Restore MBR and Vista

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ed H
  • Start date Start date
E

Ed H

I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide
to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows
until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have
the Oem installation Disk.
--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD
 
Ed said:
I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can do a repair install to repair the MBR. Very easy, really.

Alias
 
Ed said:
How?
Click to expand...

Sorry, that was for XP. With Vista, you will need to reinstall Vista and
all your programs, devices, etc. because MS -- in its infinite wisdom --
decided not to include a repair install for Vista.

Alias
 
Ed said:
I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide
to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows
until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have
the Oem installation Disk.
Click to expand...

Don't know if this will help you, but with Mandriva Spring 2008 (free)
you can (using the Grub boot, not LILO) restore the Windows boot by
booting from the Mandriva installation CD. I have not tried with Kubuntu
though. Sorry. There is a program which requires a bit of expert
handling, using which you can restore your Windows MBR. I think it is
called BCDEdit or something...

Hope this helps.

Russel
 
Ed said:
I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
Click to expand...

I'll give you links to instructions for various repair scenarios using the
Vista DVD and perhaps one of them will have the answer for you. I assume
that by "Oem [sic] installation Disk" you mean that you have a real Vista
DVD and not an image. There is a link to help with that if you do mean the
latter.

However, there is a much better and surer way of dealing with this. Get
Acronis True Image (there are other imaging programs of course, but TI is
my favorite) and image your Windows system *first* before you install
Linux. Obviously you need to save the image on a different hard drive.
Imaging the Windows disk will also include the MBR and sector 0 and you can
restore just those items and not the rest of the disk if you like. I speak
from experience because just yesterday I removed an opensuse 11
installation and could not get the machine to boot to the Recovery Console
(MS OS on that box is XP Pro). I won't bother you with the lengthy details
of all I tried, but in the end it was TI that was the solution. Imaging, if
you don't already do it, is a great thing to do regularly anyway whether
you dual-boot or not.

Repair Vista - http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows_vista_repair_options.htm

Repair A Vista Installation Using The Upgrade Option Of The Vista DVD -
http://tinyurl.com/3b7yrj

Repair Windows Vista using Startup Repair -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

For people who only have a restore image - Windows Vista Recovery Disc
Download:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/


Malke
 
Hey Malke:

I thought an image would work as well. I went through this on my XP machine,
could not boot, Grub error 22. After some contemplation, I restored my saved
image, created by "Image for Widows." It did not repair the mbr still had
the same error. I finally resolved the problem by booting from my BING cd,
and at the end, clicked standard mbr, that did the trick but I'm not sure if
it will work in Vista.

Thanks


Malke said:
Ed said:
I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
Click to expand...

I'll give you links to instructions for various repair scenarios using the
Vista DVD and perhaps one of them will have the answer for you. I assume
that by "Oem [sic] installation Disk" you mean that you have a real Vista
DVD and not an image. There is a link to help with that if you do mean the
latter.

However, there is a much better and surer way of dealing with this. Get
Acronis True Image (there are other imaging programs of course, but TI is
my favorite) and image your Windows system *first* before you install
Linux. Obviously you need to save the image on a different hard drive.
Imaging the Windows disk will also include the MBR and sector 0 and you
can
restore just those items and not the rest of the disk if you like. I speak
from experience because just yesterday I removed an opensuse 11
installation and could not get the machine to boot to the Recovery Console
(MS OS on that box is XP Pro). I won't bother you with the lengthy details
of all I tried, but in the end it was TI that was the solution. Imaging,
if
you don't already do it, is a great thing to do regularly anyway whether
you dual-boot or not.

Repair Vista -
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows_vista_repair_options.htm

Repair A Vista Installation Using The Upgrade Option Of The Vista DVD -
http://tinyurl.com/3b7yrj

Repair Windows Vista using Startup Repair -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial148.html

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

For people who only have a restore image - Windows Vista Recovery Disc
Download:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/


Malke
Click to expand...
 
