Help!!!! Vista wont boot after i installed ubuntu

-i installed ubuntu to try it out today and i used all of the defaults during install,
-ubuntu shrunk my vista partition and made a new one for itself on the same drive,
-all of my files are still on the drive from before i installed ubuntu that i can tell,
-i attempted to edit the menu.lst but it said i don't have permission to edit it and i know nothing about ubuntu and how it works,
-i would much rather uninstall ubuntu and get vista back then continue with only ubuntu, it isn't worth it to me.
-i have a Toshiba A305 with vista home premium 64 bit and the latest ubuntu instillation

Please Help!!!

 

an easy way to edit menu.lst is to type in the terminal:
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

This will give you the appropriate permissions in a normal text editor without having to use vi for the interface (hard for new users). You shouldn't have to edit the grub menu because it recognizes Vista by default.

 

What error are you getting when you try to boot Vista?

One thing you might be able to try is inserting the Vista installer cd and doing a startup repair.

 

Your Vista entry in grub should look similar to this.

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista/longhorn (loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

 

since you installed ubuntu after installing vista, you need to change the master boot record so it will recognize both OS's. you have a choice of using the windows boot loader or grub, ubuntu's default boot loader. there's different ways to set them both up.

there is a guide on www.apcmag.com, but right now the main page for apc mag isn't loading so i can't give you the exact link.

the thing you have to watch out for when you're adding things to the grub bootloader is that you set the root to the correct partition on the hard drive. the hds are listed from 0 to n where 0 is the first hard drive, 1 is the second, etc. the same thing applies for the partition. if the vista partition is the first partition in the hard drive (you can check that with gparted, open up terminal and type in gksudo gparted and you can see the individual partitions on your hard drive) then your notation in grub will be as stated above (hd0,0) if it's the second partition it'll be (hd0,1), and so on.

edit:

here is a link that shows you how to add things to the grub list: http://www.eloff.se/tutorials.php?ubuntu_vista_dualboot

in addition, if apcmag gets their servers working again, here is the link to their how-to of installing ubuntu on a vista machine and then dual-booting afterwards: http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_boot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first

 

I think it should be (hd0,0) because by default, it resizes the windows partition as 1 and adds the Ubuntu in the free space as partition 2.

 

ok i added this:
# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista/longhorn (loader)
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

to the menu.lst, but now it says the BOOTMNGR is missing (i may have shortened manager incorrectly but you get the idea, and i am only fairly certian it was in all caps)

 

If you did everything by default, you should not have had to add it. It should have already been there. It might be helpful if you could give us a copy of what you currently have in menu.lst (minus any additions). I'm wondering what went wacky with the grub install.

 

default 0
timeout 10

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-11-generic
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-11-generic (recovery mode)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-11-generic root=UUID=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-11-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic (recovery mode)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27-7-generic root=UUID=43d24f57-596d-4539-b851-75dd260fdbec ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.27-7-generic

title Ubuntu 8.10, memtest86+
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

 

Alright, so we're using 8.10 then. It's not even showing the Vista partition in here at all. Just to be sure, we want to identify what partition Vista is on.
ktang suggested a good way to do that: gksudo gparted. Look for the one that is formatted in the ntfs file system. Should hopefully be /dev/sda1 but it would help to know for sure.

 

i typed "gksudo gparted" into terminal and it asked for my system admin password, and i typed it in but nothing came up.

 

alright, gparted isn't installed on yours then.
sudo apt-get install gparted
let that finish...
gksudo gparted

 

-ok, i figured out it was a package that i had to install sorry, i love the way to install stuff in ubuntu except i can't figure out how to install tar balls, but thats another discusion all together.
-it says i have 2 ntfs partitions 1 on /dev/sda1 and another on /dev/sda2
-i have 2 drives but both os's are installed on the same drive, also gparted says that the first drive is sda and the second is sdb
-another note is that i have 2 unallocated partitions on sda but it only adds up to 6MiB
-also on the sdb the partitions are: 1MiB unallocated, 1 NTFS located at /dev/sdb,a and 1 extended, 1 ext3, and 1 linux-swap; the extended is at /dev/sdb2, ext3 is at /dev/sbd5, and the linux-swap is at /dev/sdb6

 

So your notebook as dual hard-drives then. The partitions that add up to 6mb is normal (or at lease it did that on mine too). I think it has something to do with the way ubuntu resizes the drive, not sure though. I think that the mistake I was making was assuming that you only had a single hard drive. Try adding this to the menu.lst:

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista/longhorn (loader)
root (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

I'm not sure, but looking at it, looks like the vista install might be on that second hard drive. If you don't mind me asking, if you have dual drives, why not have Vista on one and Ubuntu on the other?

