Very, VERY upset with Linux

[abokolor]

I'm ready to KILL the Penguin! My install of Linux caused WAY too many problems. I never could get to a GUI. I have two drives. The first had Win XP - the second HD is where I supposebly installed Red Hat Linux 7.3 to. Because of thes problems, I decided to dedicate a separate computer to Linux. Using FDISK, I removed all partitions from the Linux HD, reformated, and then every time I restarted, my system goes right into the Grub DOS command. Nowhere else! No XP, nothing! Now I have repartitioned and reformatted both my hard drives, reset the CMOS battery several times, and still my computer will only boot into this $%^&* Grub command prompt! I am BEYOND upset tight now! If any of you have been here before (or even if you haven't), please tell me in plain english how to remove this Grub loader. I'm going to give Linux ONE more chance after this horrid experience.

[Daedra]

Do this

fdisk /mbr

that will clear out your Master boot Record

[fancypiper]

Then, after your nerves settle back, read this (http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-7.3-Manual/install-guide/s1-x86-dualboot-install.html) carefully and understand that Win XP uses NTFS by default.

Try a search of this board with terms like "windowsxp dual boot", etc to review other people's experiencies.

[asden]

Many a year ago I attempted to install and utilize Red Hat Linux 6.0 on a system equipped with a Cyrex CPU..

it crashed and burned in the most horrid way imagineable.. up until the first of this month, I hadn't touched Linux in about 3 years. I'm running with an AMD Athlon CPU now, Red Hat 7.3, and it's really smooth, I'm just having configuration problems (in that I don't know how to configure things properly).

My point? Make sure your hardware is compatible with your distro.

[andyr]

So which operating systems do you actually have installed now?
It's a case of configuring GRUB to boot the operatnig system of choice.
For most people, who have Windows installed on their first hard disk and Linux installed on another (or another partition on the hard disk) the grub configuration file looks like :
title linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz
initrd /initrd.img
title windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
If you've got windows on a second hard-disk (as I have) it's a bit more work because windows absolutely insists that it should be installed on the first, even though there's no earthly reason why that should be the case.
So your grub configuration looks like :
title linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz
initrd /initrd.img
title windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

When you get the GRUB prompt you can get a command-line and enter the commands one at time.
Be careful of the syntax, for example there must be a space between (hd0) and (hd1) in the "map" line.
The grub configuration file lives in /boot/grub and you need to be root to edit it.

If you've followed the advice to fdisk /mbr then you've a "standard" windows/dos partition sector.

Good luck!

[CZAR]

to restore your XP bootloader

boot with the XP cd
press "R" for recovery console
at the dos-like screen pick your XP installation (1)
enter your admin password(if you made one) or just leave blank if you didn't
now at the c:windows> prompt type FIXMBR
it will say something about your current bootloader not approved or something and do you want to overwrite it,press Y
thats it.

i just had this problem,Lycoris installed GRUB after i told it not to and followed these exact same steps to make it go away and boot XP.

[mdwatts]

Serves you right for installing the Linux bootloader in the mbr.

At least Windows doesn't do that...

:D

[endoalpha]

Originally posted by mdwatts
Serves you right for installing the Linux bootloader in the mbr.

At least Windows doesn't do that...

:D

While you are quite right that Windows does not install the linux bootloader on the mbr, it does reset the mbr to load windows when installing...

[DjTeriyake]

the second HD is where I supposebly installed Red Hat Linux 7.3 to.
Never, EVER end a sentence with a preposition.

Jis kuddin, hope your MBR woes are fixed homie.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by endoalpha
While you are quite right that Windows does not install the linux bootloader on the mbr, it does reset the mbr to load windows when installing...

I meant that no version of Windows installs it's bootloader in the mbr.

Nothing should be installed in the mbr as it should be left as is and any bootloader should be installed in it's own partition with that partition being set as active. Just like Windows does.

The reason why Windows always resets the mbr is it finds a foreign object in the mbr (Lilo or Grub).

Windows does not install anything in the mbr. It only resets the mbr to it's original state as if you just bought the HD.

[yolabingo]

I know that, in theory, installing bootloaders in the MBR is bad.

However, I've had grub installed in the MBR for almost a year and never had any problems. It's kind of a pain if you have to reinstall windows, but I've only had to do that once.

What I did was install WinXP on an NTFS partition on my first hdd. I partitioned the rest of that hdd using FAT32 (to share MP3's,etc, between OS's).

I then installed Redhat 7.2 on a 2nd hdd. During the GUI install process, I installed Grub in the MBR. Since then, I've added an installation of Slackware to the 2nd drive, and had multiple kernels available for each Linux installation. Grub has worked like a charm. It is easily configuragle (by editing /boot/grub/grub.cong)

It can be frustrating to get things working for the first time. During my first 2 weeks using Linux, I probably reinstalled RedHat 20 times, each time figuring out new tricks. Learning a new OS requires patience and persistence, but it is worth it in this case.

[andyr]

It doesn't really matter where you install your bootloader - as long as you understand how to edit/remove/install the thing.
The MBR seems (to me) the obvious place to install a bootloader, pick your OS and run its particular loader. Something needs to set the active partition to boot from.
Grub is not a Linux booloader, it's an OS bootloader, just as the Windows NT (and above) loader is perfectly capable of booting other OSes.
Take your pick, what you feel most comfortable with, and go with that.

As far as Windows resetting the MBR to the state it was in when the hard-disk was purchased - unless the disk was purchased pre-formatted then the MBR is completely blank, resetting it to this state would render all installed operating-systems unbootable.

I have Linux on my primary hard-disk, XP on my second and have no problems with either OS messing with the MBR.

[Jellybean]

I have had 2 nightmares trying to remove GRUB. FIXMBR didn't work, neither did anything else. I had to completely reformat and reinstall both times. Give me LILO any day.