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Home > Archive > Red Hat Topics > March 2005 > I lost my access to Windows
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| Author |
I lost my access to Windows
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| I recently load FC3 on my PC but after its installation i m unable to
access my WinXp
I have 4 partitions on E: and F: my data is stored
and before FC3 installation in
c: -> Win98
D: -> WinXP
i install FC3 on C: ; it shows option for WinXp but its not getting
boot from there
my grub for XP goes as
rootnoverify (hd0,4) => /dev/hda5
chainloader +1
plz. help me
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| Lenard 2005-03-06, 5:45 pm |
| Abs wrote:
> I recently load FC3 on my PC but after its installation i m unable to
> access my WinXp
> I have 4 partitions on E: and F: my data is stored
> and before FC3 installation in
> c: -> Win98
> D: -> WinXP
> i install FC3 on C: ; it shows option for WinXp but its not getting
You may have a BIG mistake, when you install FC3 on what you call the
"C:" drive (really hda1???) you wiped out the Windows bootloader files
required by Windows (any version) to boot. Your filesystem is not clear
(how many hard drives and how many partitions on them) could you post
the output from Linux (FC3) of;
fdisk -l /dev/hd?
> boot from there
> my grub for XP goes as
> rootnoverify (hd0,4) => /dev/hda5
> chainloader +1
It sounds like maybe your first (???) hard drive was partition with one
primary partition (your old C: drive) and one extended partition
containing at least one logical partition (your Windows XP partition or
your D: drive) in Linux terms the /dev/hda5 partition.
It would be nice to see your complete /boot/grub/grub.conf file also.
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
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| Rincewind 2005-03-06, 5:45 pm |
| On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:41:24 -0800, Abs mumbled something like this:
> I recently load FC3 on my PC but after its installation i m unable to
> access my WinXp
> I have 4 partitions on E: and F: my data is stored and before FC3
> installation in
> c: -> Win98
> D: -> WinXP
> i install FC3 on C: ; it shows option for WinXp but its not getting boot
> from there
> my grub for XP goes as
> rootnoverify (hd0,4) => /dev/hda5
> chainloader +1
> plz. help me
I'm not sure how you can recover from this.
With a system that is set up to dual boot 2 Windows installations, Windows
puts a files called boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr in the root of C:.
The boot.ini file is roughly the Windows equivalent of
/boot/grub/grub.conf on a linux system. It contains details of the Windows
operating systems that are bootable. It is used by ntldr to display the
windows boot menu.
Your install of FC3 onto what was drive C: has obviously overwritten these
files and although grub knows that XP is on drive D:, the files mentioned
above are not available (since they would have been on C . Therefore, no
boot. There is also the fact that: if you converted the old C: drive to
anything other than FAT32 or NTFS (eg EXT3), your drive letters will have
changed in windows. What used to be D: will now be C:.
You may be able to get the XP installation back by using the XP install
CD, but anything that has an absolute path in it's configuration files or
the registry will probably be pointing to the (now)non-existant drive D:.
There is a rescue mode where the install searches your drive for windows
installations and rewrites the system files. I think it also rewrites a
windows boot sector, so you should make a linux boot disk before you do
anything. Once you have your XP installation back, use the boot disk to
start FC3 and re-install grub.
--
Rinso
/\
/ \
/wizz\
~~~~~~~~~~~~
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| Lenard 2005-03-06, 5:45 pm |
| Rincewind wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:41:24 -0800, Abs mumbled something like this:
>
>
> I'm not sure how you can recover from this.
I agree, the OP may have some hidden problems unknown to him/her of yet.
> With a system that is set up to dual boot 2 Windows installations,
> Windows puts a files called boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr in the
> root of C:. The boot.ini file is roughly the Windows equivalent of
> /boot/grub/grub.conf on a linux system. It contains details of the
> Windows operating systems that are bootable. It is used by ntldr to
> display the windows boot menu.
>
> Your install of FC3 onto what was drive C: has obviously overwritten
> these files and although grub knows that XP is on drive D:, the files
> mentioned above are not available (since they would have been on C.