 

This was taken directly from the tar manual (in the terminal type: man tar)

EXAMPLES
tar -xvvf foo.tar
extract foo.tar

tar -xvvzf foo.tar.gz
extract gzipped foo.tar.gz

tar -cvvf foo.tar foo/
tar contents of folder foo in foo.tar

 

ok i replaced what i had added with what you told me and when i selected vista it said BOOTMGR not found press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart

 

and i am fairly sure my second hard drive was completly empty, not sure at the moment because i cant find it, anyway i was thinking about puting it on the other drive but i didn't, i dont know why

 

i found 2 bootmgr's one is just bootmgr the other is bootmgr.exe.mui, but even with this how am i supposed to tell grub where the bootmgr is? i am also wondering about kernal, root, and initrid on the ubuntu boots they are way different, are they supposed to be?

 

They are supposed to be different. Vista is supposed to be the first partition on that drive. From what you posted earlier it is looking like Ubuntu and Vista are both running of the second hard drive (hence the /dev/sdb instead of sda). Your grub output makes me think that 8.10 has a different version of grub than I have because they look nothing alike. Let me download 8.10 when I get home tonight and put it on my second drive and take a look at the grub menu. In the mean time, someone else might notice this thread and help out.

 

make a backup of your menu.lst file by typing this into the terminal:
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_bak

afterwards, try this: (note, this is a test, not a solution, which is why i suggested you copy your menu.lst file)

change your groot=** to "groot=(hd1,4) and add root (hd1,4) below each of the title lines, then add the following after the "### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST" line
title Windows Vista
root (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

if this does not work and then you can't boot into ubuntu or windows, you would have to replace your menu.lst file with the backup you made. to do that, you load up the liveCD again, and then do the following:
open nautilus (file explorer) and navigate to /boot/grub and make sure your menu.lst_bak is there. (you may have to hit "ctrl+h" in order to see hidden files and folders.) then all you have to do is rename menu.lst_bak to menu.lst by typing the following into a terminal:
sudo rm /boot/grub/menu.lst
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst_bak /boot/grub/menu.lst

if you can, take a screenshot of what gparted shows you, both for the first HD and the second HD. we can give a better recommendation of what to put into your menu.lst file if we can see the partitions and whatnot.

NOTE
this is not a very good or a recommended solution, it is just one to try if no other options present themselves. i would suggest looking around on google some more, taking the screenshots of what gparted shows, and waiting on a response after we see that, then directly trying what i said above.

 

The way that it is acting is weird. It should have recognized (hd1,0) as the Vista and yet it is unrecognized. I've run into a situation before where the MBR got messed up and I was able to put in the Vista cd and do a start-up repair and that work. I wonder could that work in this situation?

 

log163, the apcmag link i posted on the first page is now working. see if you followed all the steps in that guide when you installed ubuntu. if you didn't, let us know which step you didn't do, or what extra step you might have done.

 

I don't have the answer for your problem, but I'm pretty sure I know how it happened. I've never been able to boot into Vista after letting the Ubuntu LiveCD resize the Vista partition, and I've tried 3 different times. Vista does not like Gparted resizing the partition, it borks something up somehow.

For future reference, use Vista's built-in partitioning tool (or something like Disk Director from Acronis) to resize the Vista partition first. Then Ubuntu's partitioner can safely make it's partitions in the new free space.

 

Vista has a built in partitioning tool ? So it can resize itself ?

Sweet

I assume XP does not have a counterpart ?

 

AFAIK, XP doesn't have one. Vista's is nothing special, but it works.

Go to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management and right-click on your Vista partition. It should show an option to "Shrink Volume"...