Dual Boot, Forum Searches, Newbie questions [SOLVED]

[Sardior]

I have a hard time searching these forums frequently. And now my dual boot win10/linux mint system is screwed. Ya, my own fault... I updated some stuff on the windows side and it deleted my linux partition. I've done this before but because I was younger and stronger then, I poured through all the forums and found the info I needed to reset the flags on the deleted partition and get my whole system back. I need to do this again. Can someone point me to a "happy place" where I can find that info easily again?

[JeremyB]

Some times it is easier to search using google and adding site:forums.linuxmint.com to the end

[rickNS]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

[MrGrimm]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

actually nothing wrong with 10 if you know what you're doing. much more stable and solid than 7, and supports older hardware than 7.

[Sardior]

Some times it is easier to search using google and adding site:forums.linuxmint.com to the end

Shortly after I posted this I found the forum and place to fix things. Still isn't fixed but I'm working on it. I'm getting very Zen about this whole experience... lol

anyway, this is where I found what fixed it before, viewtopic.php?f=46&t=207529

[Moem]

Sardior, welcome and thank you for posting the fix you found!
For the future, I would like to suggest giving your posting a title that gives people a clear indication of the problem you're having, so they can step in and help; after all, the forum being hard to search is not the real problem you're dealing with here.
Then again, it also helps with that by making your postings easier to find for others, even with the less than stellar search tool we have here.

[gm10]

Well, I think the search troubles are easily explained if boot repair was the solution. Your problem wasn't a deleted Windows partition but that a Windows update changed the boot order or overwrote the boot sector (depending on your boot type). So searches for deleted partitions would unfortunately naturally have led you wide astray.

[missmoondog]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

as one poster said though, windows partition wasn't deleted. it was just the boot menu that got screwed up. thank you again ms!!

[MrGrimm]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

as one poster said though, windows partition wasn't deleted. it was just the boot menu that got screwed up. thank you again ms!!

as i said above "actually nothing wrong with 10 if you know what you're doing. much more stable and solid than 7, and supports older hardware than 7.", by the time i'm done with it you really can discern it from 7.

[Hoser Rob]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

as one poster said though, windows partition wasn't deleted. it was just the boot menu that got screwed up. thank you again ms!!

Some people DO need Windows, and they shouldn't sacrifice their dual boot until they're damn sure they don't.

[MrGrimm]

^ +1 to that post for how to search this site. (or any other site specific search)

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

as one poster said though, windows partition wasn't deleted. it was just the boot menu that got screwed up. thank you again ms!!

Some people DO need Windows, and they shouldn't sacrifice their dual boot until they're damn sure they don't.

agree 1,000,000%. i've been testing linux on and off for 20 years and only now is it where i'm able to drop windows completely and not miss it.

[gm10]

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

I like Windows 10, I think it's their best OS yet (with deferred upgrades so we don't misunderstand each other, MS' lack of QA with updates since Win10 is appalling). I think Linux Mint is great, too.

It doesn't always have to be either/or. There is no right or wrong. Choose the best tool for the job. Not everybody does the same job as you, thus they don't have the same needs in a OS as you.

[MrGrimm]

Why do people use win 10, it confounds me.

If you "must" for some reason have to have windows, I'd recommend getting a copy of win 7 , put that in a virtual machine on Linux, no more problems with win 10 screwing up everything on a regular basis.

as far as why do people use windows 10, i wish i knew. most useless and and stupid os ms has ever produced. had 5 windows 10 machines here that i just couldn't force myself to like and then with ms screwing up all the updates and installing crap i have no use for, those machines are now totally linux mint and i'm a happy camper again!

I like Windows 10, I think it's their best OS yet (with deferred upgrades so we don't misunderstand each other, MS' lack of QA with updates since Win10 is appalling). I think Linux Mint is great, too.

It doesn't always have to be either/or. There is no right or wrong. Choose the best tool for the job. Not everybody does the same job as you, thus they don't have the same needs in a OS as you.

AMEN!!!

[michael louwe]

And now my dual boot win10/linux mint system is screwed. Ya, my own fault... I updated some stuff on the windows side and it deleted my linux partition.

If boot-repair does not work, try manually reinstalling Grub-efi or Grub(= Legacy BIOS) ... https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/6 - Bootloader Grub for computers with Windows 8.x or 10 (EFI and UEFI): how to re-install it

Because Windows does not read Linux files, Windows should be installed before Linux in a dual-boot system and also because the last OS installed will take over bootloading. Linux's Grub bootloader can boot either Linux or Windows. Windows Boot Manager or boot-efi can only boot Windows.
....... Win 10's twice-yearly forced auto-upgrades or certain auto-updates will bork the Grub bootloader = only Win 10 can boot. So it is best to keep Win 10 on its own separate drive or computer.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/my ... pc?lang=en (How to repair the EFI bootloader on a GPT HDD or repair the MBR, for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 on your Dell PC)

[missmoondog]

have absolutely no issue with anyone who wants to use windows 10 and i do realize that some people need it for certain things, as did i for a long while simply due to my old printer not being supported in linux. as far as the poster who said that windows 10 is better than windows 7, i will NEVER believe that! in fact, i would argue against 10 being better than xp was. and, fwiw, i used to own my computer store building and servicing computers until not long ago. never have i had as many customers bringing in computers for repair with software issues as i had when 10 came out until recently selling store. i feel that i know what i'm doing on a windows machine quite well. as far as linux, no, not any type guru at all, but then again, that's what i'm liking about the os!

was simply stating my personal experience with that operating system and the fact i, personally, totally despise it!

will not comment or even look at this topic again as i don't want to start a flame war or take topic any more off topic!

[lsemmens]

Strangely enough, I also agree. The best tool for the job might just be a sledge hammer i.e. Windows. I will beg to differ with missmoondog, and, no, I do not want to start a flame war, either. I've used (and abused) every version of the M$ operating system since DOS 2.1. Even back when Windows 3. was king I could see the writing on the wall, and hoped that OS/2 would come to the fore, sadly - that was short lived. I also had my first experience with Linux about then, but did not persevere. I also found,the M$ was hit and miss, and just about every second release was significantly better than the predecessors. In recent history I used W7, and agree with all of the assessments of that OS from M$ lovers. W8 was a complete waste of time. W10, when it first came out was an improvement on W7, but it rapidly slid downhill, and here I am.

[Sardior]

Well, I'm actually done with the Win10 débâcle. Best Buy took the machine back, I'm getting a Dell with Win7 on it for about the same cost and I even have a drive from my last laptop with dual boot win7 and Linux. However, that was Ubuntu and I really like Linux Mint better so I'll probably be replacing the Linux OS. I had a friend post something on Facebook when I shared my situation. He said "The computer instructions said 'Must use Windows 10 or better' so I installed Linux." LOL

[BG405]

a drive from my last laptop with dual boot win7 and Linux

You'll very likely have to reinstall Win7 if you put it in another machine, whereas Ubuntu should just work, so if you want to change that to Mint, you may as well wipe the disk & do a clean install of whichever OSes you want, of course claiming any data you want to keep first.