Dual-Boot Issues

[SL6-A1000]

Hey,
Ok i am having some issues with dual booting my SL6.1 and Windows.
The situation is that i recently acquired an old hard drive from a non-working computer of mine with Windows already installed (i know the windows is functional, as i tested it on my new PC with SL6.1 currently installed & everything runs fine)

The problem is that after editing the grub.config to include windows, windows will no longer boot after an attempt to install a legit version of McAffee anti-virus software which coincidently was only after the first attempt at running both OS's in a dual-boot fashion. Except past the windows start up screen before the dreaded blue-screen.
Which is weird because SL6.1 OS will still boot & works perfectly fine like always, so it doesn't really make sense.

My current setup is:
Disk 1: Solid-State:
Boot Partition
SL6 LVM1: Root Partition
Disk 2: Hard Drive:
SL6 LVM2: User, Temp & Swap Space Partitions (Different LVM to Root)
Disk 3: Hard Drive:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

My guess is its windows MBR. The reason i say this is because the Hard Drive contents of the Windows software still appears intact when accessing the drive from the Linux OS.

I don't won't to go through the rigmarole of re-installing both OS's. So hopefully their is a relatively simple solution.

Thanks for any help given.

[rinjo]

If my understanding is correct, you were able to boot into your Windows partition on disk 3 even after creating the Dual boot system.
Windows stopped booting only when you installed McAffee anti-virus onto the windows partition...

Its looks like the antivirus installation has created some issue with the Windows installation, as you can see the initial screen and then you see the blue screen.

I don't feel that there is any issue with you windows MBR or the hard drive in question.
You can give the try to using the rescue disk or boot into safe mode on windows and trying to wind back to the point before the installation of the anti-virus.

[SL6-A1000]

That would probably work, except for a minor issue, stupid windows won't allow me to boot into safe mode. It only has launch start up repair & start windows normally.

Another issue is i don't have a recovery disc, i upgraded the OS from XP Enterprise to Windows 7 Professional, so i only have the upgrade Disc for 7 Pro & the install disc for XP Enterprise.

Yeah your probably right, because if it was the MBR, than you would expect Linux to also be affected, because GRUB is the one loading them both. I wish i could read that damn blue-screen text so i can have some idea of what the issue is.
Any other ideas? start-up repair does not work i have tried it a bazillion times and it consistantly gives a failed result.

Sometimes i wonder why i even bother with Windows, its such a pain in the arse!

[jayd512]

Any other ideas?

If you can't boot into any form of repair mode, you may just need to reinstall XP and upgrade again.

You might get more definite troubleshooting advice on a Windows support forum, though.

[SL6-A1000]

What about from the linux os, is it possible to restore the system from their?
If possible can someone explain what to do.

[glennzo]

Is the Windows hard disk installed as a secondary disk?

[rinjo]

Did you trying using F8 when Windows 7 is booting, to get the list of options, including safe mode.
I had a similar issue with another laptop of mine running windows 7(not a dual boot), but it was showing blue screen after installing new anti-virus.
I had reverted back the installation to the point before the installation and everything is fine now.

Try this link How to start Windows in Safe Mode for getting into safe mode.

Although I am not an expert in Linux, however, I do not think there is a way to recover Windows from Linux itself. Normally what you can recover is the MBR using boot CDs.

[SL6-A1000]

Is the Windows hard disk installed as a secondary disk?

Yes i believe it is, it may be the secondary master, because i have 2 other hard drives installed in the 1 & 2 sata ports.

@rinjo: No i didn't try that, i will give it a shot. I have tried the install method (with & without the install disc), i have also tried command prompt, using bootrec.exe, boot config & diskpart but none of those methods worked. Even using a combination of the above, but it still only loaded & then blue-screen. If this method doesn't work it looks like a may have to reinstall windows (arrrrgggg what a *****!)

I have never experienced this problem so early on. I ran the same thing on a virtual machine with no problems, using the same install discs.

[glennzo]

Try the mapping method in grub.conf Add the following to the bottom of the file, assuming that the Windows drive is the third hard disk.

title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
chainloader +1

[jayd512]

I'm sorry... but I just want to make sure of something...
You mentioned the 'dreaded blue screen'...
Are you actually talking about a BSOD?

If you are, then no GRUB configuration is going to fix that. Sorry.
The BSOD sucks... but it does give some technical information via hex code error messages.
This info can either be Googled, or troubleshooting tips can be given on a Windows Support Forum.