Dual Boot, Grub, FC3-WinXpSP2, 2 drives. No go.

[Nat Gross]

Jonathan Berry wrote:

>On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 14:00:28 -0500, Nat Gross
><natgross.rentalsystems at verizon.net> wrote:
>  
>
>>Jonathan Berry wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Hidden files in Linux are different from in Windows.  Windows has a
>>>file attribute that makes a file hidden.  In Linux, a file with a
>>>filename beginning with a dot "." is hidden.
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>Thanks for the tip.
>>
>>    
>>
>>>What you need to do is
>>>to just mount your windows partitions and then list the contents of
>>>each partition.  For instance, if you mount your NTFS parition on
>>>/mnt/windows/E (this is not a required place, just an example), then
>>>open a terminal and type the command:
>>>ls /mnt/windows/E
>>>If you see ntldr and boot.ini listed in the output, everything is
>>>fine.  You don't need to search for them as they are necessarily in
>>>the root of the partition (this is, they will not be in a folder).
>>>Similarly, do the same with your vfat partition, just in case.  If you
>>>do not find it in either place, then you do have a problem and you
>>>will need to restore these somehow.  Probably with the recovery
>>>console and FIXBOOT as already suggested.
>>>
>>>Jonathan
>>>      
>>>
>>I have both Windows partitions mounted, and ntldr boot.ini is nowhere to
>>be found. Furthermore, my previous search found a lnk(shortcut) file
>>that I had named 'bootIniOnCdrive.lnk'! Evidently, after my previous
>>Windows crash, I used that shortcut quite a bit! (That was [relative]
>>eons ago.)
>>    
>>
>
>Looks like you won't be able to boot Windows without using the recovery console.
>
>  
>
>>Now, in case you are wondering, why I am not *really* paranoid; I have
>>my data mounted on fc3 and usable (Java stuff).
>>Also, I made the decision to re-align everything and go with Linux
>>all-the-way. And for the minor stuff that I would like to boot Windows
>>for, *maybe* it can wait for a cd from MS. (I don't trust the ntfs mount
>>for writing.)
>>    
>>
>
>The new NTFS driver can only do limited writing, and anything it will
>do will *not* mess anything up, or that is what they say.  It was
>rewritten to be failsafe, but as a result, it doesn't do a whole lot. 
>You can change files as long as the size stays the same.  If you need
>to change files and don't want to use Windows anymore, why not just
>move the files to a partition that you can write to?  If you really
>don't want Windows, you can then reformat (after you are sure you have
>*everything* you might want copied elsewhere!!!) your NTFS partition
>to ext3.
>  
>
There is quite a bit of work to implement this paragraph. And I have to 
play it safe, just in case I remember some Win specific data/program I 
forgot about. Also, since I write Java software for a living (why'd you 
think I can just continue working of Linux with the same data), I need 
to have the ability to verify stuff (basically gui l&f) under Windows.

>  
>
>>And to let the great folks here in on a little secret, my drive C was
>>already crashed (this time around too) and was hoping that the fc3
>>install/grub will not only give me fc3, but also the Win back. (if grub
>>had ntldr-equivalent code....).
>>whew! off my soapbox.
>>    
>>
>
>Huh?  If your hard drive "crashed" (meaning that the drive failed or
>is beginning to fail) I would not trust it, get a replacement.  If
>there is something wrong with the drive, it won't last no matter what
>OS you use.  If you mean something else, please enlighten us.  
>
Not a hardware problem. The machine was not shutdown gracefully, and 
forgot how to boot properly.

>And no,GRUB cannot directly boot windows, it can only "chainload" ntldr.
>
>  
>
>>Now, having said this, I am a little afraid to boot the Win CD and run
>>FIXBOOT, because a)some win gurus say that since my system has sp2, the
>>original cd is useless; and b) I want to be assured that it won't blow
>>my fc3/grub away. (too much invested in this, this week.)
>>
>>So, if I get your vote(s) and assurance that it won't hurt running
>>fixboot, I'll go for it.
>>
>>THANK YOU ALL.
>>-nat
>>    
>>
>
>I'm not sure, but I don't think fixboot will touch the MBR.  That is
>what fixmbr does.  It should not hurt FC3 as I would think it should
>only touch the windows partition.  Even if you had to run FIXMBR, or
>FIXBOOT did replace GRUB, you can easily re-install it (you should be
>able to find instructions with Google or the archives as this has been
>asked too many times already :)).  
>
Let me ask it again....just kidding.

>I think this should be safe, just
>be sure you know which partition it wants to play with before you do
>it.  I haven't heard anything about using an SP1 disk with an SP2
>install, but I haven't looked for it.  Could you provide links? 
>
http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1013670
Also if you google 'slipstream sp2'.
And I just reread that page. Recovery console will NOT run, after an sp2 
upgrade. (unless you slipstreamed a new cd earlier.)

> I don't think you could make the situation worse, as at worst, Windows
>won't boot, and you're already in that boat :).  If you have a way,
>back up all the data you want to save.
>Most things with computers can be undone (you may have to reinstall,
>of course) and data loss is the worst outcome (this is in general, I'm
>not making any specific comments about this situation).  So if you
>save everything you might want, go ahead and give it a shot.  The most
>you will lose is time, then :).
>
>Jonathan
>
>  
>