Need help - installed Ubuntu, now Windows won't boot

[Timewall]

I already had Windows XP on the HDD. I installed Xubuntu 9.10, and used the installer to cut out a 10 GB chunk for Xubuntu. Xubuntu boots correctly, but I only get a blinking cursor _ when I attempt to boot Windows. I'm pretty much a newbie with Linux, although I did take a while to play around with the Live CD before installing - so I generally know where things are, but know very little about what is actually going on behind the scenes.

Can anyone give me some advice for what steps I need to take to remedy this? The goal is to be able to boot whichever OS I need at the time.

Also - I'm sure that my old stuff is all on the HDD - I can access it, but strangely enough, I seem to need to try to open that file system with like Firefox or something - it tells me I need to mount it, I mount it, then it becomes accessible....I can't seem to get it auto detected at boot. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

We have to check partition structure of your Hard disk first.
Boot up Xubuntu, open Terminal and execute this

sudo fdisk -l

Post output here.

* Its small L in fdisk -l.

Also - I'm sure that my old stuff is all on the HDD - I can access it, but strangely enough, I seem to need to try to open that file system with like Firefox or something - it tells me I need to mount it, I mount it, then it becomes accessible....I can't seem to get it auto detected at boot. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

You can edit /etc/fstab file to mount partitions automatically at boot up.
Execute this code in Terminal :

df -h

Post output here

[Timewall]

Thanks for your quick reply - I do feel welcomed

Output #1:

Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60022480896 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7297 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa7a57e45

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 5985 48074481 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 5986 7297 10538640 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 5986 7235 10040593+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 7236 7297 497983+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Output #2:

/dev/sda5 9.5G 3.0G 6.0G 34% /
udev 218M 252K 217M 1% /dev
none 218M 164K 217M 1% /dev/shm
none 218M 84K 218M 1% /var/run
none 218M 0 218M 0% /var/lock
none 218M 0 218M 0% /lib/init/rw

[devils casper]

Windows Partition is intact and it should boot up fine.
Execute this in Terminal :

sudo update-grub

It will regenerate GRUB Configuration file.

In case it doesn't work, post the contents of /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober file here.

[devils casper]

Windows Partition is intact and it should boot up fine.
Execute this in Terminal :

sudo update-grub

It will regenerate GRUB Configuration file.

In case it doesn't work, post the contents of /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober file here.

[Timewall]

I put that in the Terminal, said something about finding Windows Xp, but I ended up with the same problem when I tried to boot to Windows - blinking cursor.

I copied and pasted into Terminal what you typed - /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober

Gave me this:

unshare failed: Operation not permitted
rm: cannot remove `/var/lib/os-prober/labels': Permission denied

You must forgive my ignorance if there is a proper way to find the contents of that file, as I'm very unfamiliar with the file system aspect of Linux.

[devils casper]

You can open that file in any text editor or display contents through less command.
Execute this command

less /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober

Post the contents of /boot/grub/grub.cfg file too.

less /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Check linuxcommand.org. Its a really good site for new users.

[Leppie]

you used the xubuntu partitioner to shrink the xp partition?
windows won't like that, download something like the ultimate boot cd and check the windows partition for errors: Ultimate Boot CD - Overview

[devils casper]

I have checked your PM. It looks like something is wrong with Windows OS only.

Boot up from Windows Installation CD, select repair and execute fixmbr command at repair prompt. It will remove GRUB. Check if Windows OS boot up by default on reboot.
Windows Installation CD doesn't work after Linux installation. In that case, boot up from SuperGRUB CD/USB and select Fix Windows Boot.

Its really easy to re-install GRUB. First of all, we have check if Windows OS working fine.

[Timewall]

I was afraid you might suggest that - my desktop was purchased at auction, which means I don't have an installation CD.

Before my initial post, I made a SuperGrub Disk - I downloaded an ISO and burnt it to a CD - but strangely, it never presented the menu that I've read about - it didn't have an option to fix windows boot or anything. It listed a few options, such as boot linux and check Grub config, but not much more than that. I'm positive that it was booting off of the CD drive, as it was a different menu than the standard boot menu.

1. Is there a workaround for the missing Windows disc issue?
2. Have I been downloading the wrong version of Super Grub Disk or something?