Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 30852
Berkeley CSUA MOTD
 
WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ
http://csua.com/feed/
2025/07/12 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/12    

2004/6/16-17 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:30852 Activity:high
6/16    Well, I tried to install Fedora Linux 2 on my second hard drive so
        I could dual boot.  Linux works (I'm using it now) but XP no
        longer boots.  Hmmm... The file system and such is all still
        there, so it must just be that Linux messed up the boot sector
        trying to allow for dual boot.  I have a winXP CD and I can run
        rescue console and get access.  Does anyone know how to get it
        to fix the boot sector?  (In the old days of dos, it was "sys c:"
        now... I dunno)
        \_ fdisk /mbr. GRUB should have handled above. hmm...
        \_ Look at fedora2-related articles and discussions on slashdot.
           This seems to be a common problem and it has to do something
           with 2.6 kernels and such. BTW, I dual-boot XP and Fedora and
           I didn't have this problem after installing FC2.
           \_ Yeah, I've been reading the bugzilla report
              http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=115980
              I'm surprised such a big problem made it into the "stable"
              release.  Sheesh
              \_ Because they don't give a shit about your windows system.  If
                 MS had done the same thing the slashdot tinfoil hat crowd
                 would be screaming.
                 \_ MS does the same thing, all the time.
                    \_ So all the time 2k,xp, etc, will wipe out your linux
                       boot partition?
2025/07/12 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/12    

You may also be interested in these entries...
2006/4/5-6 [Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:42688 Activity:nil
4/5     There's no discussion on Apple being able to run MS Windows??
        \_ I'm honestly not sure if it's a good idea or not.  Now when wonky
           incompatibilities come up, (Such as MS powerpoint conflicts between
           Mac and XP) Mac users may be expected to fix it themselves.  Which
           leads to greater hassle, which leads to more windows use, etc.
           \_ Mac's being capable of running windows is one thing, M$
	...
2006/1/5-7 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41241 Activity:nil
1/5     Microsoft to release WMF patch today at 2pm Pacific Time
        http://myitforum.com/blog/rtrent/archive/2006/01/05/18131.aspx
        fyi, Ilfak recently said you can uninstall his patch before or
        after you install the MS patch.
        \_ Looks like it's out now.
        \_ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/default.aspx
	...
2005/6/13-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38111 Activity:nil
6/13    What is the cheapest way to get 3 or 4 arguably legal
        copies of winXP, preferable with SP2 ?  Also, how much
        do extra terminal licenses cost? tnx.
        \_ OEM licenses are cheaper but you can't move them to a different
           machine once you activate it.  (OEM licenses are what you get when
           you buy a new Dell, etc.)
	...
2004/12/6-7 [Computer/HW/Memory, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:35186 Activity:high
12/6    I'm at my wit's end with a problem.  I'm running WinXP and a lot of
        newer 3D games make the machine randomly lock hard.  There isn't much
        pattern to it, but some games do it and some don't.  This problem is
        not mentioned under tech support for the games besides the generic
        "Update your drivers and DirectX" which I've done.  Games which crash
        include Railroad Tycoon 3, Rome:Total War and Sid Meier's Pirates, and
	...
2004/5/27 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:30447 Activity:insanely high
5/27    Is there any way to get around the WinXP registration requirement,
        besides re-installing every now and then?  Has anyone tried this: set
        the CMOS date to Year 2010 or so, install XP, then set the date back to
        today.  Would that work?
        \_ Why don't you just get the corp edition and enter in a volume
           license key?
	...
2003/11/20-21 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:11161 Activity:kinda low
11/20   What kind of Windows and Office were sold on the market between
        2/18/1995 and 12/15/2001? I'm asking because I'm filling out the
        M$ claim form and I don't want to put anything that is wrong, like
        adding WinXP or OfficeXP when it wasn't out in 12/15/01. Thanks.
        \_ I bought Windows 3.1 (retail ~$100), Word/Excel 6 (retail ~$120) both
           in early 1995.
	...
2003/11/7 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:10977 Activity:moderate
11/7    I have an XP installation that reboots itself before it finishes
        booting up, and I'd like to do a fresh install but it was cd-key'd
        by my old school and I don't know the key.  Is there a way to get
        the CD-key from the repair console or from a rescue disk?
        \_ that is why I hate XP.  This may sounds unproductive, but I would
           just reinstall Windows 2000 instead.  Same kernel, same File System
	...
