Dual Boot Problem

I'm trying to dual boot widows xp and arch. I have everything setup except i cant get grub to start when i turn on the system. All it does is boot into xp. I've read the wiki and everything and it didn't help. Thanks

Belikeabox wrote:I installed grub to the mbr like you guys said and it fucked up. When i select windows xp in grub it just says loading stage 2 adn goes back to grub. I have my menu.lst all setup right also.
as stated please please display the out put of fdisk -l
that is at a command prompt as root type in fdisk -l it will display info like this
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 63 2008124 1004031 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2 2008125 58428404 28210140 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 58428405 89915804 15743700 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 89915805 145211534 27647865 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 89915868 145211534 27647833+ 83 Linux
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 63 3907024064 1953512001 83 Linux
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 63 35407259 17703598+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdc2 35407260 78172289 21382515 83 Linux
notice I have several drives only two have os's arch32-sata arch64-sata arch32-ide & xp-ide
on my system to boot off the ide drive I have to tell the bios to boot from it
on each drive it has its own grub & on each grub both say to boot arch it looks to /dev/sda2 you see when I tell my bios to boot the ide it then makes it the 1st drive. so in the initrd file I tell it to load modules for pata only this way arch sees it then as sda not sdc as it is label in my fdisk -l posted above
I hope you understood what all I put here. if your like I was when I first migrated to arch I said its english but it sure seemed a foreign language.
when/if you have multiple os's & partitions & drives it can be a pain
you say your following the wiki but are you absolutely positive xp is where you tell grub it is
cause if you tell grub xp is on sda1 & sda1 is a hidden partition that was setup at the factory & xp is actually on sda2 grub is not going to look at sda2 only at sda1 that you told grub xp is there
linux can be frustrating in the begining especially arch. I remember, but it has been a fun learning experience & still is.

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Windows 7 & 8.1 Dual Boot Problem

In my pc dual booting system is generated.
Both os windows 7 & 8.1 are separatly partitioned.
I have used it several day,but during 2 days windows 7 has been disrupting.
For that,i have only formated & reinstalled windows 7.
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At early days options for both 8.1 & 7 can be seen.
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Hi,
Please using the command below to fix system boot loader for test.
Open Command Prompt with administrator.
Type bcdboot x:\windows, press Enter.
After that, restart your computer to check if problem resolved.
Roger Lu
TechNet Community Support

Dual Boot Problem in G580

Two days before i have got this model Lenovo G580(20157) with i5 processor and nvidia 610m graphic card...
I want to install Ubuntu and Windows 7 or Windows 8 in Dual boot...
what i have done to do this:
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Hello and welcome,
Try Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit or later.
Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
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Ethernet dual-boot problem

My new onboard ethernet - Realtek PHY RTL8201CL on an ASRock K8NF4G-SATA2 board - seems to have a strange problem with dual-booting. After I've booted Windows XP it refuses to work in linux. My system hangs for a time during bootup at "Network" and finally moves on after network has registered as failed.
The only solution seems to be to turn-off the computer and truly power it down (unplug it). Once I've done that everything seems to work again without any trouble. I believe it must be the ethernet since this didn't happen with my old computer using exactly the same ethernet ADSL modem.
Since I don't use windows often it's not a big problem for me, but it is an annoyance. Does anyone know what might be causing this?

weird, not that related but i remember an issue with ati users where starting windows first was necessary to initialize the ati card; thus getting it to launch in linux...
maybe you can alleviate this by having some initialize down/up code in your startup code before 'network'.

Dual Boot Problem - Mountain Lion / Lion

I recently tried to setup a dual boot between Lion and Mountain Lion. I have them both existing on seperate internal hard drives. I can boot into each other just fine by selecting them from "Startup Disk" under system preferences. However, I cannot boot into them by holding down the option key at startup. When I hold down the option key at startup I just get a grey screen that hangs there. No options appear. It just freezes.
Any ideas on what I can do to make this work? Both operating systems are installed, working, and bootable. I'd just love to be able to have the option to choose which one to boot into at startup.
Thanks!
I should also add that I have tried zapping the PRAM as well.

I have some new information on the problem. Alternative boot options do appear after holding down the option key, but it takes a solid minute and half for them to appear. I guess I was not waiting long enough. Any reason as to why it is hanging for a 1 1/2 minutes before displaying the boot options?

