Problem with Ubuntu

[BarneyS]

Yesterday, I installed Ubuntu on my notebook computer which has Win XP on it. I installed Ubuntu in addition to XP so I could choose which system to use on boot up. I had done this same thing last winter to my laptop and had no problem.

Ubuntu brings up the screen on bootup that askes which system you wish to use. If I choose Ubuntu, there is no problem and it runs fine.

If I choose WinXP, it starts, shows the "starting windows" screen and then goes right back to the same screen that gives the option on which system to boot. It will not boot into XP.

Any ideas on what is going on? I tried to boot into safe mode but the same thing happens. It will only boot into Ubuntu. I need to get into Windows to run certain programs like Microsoft Streets and Trips, and some others that do not run in Ubuntu.
Barney

[cleo43]

I found
this

This may help solve your problem.

[BarneyS]

I am not trying to fix Linux. My Ubuntu is running fine. The problem occurs when I try to boot into Windows. I am really not a computer expert and am a complete novice when it comes to Ubuntu.

I have tried to run Windows in safe mode and it still goes back to that same boot menue screen with Ubuntu at the top. Windows starts to boot but then stops and goes back to the initial opening boot menu screen.

How do I find and look at the Windows boot ini file from Ubuntu? Once I find it, how do I know what it should look like or if it has been changed?
Barney

Edit: I found the Windows boot ini file (I think). I am still booted into Ubuntu and found it by looking at the "Files" folder and then clicking on what looks like the number for my hard drive. Here is what it looks like.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

[cleo43]

I doubt it.
Windows refuse to have anything to do with Linux, you cannot fix Linux from Windows. Windows don't even see Linux partitions (EXT3, EXT4 ...) and files.

[ITguy]

BarneyS wrote:
If I choose WinXP, it starts, shows the "starting windows" screen

Based on this, any troubleshooting you do on the Linux side is a complete waste of time.

It's getting to the Windows boot process just fine, the problem is that Windows is crashing before getting to a desktop.

Boot Windows in safe mode and watch the output. Should be able to see where in the boot process the problem is occurring.

[cleo43]

OK, try this
- boot with Ubuntu install DVD
- use option try Ubuntu
- open a terminal and run the following commands

sudo mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda

Reboot, Ubuntu should work by now.

If you don't have option to run Windows, do

Open a terminal and run
sudo update-grub

** Note: If you have trouble typing the commands , just copy/paste them
copy: ctrl C, ctrl shift C
paste: ctrl V, ctrl shft V, shift Insert

or use the mouse.

[bwanshoom]

/dev/sda5 appears to be your recovery partition so I doubt you want that to be your boot partition. /dev/sda1 is your Windows partition (note the file system and the size). Only one partition can be marked as boot on a disk and I don't think Linux/gparted cares about that flag. If anything, mark /dev/sda1 as boot, but I suspect that's not your problem.

As others have said, you're best bet is to look into this from a Windows perspective and finding out if somehow your boot.ini file has become screwed up somehow.

[HappyKayakers]

It looked like your ntfs partition was initially flagged as a boot partition. Could you boot into Ubuntu and read the boot.ini file and post a screen shot here? This MS KB article explains a little more about the file. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022

[BarneyS]

cleo43 wrote:
Right click on partition sda5, tick the boot flag (to activate it).

OK, I did what you suggested and a box came up with quite a few options. I ticked the box "boot".
The computer boots as it did before. Windows XP tries to start, but then goes right back to the boot option screen wh/ere I have to start it in Ubuntu, just like before.

Here is the latest Boot repair results URL and also the screen of the latest GParted results.
HPPT://paste.ubuntu.com/6401419/

You can see here that the boot has been moved to sda5. Don't know what that means or what it did.:?


Thanks for the help so far guys. I am determined to try to get this thing working.
Barney

[cleo43]

Right click on partition sda5, tick the boot flag (to activate it).

[BarneyS]

Update.
I have tried the solutions mentioned above. Boot Repair did not solve the problem. All it seemed to do was check my Ubuntu installation.

As far as GParted goes, I do not know how to interpret the results of it's operation. Here is a print of the results page. Perhaps one of you can tell me where to go next or what to do.
Thank you.

By the way, I should have mentioned this in my OP but the computer I am using is a Toshiba Netbook NB205 with an Intel Atom processor. It has no DVD or CD drive, only a hard drive and three USB ports. I have a USB DVD drive for it but it is not avialable at the moment and won't be until I get back to Florida after Christmas.
Barney

[1492]

Barney, I would agree that you will likely have repair the MBR. You may want to try Boot-Repair. It's a good practice when installing a secondary OS to do a full system image backup just in case.

[strollin]

Personally, I haven't bothered with setting up a computer to dual boot for many years. Instead of dual boot, I use one of the free virtual environments (VirtualPC, VirtualBox, VMwarePlayer) to create a VM (Virtual Machine) that allows me to run virtually any OS I want without the need to reboot the machine.

[RFCN2]

I had trouble getting the last Vista computer to dual boot. I just did Linux only and it worked really really well. Just use google maps and you don't need Streets and Trips. I bought a 2013 S&T. I cannot believe Micro Soft is still selling this. It has not been upgraded in years. On the other hand Apple has been slammed so much on their maps that introduced a really great map upgrade last month on their Mac Book Pros. Far superior to S&T. So if you feel like blowing big bucks (which you likely are not as you are installing a free Linux OS) but it you do get a new Mac Book Pro.

[HappyKayakers]

If you can't boot into Last Known Good configuration, you may need to look at the boot.ini file to see what got changed.