A Question on Dual Boot Problem(Ubuntu/Windows7)

sunny_sigara · May 24, 2010

I have Windows XP & Ubuntu 10.04 in my machine.

I have installed XP on C: drive(sda1),& ubuntu( root partition)on D: drive(sda5).I didnt create a separate /boot partition during ubuntu installation & the drive letter for swap partition is N: as seen from XP Disk Manager).

When i run "sudo fdisk -l" in ubuntu it gives following output-
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7a3cfdca

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 1275 10241406 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 1276 30401 233954564+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 1276 3302 16281846 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 3303 3570 2152678+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 3571 4207 5116671 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda8 4208 6756 20474811 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda9 6757 7648 7164958+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda10 7649 8922 10233373+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda11 8923 11471 20474811 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda12 11472 17845 51199123+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda13 17846 23581 46074388+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda14 23582 29062 44026101 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda15 29063 30401 10755486 7 HPFS/NTFS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

when i run " sudo blkid" it gives me following output:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/dev/sda1: LABEL="WIN XP" UUID="40EA5D8CEA5D7EDA" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda6: UUID="69b6b265-3958-4a75-9cf0-0749f1464ff8" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda7: LABEL="TEMP" UUID="01CA22AC9F071040" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda8: LABEL="TOOLS" UUID="01CA22ACA12F4770" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda9: LABEL="DOCUMENTS" UUID="01CA22ACA3E40730" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda10: LABEL="Downloads" UUID="01CA22ACA5E618C0" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda11: LABEL="MUSIC & MOVIES" UUID="01CA22ACA86B3D00" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda12: LABEL="GAMES (Action)" UUID="01CA22ACAB355980" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda13: LABEL="GAMES (Racing)" UUID="01CA22AD2F34DA80" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda14: LABEL="GAMES (Strategy)" UUID="01CA22AD321DC9A0" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda15: LABEL="LINUX" UUID="01CA22AD353B3640" TYPE="ntfs"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want to install Windows 7 on my C: partition. For that reason, to increase the space on my primary partition, i am going to merge C: drive(sda1) & L: Drive( the entire L drive as a folder of c ). My L: drive(sda14) is completely empty.

Now as we know installing windows 7 will rewrite the boot loader, my question is-

How to restore default grub boot loader so that I can select the desired OS from the boot menu without re-installing Ubuntu?

plz help.

My current grub.cfg:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
saved_entry=${chosen}
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7 ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 66617334-1c9d-48d9-a2be-141a30d978c7
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows NT/2000/XP (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 40ea5d8cea5d7eda
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

celldweller1591 · May 24, 2010

win7 will probably wipe out grub. So boot from livecd.In the desktop, open terminal and type
sudo grub
This will set it to grub mode
find /boot/grub/stage1
This will locate your boot partition. Since we know that your root is hd(0,5),we can ignore it.
After that type in :
root (hd0,5)
setup (hd0)
quit
Reboot your system. for details see here
then run
sudo apt-get update grub
and your win7 bootloader will be detected by grub and you will get an option to select b/w ubuntu and win7 at grub menu. Try it

sunny_sigara · May 24, 2010

Thanks for the info...i will definitely try it.

skeletor · May 28, 2010

*help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling GRUB 2

Flake · May 28, 2010

You are using Ubuntu 10.4 and it has GRUB2 by default.
After installing Windows OS, boot up from Ubuntu 10.04 LiveCD, open Terminal and execute this

Code:

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

That's it ! It will re-install GRUB.

A Question on Dual Boot Problem(Ubuntu/Windows7)

sunny_sigara

Broken In

celldweller1591

Linoob

sunny_sigara

Broken In

skeletor

Chosen of the Omnissiah

Flake

Linux User