vista boot problem
i tried to daul boot linux on my laptop and it has vista preinstalled on it. i used pclinuxos's livecd and the visual partition thing. and i started to partition my harddrive for linux. but then i cancelled it. so i presssed undo until it was back to normal. and then when i tried to restart my computer, it wouldnt boot vista. it'll go tot he loading screen and not get past that. i tried to run system repair. but that wouldnt load. i tried to boot in safe mode but that wouldnt do ne thing either. it stilll has all my file and everything stil on it…
does anyone kno how to help me?
This happened to me like last week when my grub messed up. I deleted the linux partition on my external HD and the grub wouldn't let me boot up in Vista unless it was there…
Anyway, just run this program via command line.
Go here: http://www.sysint.no/EN/Download.aspx and download the FixMbr.exe
Then, go here: http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/mbrfix.htm to see how to use it.
(If your windows is installed on your primary drive like mine was, just type this: "C:\> MbrFix /drive 0 fixmbr /vista /yes" )
I've actually used it twice now and it worked great both times :)
AldarHawk wrote: fix mbr is usable straight from CMD it does not have to be in recovery console. use a boot disc (Windows XP or whatever) and you can run it ;)
Of course. The OP stated that he was unable to reach normal or safe modes, which led me to believe that he wouldn't make it to a command prompt, either. But, I guess BartPE / WinPE could probably run fixmbr. :happy:
Or, if I recall correctly, an XP install CD lets you go to Recovery Console, which will also give you the chance to run fixmbr.
So, there are a few solutions. ;)
I just got a laptop with Vista pre-installed on it too. They didn't give me a Vista CD because it was pre-installed (I guess they thought I wouldn't need one) so I'll assume that you didn't receive one either. If you happen to have a spare XP CD lying around, then try the recovery console from that.
I think you have the same problem I did. In my case, the Linux Grub Loader couldn't find the linux partition because I had deleted it, so it gave me an error and wouldn't let me boot.
I reinstalled Linux and went in and edited the Grub file so that it would boot Windows again, and then when I got to Windows, I ran that Fix Mbr program and then deleted the Linux Partition completely.
The Grub had been removed by the Fix Mbr program, so it works fine now :)
thnx for the replies!
uhhh i'll try the xp cd that i have.
it came with a vista cd… 2 in fact, but everytime i try to load those. it'll go to the load screen and then go black and not do anything else.
i can access my harddrive… just cant boot from it, unless i have a live cd in :'(
[edit] i did what Zephyr_Pure suggested and it fixed it! thnx dude. will that happen next time if i try to partition my hdd?[/edit]
uhhh i think partitioning my hdd messed it up. i'm missing 40 gigs of space. it origianlly said that my hdd is 143 gigs or something like that. and now it says 104 gigs. and it doesnt show that i have another partition besides the recovery one that came with the computer… is there any way to find the other one that is taking up my space?
rockbll4 wrote: will that happen next time if i try to partition my hdd?
Well, if you got Vista factory pre-installed on the system, then it is most likely set to take up all the space on the hard drive. If that is the case, then you would have to alter the partition table to allow for two separate partitions (one for Winblows, one for Linux) before you could dual-boot. Partition Magic is a program that can modify the partition table and possibly retain the data on the original partition, but it's always good to make a backup before doing anything like that.
In your situation, a possible experiment would be:
- Backup everything you want to keep
- Fdisk and create two separate partitions
- Use your Vista CD and try to install to the first partition
If all goes well with that, then install Linux to the second, setup your bootloader, and all should be good. If all doesn't go well with that, then go back, fdisk the HDD back to one partition, and try to reinstall Vista. If THAT still doesn't go well, then take advantage of the warranty you should have on that newer system, call the warranty people for an RMA and, as an excuse, say "I tried reinstalling when my network connection wouldn't work". They hear that crap all the time, so they shouldn't ask many questions.
Really, though, you shouldn't get past fdisk'ing it back to one partition and reinstalling Vista… I just provided the third option as a fyi to most people.
Sorry for the long post, all. :happy:
rockbll4 wrote: uhhh i think partitioning my hdd messed it up. i'm missing 40 gigs of space. it origianlly said that my hdd is 143 gigs or something like that. and now it says 104 gigs. and it doesnt show that i have another partition besides the recovery one that came with the computer… is there any way to find the other one that is taking up my space?
From within Vista, right-click Computer, click "Manage" in the Start Menu. Disk Management should be in there, and should tell you how the space on your HDD is allocated.
spyware wrote: Yeah, you forgot to partition 40 gig. You can easily add it to a drive, or a create a new drive out of the 40 gig.
That's the most likely situation, anyway.
idk where that 40 gig went tho… i ran diskmgmt or w/e and it doesnt show that 40 gig ne where. i cancelled the partition in the middle and then it messed up and now i cant find it (after fixing my MBR in vista). should i put the live cd back in and see if it shows it there?
@zephyr_pure thnx for the suggestions and help! do u have aim or msn incase i have more prolbems?
rockbll4 wrote: idk where that 40 gig went tho… i ran diskmgmt or w/e and it doesnt show that 40 gig ne where. i cancelled the partition in the middle and then it messed up and now i cant find it (after fixing my MBR in vista). should i put the live cd back in and see if it shows it there?
Yes, you could try popping the live cd back in and running "fdisk /dev/hda" from the terminal, then typing "p" at the prompt that comes up to view partitions. It's possible that it's just an ext2 / ext3 partition that Windows can't see… were you trying to create a 40-gig Linux partition initially?
@zephyr_pure thnx for the suggestions and help! do u have aim or msn incase i have more prolbems?
No problem. And, sorry, but no; I despise instant messaging programs. Feel free to message me on here, though. I'm on here pretty regularly. :D
Zephyr_Pure wrote: Yes, you could try popping the live cd back in and running "fdisk /dev/hda" from the terminal, then typing "p" at the prompt that comes up to view partitions. It's possible that it's just an ext2 / ext3 partition that Windows can't see… were you trying to create a 40-gig Linux partition initially?
kk yea i think it was an ext 2 or 3. haha yea i'm a n00b at partitioning and stuff.. prolly shoulda read b4 i tried it. i noticed taht there were instructions on the desktop on how to partition it for linux :'(
rockbll4 wrote: kk yea i think it was an ext 2 or 3. haha yea i'm a n00b at partitioning and stuff.. prolly shoulda read b4 i tried it. i noticed taht there were instructions on the desktop on how to partition it for linux :'(
Well, at least you were asking questions to try and learn… that doesn't make you so much of a noob as it does a member of the community. So, it's all good. :happy:
Really, on most modern Linux installs, the install will format the partitions close to how they need to be. In general, it's around 10Mb (I think) for the /boot partition, around twice the size of your RAM for the swap space, and whatever you have left for /. You can usually stick with this and be fine, but I like to increase the swap space to around 3-4 times the RAM… if you're under 1GB of RAM, go for 4 times.