Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

tknomanzr · 2018-01-06 20:23:31

Download the trial then use the code to activate Windows.
Here are the steps to take:

Decide if you want to run in Compatibility mode or UEFI. This is important because if you run using UEFI, Linux and Windows both will need a GPT partition scheme. If you go with compatibility mode, there is a chance Windows 7 will refuse to boot. <-- I am not sure about this because I never ran Windows 7. However, Windows 10 requires a GPT partition scheme. My guess is that UEFI was enabled on the device because you somehow lost the Windows boot partition.
Since you can mount Windows and see it, copy everything important to you off of that partition and stash it someplace safe.
Install Windows.
Activate Windows.
Install Bunsenlabs.
Install grub onto /dev/sda when it asks

Windows always has to be installed first because it will overwrite grub.
The corollary to that is that Grub has to be on your Windows partition in order to see Windows, I think. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong but I always put the bootloader onto the drive that Windows sits on.

The key here is that you somehow overwrote your windows boot partition. If you are lucky, sometimes you can do like a system restore with Windows tools, assuming you have not overwritten the partition with the install media.

Doom666 · 2018-01-06 20:48:14

Decide if you want to run in Compatibility mode or UEFI.

how can I decide that? what are the differences? what does it even mean? all I know is that when setting the boot order , it shows either USB Bunsenlabs and then is another option UEFI Bunsenlabs, that is all i know about this, and is also the first time Ive seen this, several years ago when I did this last time, i never saw any UEFI thing... -__-
what would you recomend ?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-01-06 20:53:50

Doom666 wrote:

several years ago when I did this last time, i never saw any UEFI thing...

It is a recently-added option

The entry chosen will dictate the type of system installed but note that GRUB (the bootloader) will fail to install to a non-UEFI system with a cryptic error if a GUID partition table is used on the disk but a BIOS boot partition is not created beforehand.

Also, Windows will only install a UEFI system to a disk with a GUID partition table.

If the disk has an ms-dos ("MBR" type) partition table then Windows will install a non-UEFI system.

Doom666 · 2018-01-06 23:37:29

still, what should i choose?
and, can i make a live USB out of Winre.wim ?
can i do that as a dd?
it has to be FAT32 etc.. . what should I know to do that??

Head_on_a_Stick · 2018-01-06 23:42:38

^ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If nobody else here can answer your questions then perhaps try a Windows forum?

martix · 2018-01-08 14:23:18

@Doom66 For this kind of issues I guess an IRC channel might be more helpful, because you get direct contact to someone hopefully pointing in the right direction.

And I'd say grab an external HDD first and use Clonezilla (or whatever you like to make a backup) or dd all the partitions one by one, so the situation will not get worse. Once you have a backup, you could also try something like Rescatux. I had these kind of problems before and in the end somehow always managed to boot the OS again.

ZeroFK · 2018-01-18 11:24:44

As others have said, it looks like your Windows boot record is gone or corrupt. While I'm in no way an expert, in the past I found this to work:

1. You will need a Windows install DVD. A trial download would probably work.
2. Start the Windows install DVD in "Repair" mode.
3. On the repair prompt, enter: bootrec /fixmbr
This fixes the master boot record.
4. On the repair prompt, enter: bootrec /fixboot
This fixes the Windows boot record.
5. Reboot. If all went well, Windows will boot without a trace of Linux.
6. Reinstall Linux. With the fixed mbr and Windows boot records, grub should now discover Windows correctly.

Like I said this has worked for me in the past, but I've seen posts of others where it messed things up. But honestly it sounds like at this point the system can't get into a worse state than it already is.

Good luck!

Last edited by ZeroFK (2018-01-18 11:25:40)

martix · 2018-01-19 22:20:26

^Those commands (fixmbr and fixboot) drove me almost crazy once, because they just did not work. And indeed, there is one thing Microsoft was too stupid to think of: The boot flag. If it is not set correctly, there is an external tool needed to set the correct boot flag or rather set the boot flag at the correct partition.

Doom666 · 2018-01-20 10:08:22

Soooo I managed with a pirate Win7 CD, it began working horribly slow, but after some repair/manitence/update processes everything is working like a charm!!! thank you all! Ill be soon asking how to get those infinitely cool radial graphic Conkys soon enough haha

#21 2018-01-06 20:23:31

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#22 2018-01-06 20:48:14

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#23 2018-01-06 20:53:50

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#24 2018-01-06 23:37:29

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#25 2018-01-06 23:42:38

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#26 2018-01-08 14:23:18

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#27 2018-01-18 11:24:44

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#28 2018-01-19 22:20:26

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

#29 2018-01-20 10:08:22

Re: Dualboot problems (Dude, where is my windows!?)

Board footer