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Help! I have a dual boot xp + fedora6 (yes an old system) my windows boot partition is /dev/sda2 when i was logged onto my linux partition i did the ...
  1. 06-07-2011 #1
    elwood45
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    help! grub and windows xp

    Help!
    I have a dual boot xp + fedora6 (yes an old system)

    my windows boot partition is /dev/sda2

    when i was logged onto my linux partition i did the following
    grub-install /dev/sda2

    now i cant boot to the windows partition
    every time i select windows from grub it does its usual countdown but doesnt load
    and returns to the boot menu

    help, how do i get it to boot windows?
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  2. 06-07-2011 #2
    atreyu
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    why on earth did you install grub to your Windows partition, silly?

    you have several options:

    one is to boot w/the WinXP CD and run the fixmbr command. but then Windows bootloader will be your default. you'll have to go back into Linux (via Linux CD and "rescue" at the boot prompt) and make grub your default again (but make sure your grub.conf is correct). you can also leave the Windows bootloader as your default and call Linux from it, but that's not as sexy.

    Another way is to use MbrFix to fix the Windows partition. You'll need to boot with Bart PE first, though. See the link for more info.
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  3. 06-07-2011 #3
    elwood45
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    grub and booting

    Since installation back in 2007, my computer has always immediately
    displayed a grub boot menu and then given me 20 seconds to choose windows or fedora, otherwise it defaults to windows

    After I used gparted to resize some partitions it changed the way it booted.
    Now it expects me to press the escape key to get into the grub menu.
    I was trying to fix that.
    why did I install grub to the windows partition?
    i was following some instructions on the web to fix that problem.

    Alas I have neither CD
    my laptop did not come with a windows cd
    and fedora was installed years ago by a friend, i do not have that cd either.

    So: I ran bootcfg which restored my windows partition and then locked me out of linux
    then I ran debian linux off usb to reinstall grub to the linux partition.
    I still have the wierd escape key problem, but at least i can access both partitions.
    Know anyway to get rid of the escape key and go right to the grub boot menu?
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  4. 06-07-2011 #4
    atreyu
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    good work fixing your booting!

    that Escape key thing is weird. can you show the contents of your grub.conf? maybe something in there will provide a clue.

    what about the Boot order in your BIOS, anything weird there?

    also, when you reinstalled grub via usb, how did you do it, e.g.: grub-install /dev/sda?
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