Restore MBR and Vista

I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide
to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows
until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have
the Oem installation Disk.
--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD

Ed H wrote:
> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
> decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
> Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
> this? I have the Oem installation Disk.

Yes, you can do a repair install to repair the MBR. Very easy, really.

Alias

How?


":: Alias ::" <> wrote in message
news:g3vqp1$qpn$...
> Ed H wrote:
>> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
>> decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
>> Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
>> this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
>
> Yes, you can do a repair install to repair the MBR. Very easy, really.
>
> Alias

Ed H wrote:
> How?
>
>
> ":: Alias ::" <> wrote in message
> news:g3vqp1$qpn$...
>> Ed H wrote:
>>> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
>>> decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot
>>> into Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way
>>> to do this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
>>
>> Yes, you can do a repair install to repair the MBR. Very easy, really.
>>
>> Alias
>

Sorry, that was for XP. With Vista, you will need to reinstall Vista and
all your programs, devices, etc. because MS -- in its infinite wisdom --
decided not to include a repair install for Vista.

Alias

Ed H wrote:
> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide
> to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows
> until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have
> the Oem installation Disk.

Don't know if this will help you, but with Mandriva Spring 2008 (free)
you can (using the Grub boot, not LILO) restore the Windows boot by
booting from the Mandriva installation CD. I have not tried with Kubuntu
though. Sorry. There is a program which requires a bit of expert
handling, using which you can restore your Windows MBR. I think it is
called BCDEdit or something...

Hope this helps.

Russel

Ed H wrote:

> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
> decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
> Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
> this? I have the Oem installation Disk.

I'll give you links to instructions for various repair scenarios using the
Vista DVD and perhaps one of them will have the answer for you. I assume
that by "Oem [sic] installation Disk" you mean that you have a real Vista
DVD and not an image. There is a link to help with that if you do mean the
latter.

However, there is a much better and surer way of dealing with this. Get
Acronis True Image (there are other imaging programs of course, but TI is
my favorite) and image your Windows system *first* before you install
Linux. Obviously you need to save the image on a different hard drive.
Imaging the Windows disk will also include the MBR and sector 0 and you can
restore just those items and not the rest of the disk if you like. I speak
from experience because just yesterday I removed an opensuse 11
installation and could not get the machine to boot to the Recovery Console
(MS OS on that box is XP Pro). I won't bother you with the lengthy details
of all I tried, but in the end it was TI that was the solution. Imaging, if
you don't already do it, is a great thing to do regularly anyway whether
you dual-boot or not.

Repair Vista - http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows...ir_options.htm

Repair A Vista Installation Using The Upgrade Option Of The Vista DVD -
http://tinyurl.com/3b7yrj

Repair Windows Vista using Startup Repair -
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto...torial148.html

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88...all-vista.html

For people who only have a restore image - Windows Vista Recovery Disc
Download:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/window...disc-download/


Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Hey Malke:

I thought an image would work as well. I went through this on my XP machine,
could not boot, Grub error 22. After some contemplation, I restored my saved
image, created by "Image for Widows." It did not repair the mbr still had
the same error. I finally resolved the problem by booting from my BING cd,
and at the end, clicked standard mbr, that did the trick but I'm not sure if
it will work in Vista.

Thanks


"Malke" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Ed H wrote:
>
>> I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
>> decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
>> Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
>> this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
>
> I'll give you links to instructions for various repair scenarios using the
> Vista DVD and perhaps one of them will have the answer for you. I assume
> that by "Oem [sic] installation Disk" you mean that you have a real Vista
> DVD and not an image. There is a link to help with that if you do mean the
> latter.
>
> However, there is a much better and surer way of dealing with this. Get
> Acronis True Image (there are other imaging programs of course, but TI is
> my favorite) and image your Windows system *first* before you install
> Linux. Obviously you need to save the image on a different hard drive.
> Imaging the Windows disk will also include the MBR and sector 0 and you
> can
> restore just those items and not the rest of the disk if you like. I speak
> from experience because just yesterday I removed an opensuse 11
> installation and could not get the machine to boot to the Recovery Console
> (MS OS on that box is XP Pro). I won't bother you with the lengthy details
> of all I tried, but in the end it was TI that was the solution. Imaging,
> if
> you don't already do it, is a great thing to do regularly anyway whether
> you dual-boot or not.
>
> Repair Vista -
> http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows...ir_options.htm
>
> Repair A Vista Installation Using The Upgrade Option Of The Vista DVD -
> http://tinyurl.com/3b7yrj
>
> Repair Windows Vista using Startup Repair -
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto...torial148.html
>
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88...all-vista.html
>
> For people who only have a restore image - Windows Vista Recovery Disc
> Download:
> http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/window...disc-download/
>
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>

Ed H wrote:

> Hey Malke:
>
> I thought an image would work as well. I went through this on my XP
> machine, could not boot, Grub error 22. After some contemplation, I
> restored my saved image, created by "Image for Widows." It did not repair
> the mbr still had the same error. I finally resolved the problem by
> booting from my BING cd, and at the end, clicked standard mbr, that did
> the trick but I'm not sure if it will work in Vista.

Since I don't use BING, I can't answer that. The BootIT NG people will know.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

"Ed H" wrote:
>I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I decide to
>delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into Widows until the
>MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do this? I have the Oem
>installation Disk.

When you install Kubuntu Linux, tell the installer to put Grub
(the Linux boot manager/loader) in the Linux partition, NOT the
MBR. Later, if you want to delete Linux, just delete its partitions
and on Vista run "msconfig" at the command prompt, select the
BOOT tab, and in the dialogbox window, select Linux in the OS
boot menu, and click on "Delete". To install Linux AFTER Vista
has been installed, here are some directions:
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vi...lled_first.htm
(the web pages load slowly). Pay attention to page 4 to see how
to put Grub in the Linux partition.

*TimDaniels*

Thanks Tim. I can understand that well. One question, when I paste the boot
info from menu.lst, do I copy and paste all entries or just the Linux ones?
Where do the lines began and end that I want to save.

Thanks,
Ed


--

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-BIT SP1
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5550 @ 1.83GHz
4.00 GB RAM
300 GB HDD


"Timothy Daniels" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Ed H" wrote:
>>I want to dual boot a Linux Kubuntu OS. After reading I see that if I
>>decide to delete the Linux partition later, I won't be able to boot into
>>Widows until the MBR is repaired/replaced. Is there an easy way to do
>>this? I have the Oem installation Disk.
>
> When you install Kubuntu Linux, tell the installer to put Grub
> (the Linux boot manager/loader) in the Linux partition, NOT the
> MBR. Later, if you want to delete Linux, just delete its partitions
> and on Vista run "msconfig" at the command prompt, select the
> BOOT tab, and in the dialogbox window, select Linux in the OS
> boot menu, and click on "Delete". To install Linux AFTER Vista
> has been installed, here are some directions:
> http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vi...lled_first.htm
> (the web pages load slowly). Pay attention to page 4 to see how
> to put Grub in the Linux partition.
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
>