> Therefore, no boot. There is also the fact that: if you converted the
> old C: drive to anything other than FAT32 or NTFS (eg EXT3), your
> drive letters will have changed in windows. What used to be D: will
> now be C:.
>
> You may be able to get the XP installation back by using the XP
> install CD, but anything that has an absolute path in it's
> configuration files or the registry will probably be pointing to the
> (now)non-existant drive D:. There is a rescue mode where the install
> searches your drive for windows installations and rewrites the system
> files. I think it also rewrites a windows boot sector, so you should
> make a linux boot disk before you do anything. Once you have your XP
> installation back, use the boot disk to start FC3 and re-install grub.
I have asked about the OP's partitioning scheme, hopefully with this
information the OP can guided to 'create' a new 'C:' drive partition
and create a triple boot configuration (DOS/Linux/XP) without to many
hassles.
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
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| On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 20:28:53 +0000, Rincewind thoughtfully wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:41:24 -0800, Abs mumbled something like this:
>
>
> I'm not sure how you can recover from this.
>
>
Agreed but he can recover WinXP using either XP's FIXBOOT or
reinstalling XP which will restore the boot properties to C then he
has to fix Grub by booting with the Linux boot or rescue CD edit grub.conf
to make sure rootnoverify (hd0,4) and chainloader +1 are correct.
OP could have used Knoppix saving his linux files to C:, or E: or F: if
those were FAT32. Or like most people installed FC to E or F.
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| well i try to install XP back but after showing the line for hardware
detection by setup , a blank (black) screen appears and setup halts.
one of my friend told me that installation CD i used was not a bootable
CD and i should used that.
You also refer about rescue mode but which rescue mode u r refering Win
or Linux.
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| Output for Commanf fdisk -l /dev/hda is
Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40060403712 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4870 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 511 4870 35021700 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 14 510 3992152+ 8e Linux LVM
/dev/hda5 511 1084 4610623+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6 1085 3290 17719663+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda7 3291 4870 12691318+ b W95 FAT32
Partition table entries are not in disk order
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My grub.conf is
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this
file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.9-1.667)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667 ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
rhgb
quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-1.667.img
title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,4)
chainloader +1
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| Lenard 2005-03-07, 5:45 pm |
| Abs wrote:
> Output for Commanf fdisk -l /dev/hda is
>
> Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40060403712 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4870 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
>
> Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
> /dev/hda1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
> /dev/hda2 511 4870 35021700 f W95 Ext'd
> (LBA)
> /dev/hda3 14 510 3992152+ 8e Linux LVM
> /dev/hda5 511 1084 4610623+ b W95 FAT32
> /dev/hda6 1085 3290 17719663+ b W95 FAT32
> /dev/hda7 3291 4870 12691318+ b W95 FAT32
>
> Partition table entries are not in disk order
>
OK, it looks like you can have access to your three Windows partitions.
The /dev/hda2 partition is the extended partition holding all three of
your FAT32 partitions (your old D:, E: and F: drives in Microsoft
terms). As root from the console or xterm session create three
mountpoints, by typing;
mkdir /mnt/Windows1
mkdir /mnt/Windows2
mkdir /mnt/Windows3
These mountpoints will be used to mount the three FAT32 partitions so
you can figure out what each of these partitions holds, lets mount the
first one. As root from the console or xterm session type;
mount -t vfat /dev/hda5 /mnt/Windows1 -ro
According to what you have said earlier this should be your Windows XP
(your old D: drive) partition, check and make sure. The partition is
being mounted read only so there should be no chance of anything being
deleted. Mount the other FAT32 partitions in a similar fashion one at a
time and make sure all your data is intect in each partition.
If these three partitions have all of your data and hopefully your
Windows XP OS is mostly intact, you should be able to get Windows XP
booting again. You will to lose Linux for a bit, but since you just
installed it this should not be a big problem or loss. If wanted you
can install Linux again, this time without losing the ability to boot
into Windows XP.
You are going to need a number blank floppy disks, one for a Windows
98se boot disk and four to six for the Windows XP boot disk set. You
can get the Windows 98se boot disk image from;
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm
The Windows XP boot disk set from;
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994
Make sure you download the set for the version of Windows XP you have,
Home or Professional Service and Patch 1 or 2.
