How do I get it right?

[trumpetman51]

Hello all,

I have posted here (last time June 2010) before and have run Mint on my pc before but I still consider myself a Newbie...for sure! So, here I am again.

I have been running Windows XP since June last year. However, a few days ago during an attempted reboot I got the "blue screen of death". It said "unmountable boot volume". Well, I created a Mint 9 Isadora USB flash drive from a Mint Live CD and now I am running from the usb drive. I would like to permanently install Mint to my HD but I have some concerns about just how to go about this and I could use some Mint Guru help. Here is the situation:

My hardware consists of an HP Pavillion Desktop (a1203w; circa 2005) powered by an AMD Sempron 3000+ (1.8 ghz) processor with 512mb ram, and a 500gb wd sata hard drive.

My hard drive was brand new last June and I installed XP on it as a single partition. It is formatted as ntfs. Currently it has 182gb used and 284gb of free space.

What I am wanting to do is to create one new partition for Linux Mint, either 9 or 10, and possibly another partition in which to put the contents of the "My Documents" folder that is already on the single partition ntfs drive that Windows created (the contents of which I am still able to access and read while running Mint)) and I am afraid that I just can't seem to figure out how to do this.

Do I simply follow the normal "install Linux Mint" procedure that will occur if I 'click' on the 'Install' desktop icon that includes making changes to my hard disk partition(s) as part of the 'normal, or basic' install procedure? Or do I need to follow some other, more complicated or detailed partitioning/installation procedure in order to accomplish my desired objective??

What I would like to end up with is a partition for Linux, a partition for the contents of the documents, music and videos that I have collected, leaving the failed windows xp in a smaller partition that can later be formatted and have XP re-installed on it. The absolute last thing that I want to happen is to have to format the whole drive as it is and thereby lose the 170gb of data that I have accumulated in the "My Documents" folder.

See my dilemma? Can anyone help me with this in a way that I won't need to be able to actually write code in order to do it? Because frankly I am just not capable of such things. Also, I am "up in the air" as to whether to stick with Mint 9 or to go with the new version 10 (Julia). I realize that this of course is the least of my problems at this point.

Any and all help and opinions are greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

John

[mastablasta]

i think that in order for you to preserve the data on the disk you will need to somehow first gain access to winxp. as it says now it seems it can not load your boot drive (C: drive). this can be caused by damaged boot record (an easy relatively fix if you have windows CD available or windows recoveryCD at least), disconnected or badly connected drive (this can mess up the boot sector), and failing hard drive (probably not the issue here as you say it's new). it oculd also be a rootkit virus though i am not sure.

Anyway search the internet how to fix master boot record in windows XP (for example take a look at this site , but Microsofct also has a support site for his issue: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthepro ... airmbr.htm)

once you can boot into winXP you have to defragment the hard drive (at elats two times) then use the windows disk manager to create partition. you only need to format those that will have NTFS file type. leave the linux partition empty (unformated) as it will be formated during OS install.

if disk is working propperly oyu can acces NTFS file system from Mint easilly. you need about 25-30GB to mint install (well actually much less, but if you add things later...)

I am not sure how well my documents works on separate partition. it porbably does. i never tried it. i just use separate data paritition.

[Dave68]

There are a couple of ways to do this, but I hope Seeley will come along and help you. He has a tutorial that can help, but he is the go to, atleast for me, on your particular issue. It's good you can boot a Live Version though.

Here's the link:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 28#p366328

He has included several tutorials here, so you may have to do some reading. I'm sure he will see your dilemma, and he is very thorough. Follow his instruction to the letter, and you'll be very content with Linux. I know I am.

Good Luck,
Dave

[trumpetman51]

Well, here I am and I'm still running from my USB Flash Drive install of Mint. I would like to thank mastablasta and Dave68 for their help and for replying!!! @mastablasta: I tried running fixmbr by booting from my Windows XP CD and going to Recovery Console....but unfortunately...no luck...sure would have been nice if that were to work but instead of it fixing my boot record it informed me with a huge
*CAUTION*) :
["This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record" "FIXMBR may change your partition tables if you proceed" "This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible" "If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue" "Are you sure you want to continue to write a new MBR?"]

So...I don't know what I should do now...I am contemplating buying a new hard drive so I can copy all my stuff that I am unwilling to lose via format or improper partitioning.....I know there has to be an answer to this somewhere. So....anybody got any further suggestions? I'm open to trying just about anything!

Oh yeah, @Dave68: I haven't looked into Seeley's tutorial yet....guess I need to do that now...I was just hopin' real hard that the FIXMBR solution would prove to be an easy fix to my problem, but......no such luck!!

Thanks to all!

John

[pompom]

Welcome to Linux Mint!

The BSOD is caused by invalid entries in your boot.ini file. The easiest fix for that is booting with Windows CD and running the "chkdisk /r" command (r=repair). Once you are able to boot, you need to run any antivirus suite to check the mbr, and possibly you need to defrag, if you have not been freakin' defraggin' regularly, Windows is letting you know it's time for Metamucil. It is also conceivable that you have errors on the HD, but since it is NTFS, you may need to spend a few bucks on rescue utilities. Before you get started with installing, if you have another computer, there is a chance to backup your drive. Sooner or later, Windows will force you to a new "install" in order to fix its own "problems." You definitely need another partition which is written to only rarely, and not by Windows. If you have never installed Linux before, you definitely need to plan, and plan for backup, and backup the plan. Don't worry, there are many fine tutorials to get you started.

Cheers,

pompom

[trumpetman51]

pompom,

Thanks for your reply! As a matter of fact I did a google search earlier this evevning and found many links to previous discussions of this particular BSOD...looks like many others have had this problem before me....and they too tried "fixmbr" and got the same result.....anyway in reading one of those help forum discussions that I found in my search someone suggested to run the "chkdsk /r" command (just as you said)...I did and it took over four hours but it was worth it. Upon completion it informed me that "chkdsk found and repaired one or more errors". I then tried to reboot and whaddya know...she booted!! There was a "Recovery" message window on the desktop that said:
"One of the files containing the system's Registry Data had to be recovered by use of a log or alternate copy. The recovery was successful."

I have been using the free AVG anti-virus app for a long time...if I do a full system scan with AVG will that check the MBR? It has been a over a month since I have defragged....I was told that I was killing hard drives because I used to defrag too much! I will defrag now after I do the virus scan. I hear what your sayin' about doin' a backup but I do not have another computer...I just may have to break down and buy another HD to use for backup!! I have never bothered with backup and believe me I have paid for it again and again!

What are you referring to when you said that since my drive is NTFS I may need to invest in rescue utilities? What utilities...and what for? I don't mean to sound ignorant....it's just that I am! Lastly, you made reference to many fine tutorials to "get me started" in reference to installing Linux. Can you point the way to which tutorials I should check out? Also, When I am ready to do that install could you possibly help me out? I have no idea about how to best set up my HD to run both Windows and Linux.

Thanks so much for your help pompom!!!

John

[Dave68]

As far as installation goes. There is a good one in that previous post that Seeley has created.

Here Are Some Others:

The Linux Mint User Guide: http://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php
Learn The Linux Command Line: http://linuxcommand.org/index.php
Beginner's Guide to Installing and Using Linux Mint: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=13252

Make sure you read the "How To's" at the Top of The Forums. You can get a lot of insight there as well.

Take Care,
Dave