2 grub2 basic, basic questions.

[Jonathan183]

I tried the method I posted for Windows 2000 and grub legacy and got it to work with a modification of grub command (modifications in bold below) ... Windows XP on sda1 and Mint Debian Edition on sda2 ...
1. Install grub to sda2 boot sector

sudo grub-install /dev/sda2 --force

2. create file with grub from sda2 boot sector

sudo dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/home/jonathan/linux2.bin bs=446 count=1

3. mount sda1 to /media/sda1 (my XP install has ntfs partition - if you have FAT32 partition then use mount instead of ntfs-3g)

sudo mkdir /media/sda1
sudo ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /media/sda1

4. copy linux2.bin to Windows root

sudo cp /home/jonathan/linux2.bin /media/sda1/

5. rebooted in Windows and open command line change to c:, change file to non system and hidden

c:
cd \
attrib -s -h -r boot.ini

6. Edit the file (edit will do) and add a line

c:\linux2.bin="Linux on sda2"

Then reboot the system ... and it should work.

If you decide to follow this route then the only additional thing you may need to do is use supergrub to boot Linux Mint after the initial install (I'm not sure if the installer will install Grub2 to the partition or throw an error - and I'm not re-installing Mint to find out).

I had grub2 installed to the mbr and used supergrub to fix the windows boot after copying the linux2.bin file to the windows partition.

[buteman]

This is another reason installing grub2 too is insane: if the installation fails, you wipe out access to any other OS or distros on the system.

The whole thing is not a selling point for Linux, and so hurts growth and adoption by outsiders. But probably will go ignored by the community since 'life without linux' is inconceivable.

Well if you start with any PC on which there is any non windows operating system just try installing windows alongside it - It will either ignore the original OS or destroy it. It will not care what you have there. All it cares about is taking over itself, it assumes there is nothing of value on your machine.
And yes to me life without linux is inconceivable as I have not paid for an OS since I abandoned windows when Win 95 kept going wrong every week and needed a complete re-install just about every month.
I have used Linux live cd's to rescue data from a number of Windows PC's and on some occasions rescued Windows itself. You cannot rescue other OS's using Windows as no such option is available.
Now if someone wants to use windows then that is fine with me. Windows7 is something I know little about and so I find it harder to help users who have problems with it. Of course I have no wish to buy something I personally do not need.
I don't need them myself but it is true that a few programs are available for windows which are better or not available for linux. Equally most of the internet is run on linux as are many phone networks and phones themselves, also some of the most powerful computers are linux based but none are windows based mainly because linux is more stable, flexible and inherently secure. I do find that those who are prepared to get to grips with linux are usually capable of sorting out problems with windows but not the other way round.
It makes me sad that schools continue to pay out vast amounts of money on windows and windows programs instead of taking advantage of linux as I am sure many linux user groups would help set up and maintain the systems.

[degarb]

I do find that those who are prepared to get to grips with linux are usually capable of sorting out problems with windows but not the other way round.
It makes me sad that schools continue to pay out vast amounts of money on windows and windows programs instead of taking advantage of linux as I am sure many linux user groups would help set up and maintain the systems.

Both these two points are huge, with huge implications, which we need to think about.

I think, all distros should have something like edubuntu. The more users of Linux means more useful applications, more friendliness, more out of box function, larger knowledgebase, large support community, and less servitude to another monopoly/polyopoly for our descendants. More is better, and it starts with the kids.