Have a friend (or you) download these files and create the Windows 98se
boot floppy and Windows XP floppy boot disk set for you. It would be
best to use a Windows based system to get these imagesand create the
floppy disks. After you get the boot disk sets made, boot your system
with the Windows 98se boot disk. When booted run fdisk and carefully
delete only the first primary partition (/dev/hda1 the Linux boot
partition) and create a new primary partition in it's place (this will
be your 'new' C: drive). When done reboot the system leaving the
Windows 98se boot disk in the system. After the system is rebooted type
in; format c: /s
When done copy all the files from the floppy (A: drive) to the C: drive,
when done remove the floppy and reboot the system again, if everything
was done properly you should now be at the 'C:' prompt, if this is true
then you can use the Windows XP boot disk set, insert the first one
into the floppy drive and reboot the system. Insert each floppy in turn
when prompted to.
Your not going to install Windows XP again, but you are going to use the
recovery console to run fixmbr and maybe fixboot. Just follow the
directions found here;
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...cons_fixmbr.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...ons_fixboot.asp
You want to make sure these commands are run to the 'C:' drive, the
first (primary) partition on the hard drive. When done remove the
floppy and beboot the system, if everything was done correctly then you
should now be able to boot (your choice) into Windows XP or Windows 98
(really DOS).
If you want you can now install Linux again, this time manually format
and re-partition the /dev/hda3 partition, for help in doing this please
review first starting at step 8;
http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/sh...dual+boot+HOWto
Good Luck!!!!!
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
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| Well , i try what u said but it didn't do anything
if i have to reboot my system after mounting these partitions. and
thank u 4 ur help
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| On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 08:33:12 -0800, Abs thoughtfully wrote:
> Well , i try what u said but it didn't do anything if i have to reboot my
> system after mounting these partitions. and thank u 4 ur help
Lenard has given you a roadmap for repairing XP and Linux. At this point
all your partitions are on your HD and formatted FAT32 and you can
read/wrtie to all partitions from Linux. If your XP CD is not
bootable you can use a DOS boot diskette that has drivers for your
CD, boot from the floppy and run XP setup, select install, then select
repair previous XP installation. If your XP version is a recovery CD from
the manufacturer you'll need to get a bootable XP
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| Lenard 2005-03-07, 5:45 pm |
| Abs wrote:
> Well , i try what u said but it didn't do anything
> if i have to reboot my system after mounting these partitions. and
> thank u 4 ur help
>
The entire process takes a fair amount of time and does require
rebooting you system a number of times. I do not understand what you
mean exactly by 'it didn't do anything' maybe a bit of explantation
might help you.
Using your working Linux to check and verify your data (all the mounting
of the partitions). After checking there is no real reason to unmount
them, the rebooting of the system will do that for you.
Booting with the Windows 98se boot floppy to wipe out the first primary
partition(Linux partition) and create a new primary partition(DOS
partition), then rebooting to format(make the partition writeable) and
installing the new MBR (losing the GRUB boot loader on the MBR) to boot
into a Microsoft DOS prompt. You might have had a small problem here
but it is fixable by booting once more with the floppy and at the DOS
prompt (A issuing(typing in and pressing the Enter key);
fdisk c: /mbr
The only hard part is using the Windows XP boot floppy set to get into
the recovery console and getting the Windows XP to boot. If the floppy
based Windows XP boot set did not work then you can try a different
approach. You can download a bootable but very limited Windows XP boot
CD for using the recovery console;
This requires a working Windows XP system with a CD burner;
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
Or you can try this, again this requires a working Windows system
(Windows 2000 or XP perferred) with a CD burner;
http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/
Choose either one (either should work to restore the Microsoft required
bootloader files to the 'C: drive' via the recovery console [fixmbr and
maybe fixboot]);
Bootable Windows 2000 installation CD-Rom (with SP3)
Bootable Windows XP installation CD-Rom (with SP1)
Your only other choice other than 'wipe and load' ($$) is to take the
system to a qualified repair center/person (one that understands that
'wipe and load' is only one [bad] way to fix things) and explain your
problem in great detail. Take a copy of this entire newsgroup thread if
you think it will help.
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- B. Franklin, 1759
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