# [moved from xp]Cannot boot Windows XP/CD-ROM, only boots Ubuntu



## javierislame (Dec 16, 2007)

Hiya folks, I'm new to the Tech Support Forum. I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, but I tried to place it where I thought it was most appropriate.

The issue I'm having is that I can't seem to boot into/from anything but Ubuntu 7.10. When Grub first starts up when the computer boots and I select the Windows XP option, the screen just goes blank (as usual), but the loading screen never appears. The drive is silent, so it doesn't appear that there's any activity on the hard disk. I tried booting from a Windows XP install cd to maybe run a repair install or something of that nature, but it only got to "Setup is determining..." and got hung up. I also tried booting with ubcd 4.1 and was able to get to the menu, but every option/program I tried ended with it hanging needing a reboot.

I'm running:

Biostar Geforce 6100 M7 Socket 754
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB ddr 400 pc 3200 RAM
600W Cooler Master Extreme Power Duo PSU
200GB Maxtor hd (not sure of the model)

This same issue happened a couple of weeks ago on Thanksgiving Day, actually. I played around with it for about an hour then all of the sudden it just started working again. It hadn't done it since before today, which his why I'm seeking help. Windows XP and Ubuntu 7.14 are on the same disk partitioned separately.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!


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## javierislame (Dec 16, 2007)

*Re: Cannot boot Windows XP/CD-ROM, only boots Ubuntu*

Well, as soon as I was done writing the previous post, I rebooted and Windows XP came right up.

Any ideas to what may be causing this to happen every so often?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Cannot boot Windows XP/CD-ROM, only boots Ubuntu*

normally i would just say boot into the recovery console and run fixboot,but not sure with linux also insatalled iw ill move you to the linux section they will have a better idea if fixboot will damage your linux boot or not


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## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Cannot boot Windows XP/CD-ROM, only boots Ubuntu*



javierislame said:


> Well, as soon as I was done writing the previous post, I rebooted and Windows XP came right up.


winxp came right up??? did you get a choice between linux and windows?


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

When you did the original Install did you install XP first then Ubuntu? 

Does the grub screen come up for you to choose as sobeit666 asks??


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## javierislame (Dec 16, 2007)

Yes, I should have mentioned that. Grub started first then I chose Windows XP.

And yes, I did install Windows on the disk before linux.


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## shuuhen (Sep 4, 2004)

Odd issue. What version of GRUB are you using? Could you post your /boot/grub/grub.conf (might be /boot/grub/menu.lst)?


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## Istanbul_Lfc (Oct 5, 2007)

If you use the "fixmbr" command from the recovery console on the XP disc this will overwrite the GRUB loader so you won't be able to boot Linux but Windows will be ok.

Just warning you on what would happen if you did use that command.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

but he can back up his grub first , then use fixmbr and recover his grub afterwards can't he ???


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## Istanbul_Lfc (Oct 5, 2007)

I don't know lol. I just know this because i kept on getting GRUB errors.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

I have seen references to backing up the grub , which resides in mbr .. however I haven't managed to do it myself yet .. :grin: but then I haven't had the time to do more than a half hearted attempt.


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## shuuhen (Sep 4, 2004)

Done_Fishin said:


> I have seen references to backing up the grub , which resides in mbr .. however I haven't managed to do it myself yet .. :grin: but then I haven't had the time to do more than a half hearted attempt.


The config files should reside on a Linux boot partition (/boot/grub/). Those should be the important part. I keep LiveCD distros around for things like reinstalling GRUB. It's fine to just reinstall GRUB on the MBR, since the config files in /boot/grub/ should have the data that's unique to a machine's specific setup. So as long as the /boot area on your Linux distro is intact (or restored from a backup) you can just open a terminal in Knoppix (or other LiveCD with grub CLI utilities), use sudo or su to get root privileges, then run "grub-install --no-floppy /dev/_disk_" (no quotes). _disk_ will be something like hda, hdb, sda or sdb depending on what drive you have Linux on.

So as long as /boot (and of course the rest of his important Linux data, so there's something to boot to) doesn't get damaged/erased (*and*/or is backed up) then yes he could just reinstall GRUB whenever.


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## javierislame (Dec 16, 2007)

Would grub really be causing this issue, though? Because I tried booting from CD's before grub was even started and it would just hang up.

I'm definitely a linux novice, by the way. I'm trying my best to keep up with you fellas. haha.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Just how long do you wait for XP to boot when this problem occurs ?? and is there any chance you have any USB devices inserted ?? I have noticed with a couple of my PC's that if a USB Flash drive is left attached when booting , it seems to stall the PC .. so I try to remember every time to boot with no usb devices connected
I proved it by pulling the device when installed and it released the PC to boot normally .. had the same thing a couple of times in the past when a CD or DVD was left inside a drive .. Windows seems to want to investigate and it hogs the resources


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