2003/9/7 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Unix/WindowManager] UID:10108 Activity:nil
9/6     I just installed XP (went fine) but the desktop doesn't have a
        My Computer icon. How can I get one on there? I can drag a
        shortcut of it, from the Start Menu, but how can I get an
        "original" one? Thanks.
        \_ there are a few quick things you can do to 2000-ify XP. One is
           to make the start button 2000ish. Right click, properties,
	...
2003/6/3-4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:28621 Activity:moderate
6/3     If I get a Windows XP and Office XP installation CD from
        someone else, will I be able to install it on my computer?  Will
        it absolutely not work due to licensing issues, or will it
        work in some cases (maybe depending on the type of license)?
        Or is the only way to get Windows XP to buy it?
        \_ All that matters is the serial number. There's a number of them
	...
2003/4/27-28 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:28239 Activity:very high
4/27    What's the difference between Windows ME and XP?  Is XP really
        more stable?
        \_ ME is Win 95/98. XP is NT.
        \_ Much. Yes.
        \_ Just pirate a Windows 2000 and use it.  Win2k has the same kernel
           as WinXP, same file system as XP, none of that product
	...
2003/2/6-7 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:27326 Activity:kinda low
2/6     Can somebody tell me about installing/upgrading to WinXP?
        I deal with MS as little as possible but it's for a friend who
        refuses any alternative.  There are 2 computers, both w/ Win98.
        I want to do a clean install on both-- will XP let me use
        any old Win98 product key to install, and will it let me reformat
        beforehand?  I'm not sure he has his old keys.  Thanks
	...
2001/10/25 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:22824 Activity:high
10/25   NT was supposed to be much more stable than Win3.x.  Then Win2k was
        supposed to be much more stable than NT.  And now XP is supposed to
        be much more stable than 2k.  Sigh.
        \_ Thing is, Win2k really is more stable than NT. Sure, it locks up
           occassionally, but not the seemingly hourly BSODs in NT
        \_ Also, XP supposedly "does away with the decades-old DOS fundamentals
	...
Cache (8192 bytes)
bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=115980
Resolution: Commit Bug Comments Opened by (Mike Lurk) on 2004-02-17 08:41 Description of problem: When installing FC2 test1 on a dual boot system, cannot boot to windows patition Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): How reproducible: always. conf generated by anaconda # # Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file # NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that # all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg. img title Other rootnoverify (hd0,0) chainloader +1 when i try to boot to windows xp all I get is rootnoverify (hd0,0) chainloader +1 and just hangs there when I try to reset the MBR in dos all I get is missing OS then check the partitions and get what I had said earlier. didn't change the kernel to reflect that I have an athlon processor and not an intel. One thing I did not mention, I had a second hard drive this time with a swap partition and a home directory. Disk /dev/hdb: 102 GB, 10248118272 bytes 16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19857 cylinders Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hdb1 * 1 1035 521608+ 82 Linux swap /dev/hdb2 1036 19845 9480240 83 Linux Still the same in dos's fdisk info, fat32 on partition 4 Has disk druid screwd up, if so I think you should make this a priority to have fixed. Disk /dev/hda: 1639 GB, 163928604672 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19929 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 16572 133114558+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/hda2 16573 19930 26963685 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA) Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary. conf generated by anaconda # # Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file # NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that # all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg. It did not get it when I did an upgrade, it only happened when I did a normal installation. Somehow, the FC2 test1 installation managed to change (or damage if you like) the partition table in such a way that my BIOS started to use CHS mode instead of LBA mode. Once I changed the BIOS setting to LBA, it worked again. So the question is: What did Fedora do to my partition table? I have also had this problem in the last few days and here is what i did: I didn't think it was Fedora Core 2 Test 1 So I re-installed XP. I even erased the MBR and formatted the drive installing a new partition for Windows using both FAT and NTFS, still no joy. In the end, I booted into linux, and in fdisk used option "o" which creates a new MSDOS partition table. It's worth noting in my list above that fdisk did complain about non-cylinder-aligned partitions, *but* fdisk didn't create any partitions--I made them in Windows, and just formatted them swap/ext3 when installing Linux. I