Installing grub on a boot partition

[Linux_user123]

It appears if I wipe out Linux, it takes the grub bootloader with it and I get that error 22 message. Is there a way I can prevent the grub bootloader from being wiped out whenever I format and remove a linux OS? I was thinking of having the grub bootloader on a tiny dedicated boot partition that holds all this boot information to all the wonderful Linux distros. Just not sure how to do it since I'm new to this.

[b2bwild]

You can't use same /boot partition for multiple distros. X_X
In most of the cases, if you try to force install on /boot partition without formatting.
Important files will be overwritten.

To avoid this, You can install the grub on the /boot or / partition itself, instead of MBR. and install the last distro having grub on MBR, which will keep all the entries for other installations.

[Linux_user123]

and if this "last" distro (seeing how it now carries the latest MBR) was removed I would get an error 22 on startup? I'm trying to avoid that error 22 message.

[b2bwild]

However you need a active and working MBR on a Disk.
as the BIOS can't boot from specifc partition, but only from the MBR of disk.

[Lostfarmer]

Try -Making a Dedicated Grub Partition or search-dedicated /boot partition - Ask.com Search

[vonbiber]

It appears if I wipe out Linux, it takes the grub bootloader with it and I get that error 22 message. Is there a way I can prevent the grub bootloader from being wiped out whenever I format and remove a linux OS? I was thinking of having the grub bootloader on a tiny dedicated boot partition that holds all this boot information to all the wonderful Linux distros. Just not sure how to do it since I'm new to this.

you could either
1. have a stable linux partition where resides your grub files
and then add other linux systems in the other available partitions
in which case you should make sure that the new linux systems don't install
a boot loader that wipes out the MBR
otherwise you can restore it from a linux live system that provides grub
(such as RIPlinux, grml)

2. when the pcs had floppy drives, it was possible to install grub on a floppy
and boot from it to boot on one the partitions in the hard drive
(whenever a new linux system was added or removed
in the hard drive, all you had to do is edit the grub file menu in the floppy)
I suppose it's possible to do an equivalent thing on a usb stick

[Linux_user123]

Ok after reading through all these online guides I think I got it. Now I need a guide on menu.lst that explains clearly what each line does.

[Hal343]

Configuration - GNU GRUB Manual 0.97 should help

[Linux_user123]

I have a question. If I installed the grub bootloader in Ubuntu's root directory (/dev/sda5) rather than hd0 (MBR), and installed grub in its own dedicated boot partition (/dev/sdb9) and setting it to hd0, will uninstalling Ubuntu do something to the MBR?

Second question. Is it important as to where the boot partition is located on the disk? It's located nearly at the end of the disk. I have a modern 2007 laptop. I hope the limitation won't be an issue. edit: nope, doesn't look like it because I booted up just fine.

Can someone recommend me an up-to-date gui grub editor?

[vickey_20]

It appears if I wipe out Linux, it takes the grub bootloader with it and I get that error 22 message.

If you delete Linux completely then all partitions created are destroyed including the one holding the grub. So that's when you get the error 22

Is there a way I can prevent the grub bootloader from being wiped out whenever I format and remove a linux OS?

You will have to preserve the boot partition so that grub works fine

I was thinking of having the grub bootloader on a tiny dedicated boot partition that holds all this boot information to all the wonderful Linux distros. Just not sure how to do it since I'm new to this

The grub in case you keep the /boot partition alive will hold info of the OS that were installed when the Linux system was present on ur pc. If you want to have grub handle all ur OS every time you install a new one, you will have to manually edit the grub.conf file or menu.lst( which is a symblink to grub.conf)