Grub Rescue (Computer wont boot!) [SOLVED]

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Typik

Grub Rescue (Computer wont boot!) [SOLVED]

Post by Typik »

I recently installed Linux Mint Katya on my Thinkpad T420i to try to get into "Linux". I found it to be a bit more complicated than I would have liked, and decided to just outright switch back to Windows, and wanted to clear up the harddrive space. So I go into "Create and Format harddisk partitions" in my Windows 7 boot, and formatted the partition that had Linux Mint installed on it.

I then deleted the partition to leave a bunch of unallocated space, and then "Extended" my C drive to pick up all that free space

I restart, and

"Error: no such partition.
grub rescue>"


Not sure what other information I need to provide. I do still have the live CD, however, if that helps.
I googled to find some answers to my problem but others seemed to have much different circumstances than I did, so I didn't want to ruin my computer any further.

Thanks for any help you give!
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
wayne128

Re: Grub Rescue (Computer wont boot!!! :( )

Post by wayne128 »

Typik wrote:I recently installed Linux Mint Katya on my Thinkpad T420i to try to get into "Linux". I found it to be a bit more complicated than I would have liked, and decided to just outright switch back to Windows, and wanted to clear up the harddrive space. So I go into "Create and Format harddisk partitions" in my Windows 7 boot, and formatted the partition that had Linux Mint installed on it.

I then deleted the partition to leave a bunch of unallocated space, and then "Extended" my C drive to pick up all that free space

I restart, and

"Error: no such partition.
grub rescue>"


Not sure what other information I need to provide. I do still have the live CD, however, if that helps.
I googled to find some answers to my problem but others seemed to have much different circumstances than I did, so I didn't want to ruin my computer any further.

Thanks for any help you give!
Here I would explain a little.
YOu installed Linux dual boot with windows, the Linux boot loader, grub took over the MBR and allow you to boot with a selection ( Linux OS, or Win OS).
Grub has two parts, one in MBR and another in Linux partition.

Now reading from your description, you boot into windows, ( via existing Grub in MBR) and then use it to delete the Linux partition by formatting it.
Well, now when you reboot, grub cannot find the second part and it is lost and so it asks you to rescue :mrgreen:

Nevermind, there are many way to rescue, all you want is get back windows to be bootable.

One typical way is to use windows original CD and fixMBR.
Some people do not have windows original CD..ouch.. :mrgreen:

Here I would let you try this simple method since you have Linux CD, use this method to fix the MBR, you want to be careful for typo error, to avoid, you can copy the whole line from steps below and paste onto your terminal.

1. Boot the machine using the Live USB/CD.
2. Open a terminal, then type or copy and paste the code below to the terminal, follow by hitting enter key

3. Install lilo

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install lilo
4. Fix the MBR using lilo using the command:

Code: Select all

sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr
reboot and see if you can boot Windows.
Typik

Re: Grub Rescue (Computer wont boot!!! :( )

Post by Typik »

wayne128 wrote: Here I would explain a little.
YOu installed Linux dual boot with windows, the Linux boot loader, grub took over the MBR and allow you to boot with a selection ( Linux OS, or Win OS).
Grub has two parts, one in MBR and another in Linux partition.

Now reading from your description, you boot into windows, ( via existing Grub in MBR) and then use it to delete the Linux partition by formatting it.
Well, now when you reboot, grub cannot find the second part and it is lost and so it asks you to rescue :mrgreen:

Nevermind, there are many way to rescue, all you want is get back windows to be bootable.

One typical way is to use windows original CD and fixMBR.
Some people do not have windows original CD..ouch.. :mrgreen:

Here I would let you try this simple method since you have Linux CD, use this method to fix the MBR, you want to be careful for typo error, to avoid, you can copy the whole line from steps below and paste onto your terminal.

1. Boot the machine using the Live USB/CD.
2. Open a terminal, then type or copy and paste the code below to the terminal, follow by hitting enter key

3. Install lilo

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install lilo
4. Fix the MBR using lilo using the command:

Code: Select all

sudo lilo -M /dev/sda mbr
reboot and see if you can boot Windows.
Very surprised at what a fast response I got. Thanks a ton for the detailed response, Wayne. It worked great! My computer is back to normal again.
wayne128

Re: Grub Rescue (Computer wont boot!!! :( )

Post by wayne128 »

Very surprised at what a fast response I got. Thanks a ton for the detailed response, Wayne. It worked great! My computer is back to normal again.

Typik
Glad it worked for you

To help others to search this topic, please amend the title of your first post with [solve]

Someday when you are ready for Linux again, you probably would like to ask questions first, so that you follow some good procedure to install Linux OS properly.
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