Linux and Vista

Questions about Grub, UEFI,the liveCD and the installer
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nelamvr6
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Re: Linux and Vista

Post by nelamvr6 »

Calon Merc wrote:I have had Windows Vista Ultimate installed, for a year or so now. I installed Mint yesterday, and am hooked. My only problem however, is that I cannot boot into Vista. Grub does not find it, and when I use GParted to view my partitions, it says the filetype is unknown. I know the file type is NTFS, unless installing Mint on a seperate hard drive messed up the first drive.

Installing Mint on a separate drive should not nave done anything to your Vista drive...
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merlwiz79
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Re: Linux and Vista

Post by merlwiz79 »

Maybe it will still boot.
Make a backup of /boot/grub/menu.lst.
Now edit it and add this to the bottom.

Code: Select all

title		Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
root		(hd1,0)
savedefault
map		(hd0) (hd1)
map		(hd1) (hd0)
chainloader	+1
Make sure to edit it for your system.
(hd0) = /dev/sda
(hd1) = /dev/sdb
(hd2) = /dev/sdc
Image
kansasnoob

Re: Linux and Vista

Post by kansasnoob »

Please post the output of:

Code: Select all

 sudo fdisk -l
That's a lower case L at the end, not a one. That'll show what's on your drives.
Fred

Re: Linux and Vista

Post by Fred »

Calon Merc,

I fear you have bigger problems than just not booting. I would suggest you download and burn one of the later versions of Puppy Linux and/or Knoppix. If one of those two live cds can't read your Windows NTFS partition, your Windows install is gone. If you can read that partition with one of those Live cds, I would try to save as much of your important data as you can to somewhere else while you still can. Definitely stop trying to boot it. You may very well be just causing more damage to the file system.

Fred
AK Dave

Re: Linux and Vista

Post by AK Dave »

There are some good walkthroughs on how to install Vista and linux together for dualboot.
curt_grymala

Re: Linux and Vista

Post by curt_grymala »

AK Dave wrote:There are some good walkthroughs on how to install Vista and linux together for dualboot.
While that may be true, the absolute best advice I can give anyone that's thinking of dual-booting with Vista is to use a separate hard drive for Linux. Although the Linux community has made great strides in working with Vista partitions, it is still much safer just to leave your Vista drive exactly the way it was when you installed Vista. :)
Fred

Re: Linux and Vista

Post by Fred »

curt_grymala,

Careful with false security my friend. If you don't have the option to switch the boot drive easily on boot, that idea doesn't work too well. Also, when you install Linux on a separate drive you still need to pay close attention to where you put the grub kernel or you will still disable your Vista install. In short, there is no difference between putting Linux on another drive or just another partition on the same drive. It is only the perception of more safety. The risk comes when you need to shrink and or rearrange Windows partitions. These operations are never 100% safe but can usually be done without breaking anything if done correctly.

Fred
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linuxviolin
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Re: Linux and Vista

Post by linuxviolin »

Calon Merc, maybe this page will help you *to repair your Grub* :wink:
K.I.S.S. ===> "Keep It Simple, Stupid"
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." (Leonardo da Vinci)
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." (Albert Einstein)
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