Windows 7 and Arch linux dual boot problem

hey guys I had an issue with windows 7 dual booted with arch and i was just wondering my windows 7 crashed. I had Reinstalled windows OS and all my partitions are set up but now when I try to boot up arch I cant at all cause windows Boot took over and i have no way of getting into arch is there anyway i can fix this or maybe reinstall arch without loseing my home folder with all my data, or is there just and easyer way to fix this issue im stuck. thank you all for your support as i am a noob

You need to re-install grub. When you reinstalled Windows it will overwrite grub preventing you booting Arch. You'll need to boot from a liveCD and chroot into your Arch installation. details for recovering grub are in the wiki - https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GR … stallation

[SOLVED]GRUB Dual-boot problem

Hey guys, I need some help since I haven't had any issues with GRUB until now. I've read the GRUB page on the wiki and several other sites, but I'm still not sure which method I should use.
Anyway, everything was fine yesterday, I could boot into both my Windows and Arch. Then for some reason today, I tried booting into Windows, but stated BOOTMGR is missing, press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart. So I tried booting into Arch, which was fine. So I used the Windows CD and then used Startup Repair to fix Windows, but unfortunately it didn't work. I then typed bootrec /fixmbr (which was typed impulsively, since I use that whenever I uninstall Linux). Anyway, that makes Windows overwrite to the MBR, so after booting my laptop it goes straight to Windows.
So I was wondering whether to use the method where you have to use chroot, the method you can just use grub> find /grub/stage1 and install to MBR, or just run through the Arch install CD and skip everything except installing the bootloader and rebooting.
Replies are appreciated, thanks in advance.
EDIT: Solved it. I booted in the Arch Linux install CD and followed the instructions on the wiki. I switched to the grub shell and used
grub> find /grub/stage1
for use in root. It displayed (hd0,6), so I then used
grub> root (hd0,6)
. Lastly I used
grub> setup (hd0)
to install GRUB to the MBR. It works perfectly again.
Last edited by Reki (2011-11-27 14:31:23)

I know exactly what the problem is.
If you're using rEFIt, sync your partition tables (should be the menu item called 'Partitioning Tool'). The problem is that GRUB has been installed, but doesn't know where to find the Arch partition.
After syncing, you may find that the boot process hangs at the Linux logo on a gray background. No worries — just reboot and the problem should fix itself.
N.B. You will need to do a partition table sync every time you change your hard drive's layout.

[SOLVED]Dual boot problem with an Asus UX31A (EFI)

