| Windows 7: Recover Windows 7 boot on dual boot system with GRUB masterboot |
25 Aug 2011
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| | Windows 7 Enterprise 4 posts |
Recover Windows 7 boot on dual boot system with GRUB masterboot Hi,
I have a dual-boot system Ubuntu/Windows 7. The Master boot loader is GRUB.
It worked fine until yesterday when, for some reason, Windows 7 refused to load anymore. I tried to repair with chkdsk, found and repaired some disk errors, but now the boot loader is damaged. The problem I have is that after selecting Windows from the GRUB list I get the installed version entry but I can't have access to Repair through F8 and thus I am not able to continue on the installation DVD. The problem I think would be simple, by writing a new boot using bootrec, but I don't have access to the console.
I've seen a solution/tutorial on this forum except that it requires to remove Linux, which is not at all my scope.
Thanks | My System Specs |
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25 Aug 2011
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| | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 17,869 posts Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
| My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
25 Aug 2011
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| | Windows 7 Enterprise 4 posts |
Interesting, I've just learned that Microsoft wants me to pay to fix their bug. Good to know guys, but business is business.
Thanks to all who answered, seems like there's no solution | My System Specs | | |
25 Aug 2011
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| | ME/XP/Vista/Win7 10,432 posts uk Hampshire |
IMO, Linux is the bug, in Dual booting. | My System Specs | | |
25 Aug 2011
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| | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 17,869 posts Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
Grub can be a pain in the neck. That is why I always install Linux on a seperate physical disk and disconnect the Windows disk during the Linux installation. The Grub cannot clobber the Windows bootmgr - and that works also the same the other way around (Linux first, Windows second). I then switch between the 2 systems with the BIOS boot sequence.
On another system (a laptop where I have only 1 disk) I run Ububuntu in Virtual Box. That is an even more elegant solution because you can switch seemlessly between Windows and Linux (requires the "Guest Additions" which are easy to install from the vBox "Devices tab"). There is quasi no performance impact running Ubuntu or Mint in vBox.
A third solution is to run Linux from a USB stick. I do that with Fedora - but that is just for playing around. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
25 Aug 2011
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| | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 10,506 posts Doncaster, UK |
Well stated, Wolfgang. A separate HDD for Linux and Windows avoids all of these problems by keeping their relevant boot managers completely separate. | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 CPU Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz) Motherboard ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M Memory 4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB) Graphics Card 2 x AMD Radeon HD7770 1GB CrossFired (OC 1100MHz/1250MHz) Sound Card Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898) Monitor(s) Displays ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen (VGA) Screen Resolution 1440x900 Keyboard Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB) Mouse Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB) PSU XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular Case Gigabyte IF233 Cooling 1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust Hard Drives OCZ Agility 3 SSD 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0 Internet Speed NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2) Antivirus Avast! 8.0.1483 Browser IE 9 Other Info Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
CTF-430 Tablet & Pen
WEI Score: 7.7/7.9/7.4/7.4/7.9
Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter) |
25 Aug 2011
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| | Windows 7 Enterprise 4 posts |
Guys,
I'm sorry I was not clear.
My problem is INSIDE Windows boot menu. I simply can't get to the repair option by pressing F8 as all the manuals state.
Leave aside GRUB, it did its job and launched Win 7. Only that the disk zone of its OS loader was damaged (don't know how, but detected by chkdsk and supposedly repaired, by the log) and I can't get the Repair menu. That's all. So, the question is how can I get that menu, because now I get the message "Please insert the installation disk and reboot"; but when I reboot I pass through GRUB and Microsoft didn't think they can share the system with other OS!
Also, I can't update to Win 7 SP1 on a dual-boot system because Windows doesn't find the partition. You still blame GRUB?
Anyway, any idea how to get that Repair menu? | My System Specs | | |
25 Aug 2011
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| | ME/XP/Vista/Win7 10,432 posts uk Hampshire |
Before or after removing GROB & Linux? | My System Specs | | Recover Windows 7 boot on dual boot system with GRUB masterboot problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:50 PM. | |