Possible Repost (Sorry) Windows 7 vs Ubuntu

[ChasM Marshall]

Hiya Carlton,

> Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda1
> Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sdb1
 
> I have no idea why 2 Windows.

I think GRUB v.2 is finding the MS special file "ntldr" twice.
Both are installed as the first file in a first non-extended partition.
This makes each of them (alone) a bootable "C:" drive (in MS theory)
Perhaps they are from two different versions of Windows installs?
Now that you've run GRUB, only one of them still has an MS MasterBootRecord.
/dev/sda1 is Win95 FAT 32      <-- this can be flagged as "boot".
/dev/sdb1 is Windows NTFS/HPFS   <-- this can be flagged as "boot" but it won't.
(until /dev/sda is removed)

MS can only boot an O.S. from drive "C:" (ever).
and that is defined as the first (lowest number) non-extended partition.
Booting FROM drive "D:" (even if it HAS ntldr previously installed) is a no, no.

The MS boot record can be restored, but only onto the first disk device.
It is version dependant upon which MS CDROM is booted and must match the
version of ntldr installed.  NTFS has gone through a bunch of (silent) upgrades.
Or, what you would rather do:

When Linux writes "Generic MBR Code" it simply points to the ntldr file.
In my experience, AFTER any Linux install, this usually requires running
chkdsk C: /f  
or
chkdsk C: /r /p
from an MS "recovery console" to restore ntldr functionality.
These may also be needed for your drive "D:"

Also, if you want to get rid of the GRUB MBR, the command
fdisk /mbr
does an MBR restore when using W2K/XP bootdisks.
The newer bootable service packs include
fixmbr.exe  (restores the MBR, same as fdisk /mbr) and
fixboot.exe  (rewrites the boot.ini config file)
I haven't seen a Windows 7 boot disk yet.

Hope this helps.
GRUB v.2 gives me headaches, I don't need GPT tables, and the docs are thin.

> Subject: Possible Repost (Sorry) Windows 7 vs Ubuntu
> From: linux at carltonbrooks.net
> To: plug-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> Date: Sun, 5 Jun 2011 17:02:08 -0700
> 
> I have 3 HARD DRIVES. Drive 1 (sda) is a Windows 7 Drive. Drive 2 (sdb)
> is a data drive. Drive 3 (sdc) is an Ubuntu 11.04 drive.
> 
> I just upgraded to 11.04 by disconnecting sda and sdb. I then installed
> 11.04. I then reconnect all the drives
> 
> After install I did a sudo update-grub. It displayed the following
> 
> Generating grub.cfg ...
> Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic
> Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.38-8-generic
> Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
> Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sda1
> Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sdb1
> done
> 
> I have no idea why 2 Windows.
> 
> Then ran fdisk -l. It displayed the following
> 
> Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000203804160 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> Disk identifier: 0xda607973
> 
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sda1   *           1      121601   976759008+   b  W95 FAT32
> 
> Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000203804160 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> Disk identifier: 0xda607971
> 
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sdb1   *           1          13      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS
> Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
> /dev/sdb2              13      121601   976656384    7  HPFS/NTFS
> 
> Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
> Disk identifier: 0x0009ca99
> 
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sdc1   *           1      120558   968373248   83  Linux
> /dev/sdc2          120558      121602     8386561    5  Extended
> /dev/sdc5          120558      121602     8386560   82  Linux swap /
> Solaris
> 
> Now when I boot up it shows the grub menu, and lists all the choices,
> but when the Windows sda1 is picked it reboots. When sdb1 is picked it
> says I have a windows error.
> 
> I beleive I have corrupted or destroyed the Windows MBR or Boot Record.
> I have attempted to fix it using the Windows disk but still does not
> work.
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.
> 
> Carlton Brooks
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------
> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
> http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/pipermail/plug-discuss/attachments/20110611/1678f468/attachment.html>