Ed said:
Hey Malke:

I thought an image would work as well. I went through this on my XP
machine, could not boot, Grub error 22. After some contemplation, I
restored my saved image, created by "Image for Widows." It did not repair
the mbr still had the same error. I finally resolved the problem by
booting from my BING cd, and at the end, clicked standard mbr, that did
the trick but I'm not sure if it will work in Vista.
Click to expand...

Since I don't use BING, I can't answer that. The BootIT NG people will know.

Malke
 
Ed H said:
I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide to
delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows until the
MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have the Oem
installation Disk.
Click to expand...

When you install Kubuntu Linux, tell the installer to put Grub
(the Linux boot manager/loader) in the Linux partition, NOT the
MBR. Later, if you want to delete Linux, just delete its partitions
and on Vista run "msconfig" at the command prompt, select the
BOOT tab, and in the dialogbox window, select Linux in the OS
boot menu, and click on "Delete". To install Linux AFTER Vista
has been installed, here are some directions:
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm
(the web pages load slowly). Pay attention to page 4 to see how
to put Grub in the Linux partition.

*TimDaniels*
 
Thanks Tim. I can understand that well. One question, when I paste the boot
info from menu.lst, do I copy and paste all entries or just the Linux ones?
Where do the lines began and end that I want to save.

Thanks,
Ed


--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD
 
Ed H said:
Thanks Tim. I can understand that well.
Click to expand...

Well, you're doing better than I. The author recently revised the
procedure, apparently to use new features available in Hardy Heron,
and they aren't all that clear to me, now!.

One question, when I paste the boot info from menu.lst,
do I copy and paste all entries or just the Linux ones? Where do the lines
began and end that I want to save.
Click to expand...

I'd leave off the lines with the "#" characters, although they
probably don't matter since NeoGrub, being a Linux app,
should see them as comment lines.

Thanks,
Ed
Click to expand...


Let us know how it goes (Vista 64-bit and Linux 32-bit).

*TimDaniels*
 
It would not be the Vista partition's boot sector that would have been
overwritten by Linux's Grub loader, it would be the Master Boot Record
of the hard drive. That is the default location where the Linux installer
puts Grub, and that is why the OP should put Grub in the Linux partition
and let the Vista boot manager pass control to Grub in the case that
Linux is selected by the user.

*TimDaniels*
 
Hold on there. I haven't tried it yet, I just said I actually could
understand those instructions on the web page. Should I not proceed? Are
there problems that weren't explained? I guess my real concern is: if I
install Ubuntu after Vista, then decide I want to get rid of it, I need to
know how to be able to do that and be able to boot normally into Vista.

On the web page instructions, they never mentioned installing GRUB to the
Linux partition. How is that done?
--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD
 
On this KB, they show two lines to be written in: /FixMbr and /FixBoot. Do I
type one, hit enter, then the next one? Very unfamiliar with cmd prompt.

Thank you,
Ed
--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD
 
I did this a while ago. I can't remember which command fixed it. I think I
tried both. You may need to also use the bootsect command.

bootsect /nt60

after using bootrec.

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...b66f-4b42-9563-04c218a1a6ac1033.mspx?mfr=true

Timothy's approach will also work. I prefer to use grub as the boot loader
as it is more configurable so I let grub install in the mbr. The one time I
had to remove it I was successful using a combination of bootrec and
bootsect but I can't remember the exact steps. Note that if you have an OEM
computer that allows you to press a key on bootup to get to a factory
restore procedure anything that modifies the bootsector (including grub) may
break this. Before you do anything I'd highly recommend taking an image of
the whole hard drive including the bootsector.
 
Here's another webpage for installing Linux after Vista:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Linux . That should
give you more background. As long as Grub isn't put into
the MBR of the hard drive, getting rid of Linux is trivial -
just delete its partitions and then remove its entry in Vista's
boot menu by running "msconfig" from the command prompt
and clicking on the "BOOT" tab and following directions.
Avoiding putting Grub into the MBR can depend on the
installer, but previous versions of the Ubuntu installer had
an "Advanced" button to click that led to a dialog about
where to put Grub. Here are directions:
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Ubuntu

*TimDaniels*
 
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