I got in trouble with Win XP when I used Wine ( on Ubuntu 8.04 ) to install a software on my mounted windows NTFS partition. An ambitious approach, but i took the risk to see what will happen. I don’t quite love my mistress (WinXP) you see 😉 It completed the installation and everything seemed fine.
As expected, there were issues:
1) Win XP will boot and then stall at the desktop wallpaper
2) No icons or taskbars are seen
3) Nothing works
4) Ctrl + Alt+ Del will work and the Task Manager will Appear
5) Same issues with Safe Mode.
6) Restoring registry didn’t work either.
( by commanding ‘ scanreg /restore ‘ at command prompt )
Since safe mode didn’t work either, I knew system files have gone bonkers. So what did I do? Of course I thought of formatting, and thats kinda usual for Windows users. Then i recalled a previous incident where my GRUB was totally distorted by a fresh installation of Windows ( A very jealous mistress indeed ). Of course i prepared myself with all those tools : Super Grub Bootable, UBCD 4 Win, Ubuntu Live CD etc. But it gets messy you know.
Then a thought flashed my mind. Why don’t I just try to repair Windows? Will it or will it not destroy my GRUB? So I just had to try it…
This is what happened
1) WinXP SP2 bootable disk initializes as the PC boots
*2) Then a screen appears, where we have to choose whether we should Repair ( press ‘R’ ) or install WinXP ( press <Enter> )
Note: Now this is the interesting part –> PRESS ENTER. DO NOT press ‘R’.
*3) It will take you to the next screen where it will search for previous installations of Win XP.Your current installation will be highlighted, and the installer will ask you what to do?
It is here where you should choose to REPAIR.
* = Pay special attention to this lines
From now on…it will do the ‘ repairing ‘ work 🙂 Just wait and be patient.
After its done, you will be extremely happy to see your GRUB load as normal as it reboots.
Before formatting Windows, I guess this method is a golden tip to save lotsa time if its not a virus issue etc. Whenever there is a problem with Windows, before you give up, almost always try to REPAIR. It may just be the solution for you…
Tags: ubuntu, windows, Winxp, dual, boot, repair, GRUB, partition, linux,
TRUTH ROCKS ! 