Vista is completely messed up

nokicx · #1 28th March 2010, 06:52 PM

Seems like everything started after using the command grub-install /dev/sda1 [the partition where Vista is installed].

When I choose Vista as the operating system it displays a scary error:

Code:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

[insert Windows CD and repair].

File: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Status: 0xc0000001

Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

However, Windows XP & Fedora 12 work perfectly. [maybe because they share the same hdd?]

stoat · #2 28th March 2010, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nokicx

Seems like everything started after using the command grub-install /dev/sda1 [the partition where Vista is installed].

Hello nokicx,

I think I would try repairing the Vista partition boot sector with Bootrec.exe /FixBoot. If GRUB is still working (and it sounds like it is), then that might allow Vista to be booted again with chainloader from GRUB. You didn't say, but I guess you had GRUB in the MBR of the first drive, and it is (or was) booting everything. If repairing the Vista boot sector breaks GRUB, then re-install GRUB in the MBR using the Fedora DVD in rescue mode, a Live CD, or the Super Grub Disk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nokicx

However, Windows XP & Fedora 12 work perfectly. [maybe because they share the same hdd?]

Usually, when Vista is installed after XP, the boot loader files for Vista and XP are both in the root directory of the XP partition. GRUB then chainloader boots the boot sector of the XP partition which launches the Vista boot loader. Then either Vista or XP is chosen from the Vista boot menu. In your situation, that might explain why XP still boots and Vista doesn't. Fix the Vista boot sector, and it should boot again.

stoat · #3 28th March 2010, 07:57 PM

I was thinking some more about this, and if what I said about the Vista and XP boot loader files being in the root directory of the XP partition is true (and it usually is), then the boot sector of the actual Vista partition does not have bootstrapping code. So what you did with grub-install should not have broken anything (except maybe GRUB). But it did. So maybe something else happened, or something else is wrong, or the circumstances of your situation are unusual for some reason. It may help your readers if you take a moment to post the results of these...

Code:

su
fdisk -l
cat /boot/grub/grub.conf

nokicx · #4 28th March 2010, 08:46 PM

Thank you for your replies, stoat!

Perhaps I should mention one more thing: Vista is NOT on the same HDD as XP and & Fedora! Before I used grub-install /dev/sda1 I couldn't have reached the screen where I was prompted to choose between these operating systems, but I was shown a GRUB command prompt. Obviously, I didn't like this way of booting so I tried to sort things out... unsuccessfully...

Here are the results of the commands:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120033041920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa80630a2

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        4193    33680241    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            4194       14593    83538000    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5            4194       14593    83537968+   7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250058268160 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf33df33d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1        8924    71681998+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2            8925       22374   108032000    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb3   *       22374       22399      204800   83  Linux
/dev/sdb4           22400       30401    64276065    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5           22400       30401    64275456   8e  Linux LVM

Disk /dev/dm-0: 61.6 GB, 61589159936 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7487 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-1: 4227 MB, 4227858432 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 514 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

and

Code:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,2)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_moca-lv_root
#          initrd /initrd-[generic-]version.img
#boot=/dev/sdb3
default=1
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,2)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu

title Other
	rootnoverify (hd0,0)
	chainloader +1

title Fedora (2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686)
	root (hd0,2)
	kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 ro root=/dev/mapper/vg_moca-lv_root noiswmd LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
	initrd /initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img

stoat · #5 28th March 2010, 10:03 PM

Well, it's an interesting puzzle. I'm trying to think of something to do. But first, some comments and questions to untangle things, maybe. In the first post you said XP and Fedora are working okay, but in the last post you said (I think) that you had been booting only to a grub> prompt before the disaster. So just to clear that up, what is booting now? Next, the grub.conf looks edited to me, so did you somehow access it for that purpose? And next, the grub.conf suggests that maybe a third drive was present when Fedora was installed since the drive with Fedora is being enumerated by GRUB as hd0,2. Was there an external drive connected when you installed Fedora? Maybe even a pendrive or a card in a card reader? <==Sorry about that. I was thinking too fast when I hatched that idea. Forget that.

I don't want to send you off on a snipe hunt, but one thing you could do is try to clear up where things are located. For example, you could mount those NTFS partitions in Fedora (if it is booting) or a Live CD (if it isn't) and examine them for Windows boot loader files. The XP boot loader files are ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini. The Vista boot loader files are bootmgr and a directory named Boot. They could all be in the root directory of the XP partition (even if they're on separate drives). Or, they could be separate and in their own system's partitions depending on how you installed those two. Knowing where those files are located might help understanding how XP and Vista are being booted.

Another idea it to download and create a Super Grub Disk. It's a free and popular utility that can boot Windows or Linux in emergencies. It also can re-install GRUB. You can play around with it to see what you can boot with it and/or re-install GRUB in the MBR. You may have to change the active partition to boot Windows, and the Super Grub Disk can do that, too. That will have no harmful effect on the Fedora boot loader since it doesn't care about the active partition.

stoat · #6 28th March 2010, 10:33 PM

I was wrong about that third drive business. Sorry. Disregard that.