RH 7.2 killed Windows. HELP!

[drstrangelove]

Just installed RH 7.2 over top of Win 2k in order to make a dual-boot system. However, GRUB is not detecting windows I have run Emergency Repair off of Windows 2K install CD, but it doesn't fix the problem (although windows claims to make the repairs). It does detect the windows system files still on c: drive.

Can I edit the MBR somehow? Or overwrite GRUB with Windows? Help, please?

[speedstream5621]

Somebody told me to install linux then windows, but how did you even manage to get linux installed over windows? read this thread

[drstrangelove]

Speedstream,

I saw your thread earlier ... it was suggested to install Linux first, b/c win 98 is a legacy OS. However, I'm running win 2k. In my experience (a dozen or so linux installs, no expert by any means obviously), Linux is always the latter of the two. The reason is Monopoly Systems (MS) doesn't play nice with other OSes, thus it completely overwrites the MBR (that's Master Boot Record to answer your other thread). In this case, that's apparently what Linux did, where it usually detects other OSes and GRUB gives you a choice. I have this setup on my Win 2k/Linux server, but this was Pro. So ... any other ideas?

[posthumous_GRIN]

Originally posted by drstrangelove
Speedstream,

I saw your thread earlier ... it was suggested to install Linux first, b/c win 98 is a legacy OS. However, I'm running win 2k. In my experience (a dozen or so linux installs, no expert by any means obviously), Linux is always the latter of the two. The reason is Monopoly Systems (MS) doesn't play nice with other OSes, thus it completely overwrites the MBR (that's Master Boot Record to answer your other thread). In this case, that's apparently what Linux did, where it usually detects other OSes and GRUB gives you a choice. I have this setup on my Win 2k/Linux server, but this was Pro. So ... any other ideas?

wow, I did this exact thing this weekend. Had xp on my machine, had one hell of a time putting RH 7.2 on my machine, ie. multiple attempts to partition my drive with PM and RH not wanting to install anywhere (I have two HDs). I finally got to the point where I couldn't boot anymore, my system was totally fked up. I eventually installed RH by formatting my c:, which was something I was trying to avoid. Anyhoo, got it installed fine, couldn't figure out how to connect to the net or do anything really (it took me 20 minutes to figure out the startx command!). Finally wiped my system again and went back to xp. It was a crazy little test run but I don't think I am ready to have linux on my main gaming rig, the learning curve is just too steap and I really don't feel it is user friendly enough yet.





GRIN.

[speedstream5621]

wow, I did this exact thing this weekend. Had xp on my machine, had one hell of a time putting RH 7.2 on my machine, ie. multiple attempts to partition my drive with PM and RH not wanting to install anywhere (I have two HDs). I finally got to the point where I couldn't boot anymore, my system was totally fked up. I eventually installed RH by formatting my c:, which was something I was trying to avoid. Anyhoo, got it installed fine, couldn't figure out how to connect to the net or do anything really (it took me 20 minutes to figure out the startx command!). Finally wiped my system again and went back to xp. It was a crazy little test run but I don't think I am ready to have linux on my main gaming rig, the learning curve is just too steap and I really don't feel it is user friendly enough yet.

Well, I got it working on a cleanly formatted drive lol! You're right the learning curve is greater than I expected. It seems like we need more knowledge of programming or something. My experience has been better than yours I guess, first time I booted up dsl was ready, but I can't get any audio- I know the card works because the sound test was fine! I can't get the printer to work either along with a whole slew of other things-its a mess! Good luck.

[drstrangelove]

Ok, here's a partial answer. I figured you could edit the MBR (you can restore it with Windows), so it's just a matter of editing Grub ... sort of.

The grub file is:
/boot/grub/grub.conf

You can edit this with vi (see your book for using text editors).

I have added an additional choice to boot that is titled Windows 2000 ...
but I don't know the proper syntax for telling it to boot to the Windows kernel. I tried simply changing the target (root=/dev/hda1), but that's not enough

So maybe Monday some of the Linux junkies will pop back on and help me finish this problem. I will post more information if I figure it out.

As for Linux being a less user-friendly than Windows, well, you simply need more experience with it. If you have experience with supporting Windows through command-line, or some DOS training, it would help. Personally, my traing is with Cisco, which is a unix derivative, so the CLI is not foriegn. The real problem is Billy Budd Gates makes everything work through a GUI, so everyone thinks they can support Windows. You really should understand the processes, network support, etc. to really understand Linux (not neccessarily programming if that's not your bag, just like you don't need programming experience to support Windows). So be patient, and be willing to hunt down information. Relate what you do in Linux to Windows, that will help you significantly.

[drstrangelove]

OK IT'S A DONE DEAL!!!

First see previous post, as you will need to edit GRUB ...

Then, below the Linux boot information, create a second boot choice by entering the following:
title Win2K [or whatever you want to call it]
root (hd0,0) [the first # is the hard drive, the second is the partition. Linux will probably show hd0,1 or something like it, assuming it was the second OS installed]
makeactive [this activates the partition]
chainloader +1 [this handsoff to MS's boot manager, NTLDR]

here's a couple of links for more information:
http://librenix.com/?inode=2464
http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm
http://www.computing.net/linux/wwwbo...rum/16105.html

[drstrangelove]

Oh yeah, by the way ... doesn't it feel good when you figure it out yourself?

[Big_B]

I have been running into a problem along similar lines. Installed RH to drive D, wi2k already on C. I am gonna try to add w2k suggested above (sounds like it will work for me - sounds alot better that the unplug the power from the drive fix (i know - bad idea)), but I still have another prob in windows, do any of you see MAJOR losses in performance when wnidows is running? For example, exploring harddrives, you can tell windows is trying to look at the linux drive, because it whirrs for about five minutes, and explorer has the hourglass going the whole time. Eventually it gives up or crashes...

Shutting down is equally annoying.

thanks