change to [Solved] when/if answered completely.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    237

    Re: Windows 7 won't boot via GRUB

    Thanks Oldfred...I think I'll start a new thread to hammer this out.

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