Grub error with Installation of Ubuntu

[jeide]

Hey Stoked,
Thanks for your advice. I actually tried all that. I tried fdisk /mbr from a Win98 boot disk, and tried fixmbr from the XP CD. I also tried restoring the MBR and the partition boot using the repair options from the XP CD. Finally, I tried reinstalling XP.
I could boot from an XP boot disk, but I could never restore booting from the hard drive.
Finally, having exhausted all options I could find via the internet, I began to restore the system using the IBM CDs. Of course, partway through, the laptop apparently overheated and flat quit. It's going to be a long weekend.
I'm still curious as to why Ubuntu destroyed my ability to boot XP. --jeide

[scottym]

Although I got windows running with the advice given here, the best solution for me was to srap windows completely. I was only trying to recover some space on my HD when my problem surfaced. I have no reason to use windoze and Ubuntu has been working flawlessly for me on my IBM G40. The Dell desktop is next when I get up the energy to back up all the files on it.

[ispytodd]

I believe the problem is related to the IBM system partition on the hard drive messing up the drive geometry as seen by grub. I had originally resized the windows partition to in install kubuntu 7.10 on its own 16 gig partition. At first reboot i got the grub error 18. I simple disabled the 'IBM predesktop area' in the bios and kubuntu booted. I'm not sure if this will mess anything up, but I rarely use system partitions, and the change was made after i repartitioned everything, so I think Im ok.

steps:
f1 at IBM splash screen to enter bios
select 'security'
select 'IBM Predesktop Area'
select 'disable'
F10 to save and exit.

-todd