tried to reproduce the problem later using a spare 2GB hard drive (since I didn't want to reinstall all my software on the 160GB drive all over again), but the problem did not occur. I suspect it's limited to larger drives, perhaps > 128GB. Re: Tobias's comment on LBA mode--my BIOS doesn't even give me that option, so I can't try that... conf generated by anaconda # # Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file # NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that # all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg. I tried flashing my system's BIOS and the flash erase failed, leaving me with a doorstop. After warranty service from HP, I got the system back with a new motherboard and BIOS. It still wouldn't boot to Windows, which didn't surprise me. I wiped the drive and reinstalled Windows, then backed up the master boot record and partition tables before installing Linux, hoping to diff them and see what broke. Also, a warning message about being unable to "align" partitions did not appear during this Linux install, while it did when installing Linux under the older BIOS earlier. So apparently there was a bug in my system's BIOS that caused the Linux installer (disk druid or grub, one of the two) to hose something, but after installing with a newer BIOS in place, it didn't happen. Upon booting, I opened Partition Magic and watched in horror as error after error popped up. I have attached a compilation of the screenshots of the errors because I couldn't highlight the text to copy/paste it. FC1 and windows on my comp boot fine both, but if i upgrade to FC2 test1, so windows boot manager dont load. I tried reinstall both systems, repartitioning whole disk - nothing, after i install grub, windows boot loader dont start and this problem dont solve fdisk /mbr. Linux read BIOS access mode wrong and grub setup something wrong on MBR - its why windows boot manager cant be find in MBR and windows cannt start. Please, check what access mode you realy normal use to access disk. Changing access mode from Large to LBA for example can lead to lose data from your disk! If you use another access mode than LBA and setting them in BIOS doesnt work, try backup your data and repartitioning disk in LBA mode. That time I've chosen to install GRUB into MBR Since it messed up partition table (interestingly though, not entirely, looks like lba offsets were Ok, just CHS values were completely wrong). After that GRUP was able to load to linux, but not to Win2k. However, I managed to boot windows using Win2k boot disk (with ntldr & ntdetect on it). My playing around with MBR didn't help much, though after running recovery console, running fixmbr, fixboot and then MANUALLY editing ntfs bootsector, I was able to boot into Win2k from harddrive (not using grub, though, but native bootloader). Finally, I repartitioned entire harddrive, installed WinXP on it, created partitions for Linux using XP, than run redhat 90 install disk in rescue mode to set correct types of partitions. This time I backed up MBR and Windows boot loader (first 16 sectors of partitions). This time I specified Linux boot partition (/dev/hda3 in my case) as a destination for GRUB, hoping to use ntldr as a primary boot manager, and GRUB as linux boot loader only. Windows partition, however, has not been touched (I guess my previous manual edit of ntfs boot sector -head count was incorrect there- was due to some problem in MS fixboot). So I restored my backed up MBR, and lived happily thereafter, with both XP & Fedora working fine. Some info: hard drive 40GB partition table (to the best of my memory): /dev/hda1 <- win xp primary boot (10GB) /dev/hda2 <- extended /dev/hda3 <- linux boot (100MB) /dev/hda4 <- linux root (7GB) extended partition: /dev/hda5 <- ntfs /dev/hda6 <- ntfs /dev/hda7 <- FAt32 /dev/hda8 <- ntfs /dev/hda9 <- linux swap I don't have exact info at hands right away, but if it helps to fix a problem I can supply exact partion table info (out of fdisk or smth. This is the sort of MAJOR ISSUE THAT BELONGS IN RELEASE NOTES, EVEN FOR A TEST RELEASE. Seriously, it's not like it was reported by one guy on a random setup; many people have wasted countless hours due to this, and potentially lost data. Yes, it's a test release, but its the LAST ONE for FC2, and this problem still isn't solved. Initially I've installed grub to the mbr of the hda, which gave the-by now-expected result. I tried about all what we can read up there (also the lba in bios-trick) but nothing worked. Having two harddisks, a supplementary, possible but finally not succeeding solution gently nocked on the door. I've installed grub from scratch using the fedora rescue mode (I needed knoppix before to download it) and I installed grub to the mbr of the sda. In order to make xp accepting this I mapped the disks in grub... Is it for sure that only the mbr was affected by this bug. ini from the mbr of the other disk didn't work one could think that also the first sector of the xp-partition is touched. I hate wasting my time on windows and now I will have to reinstall it? From My point of view, the grub did "changes" the MBR so that the BIOS change from the default LBA into CHS. I can't even boot using HDD even for a Windows Recovery. From formating and starting with FC1 up throught FC2t3 al...