I never did an EFI install before and I still don't understand how it works however following the Zenbook wiki, I have successfully installed Arch. Now I can't boot Windows 7 anymore. I am using grub2, have installed os-prober. Grub menu has windows 7 entry but when used prompts a wrong EFI file path error.
My partition table is:
[root@zenbook sonay]# lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 238.5G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 200M 0 disk
├─sda2 8:2 0 128M 0 disk
├─sda3 8:3 0 98.6G 0 disk
├─sda4 8:4 0 4G 0 disk
├─sda5 8:5 0 90.7G 0 disk
├─sda6 8:6 0 512M 0 disk /boot/efi
├─sda7 8:7 0 3.9G 0 disk
├─sda8 8:8 0 10G 0 disk
├─sda9 8:9 0 200M 0 disk /boot
└─sda10 8:10 0 30.3G 0 disk /
sdc 8:32 0 931.5G 0 disk
└─sdc1 8:33 0 931.5G 0 disk /run/media/sonay/My Passport
/dev/sda1 used to be Windows 7 EFI partition. Gparted says it is flagged as boot.
What I did to install arch:
Partitioned /dev/sda5 with windows disk manager to create linux partitions and formatted the new partitions with gparted as the noob I am.
created /dev/sda6 for EFI boot
created /dev/sda9 for boot partition
created /dev/sda10 as root.
Did not touch
/dev/sda1 which was the EFI partition named SYSTEM
/dev/sda2 which was windows boot partition
/dev/sda3 which was windows C:,
/dev/sda4 and /dev/sda7 which I don't know what they used to be (possible for Asus fast wake up or swap whatever)
/dev/sda8 which is recovery partition.
I did not touch any grub files, except /etc/default/grub
[sonay@zenbook ~]$ cat /etc/default/grub
GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=1
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Arch"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet init=/bin/systemd add_efi_memmap elevator=noop i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 i915.semaphores=1 nmi_watchdog=0"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
# Preload both GPT and MBR modules so that they are not missed
GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt part_msdos"
# Uncomment to enable Hidden Menu, and optionally hide the timeout count
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=5
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
# Uncomment to use basic console
GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT=console
# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal
#GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT=console
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
# Uncomment to allow the kernel use the same resolution used by grub
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
# Uncomment if you want GRUB to pass to the Linux kernel the old parameter
# format "root=/dev/xxx" instead of "root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/xxx"
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true
# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY=true
# Uncomment and set to the desired menu colors. Used by normal and wallpaper
# modes only. Entries specified as foreground/background.
#GRUB_COLOR_NORMAL="light-blue/black"
#GRUB_COLOR_HIGHLIGHT="light-cyan/blue"
# Uncomment one of them for the gfx desired, a image background or a gfxtheme
#GRUB_BACKGROUND="/path/to/wallpaper"
#GRUB_THEME="/path/to/gfxtheme"
# Uncomment to get a beep at GRUB start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
#GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT="true"
Finally my /boot/grub/grub.cfg is:
[sonay@zenbook ~]$ cat /etc/default/grub
GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT=1
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="Arch"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet init=/bin/systemd add_efi_memmap elevator=noop i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 i915.semaphores=1 nmi_watchdog=0"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""
# Preload both GPT and MBR modules so that they are not missed
GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES="part_gpt part_msdos"
# Uncomment to enable Hidden Menu, and optionally hide the timeout count
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=5
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
# Uncomment to use basic console
GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT=console
# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal
#GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT=console
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=auto
# Uncomment to allow the kernel use the same resolution used by grub
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep
# Uncomment if you want GRUB to pass to the Linux kernel the old parameter
# format "root=/dev/xxx" instead of "root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/xxx"
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true
# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY=true
# Uncomment and set to the desired menu colors. Used by normal and wallpaper
# modes only. Entries specified as foreground/background.
#GRUB_COLOR_NORMAL="light-blue/black"
#GRUB_COLOR_HIGHLIGHT="light-cyan/blue"
# Uncomment one of them for the gfx desired, a image background or a gfxtheme
#GRUB_BACKGROUND="/path/to/wallpaper"
#GRUB_THEME="/path/to/gfxtheme"
# Uncomment to get a beep at GRUB start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
#GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT="true"
[sonay@zenbook ~]$ cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg
cat: /boot/grub/grub.cfg: Permission denied
[sonay@zenbook ~]$ su
Password:
[root@zenbook sonay]# cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
menuentry_id_option=""
fi
export menuentry_id_option
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi
function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
function load_video {
if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
insmod all_video
else
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod ieee1275_fb
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod video_bochs
insmod video_cirrus
fi
if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
font=unicode
else
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt10'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt10 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt10 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt10 cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67
fi
font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
fi
if loadfont $font ; then
set gfxmode=auto
load_video
insmod gfxterm
set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
set lang=en_US
insmod gettext
fi
terminal_input console
terminal_output gfxterm
set timeout=1
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch GNU/Linux, with Linux core repo kernel' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-true-cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt9'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt9 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt9 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt9 42d2ba69-758d-4a54-9482-ae5d60866a52
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 42d2ba69-758d-4a54-9482-ae5d60866a52
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67 ro quiet init=/bin/systemd add_efi_memmap elevator=noop i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 i915.semaphores=1 nmi_watchdog=0
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
menuentry 'Arch GNU/Linux, with Linux core repo kernel (Fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-fallback-cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt9'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt9 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt9 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt9 42d2ba69-758d-4a54-9482-ae5d60866a52
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 42d2ba69-758d-4a54-9482-ae5d60866a52
fi
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=cf66f05a-418c-4517-a0e0-af01b3be4a67 ro quiet init=/bin/systemd add_efi_memmap elevator=noop i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 pcie_aspm=force drm.vblankoffdelay=1 i915.semaphores=1 nmi_watchdog=0
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda3)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-5246C0D846C0BE4B' {
insmod part_gpt
insmod ntfs
set root='hd0,gpt3'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt3 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt3 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt3 5246C0D846C0BE4B
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5246C0D846C0BE4B
fi
chainloader +1
menuentry 'Windows Recovery Environment (loader) (on /dev/sda8)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-3C98C9B298C96B4A' {
insmod part_gpt
insmod ntfs
set root='hd0,gpt8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt8 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt8 3C98C9B298C96B4A
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 3C98C9B298C96B4A
fi
drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
chainloader +1
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
SOLUTION:
first I needed to mount Windows EFI partition which was /dev/sda1, so :
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
Then issue the following commands and take note of the outputs:
grub-probe --target=fs_uuid /mnt/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
which outputs: 18DF-E58E and
grub-probe --target=hints_string /mnt/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
which outputs: --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1
Finally edit the os-prober entry to the following in /boot/grub/grub.cfg
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda3)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-5246C0D846C0BE4B' {
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
insmod search_fs_uuid
insmod chain
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1 18DF-E58E
chainloader /EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
Last edited by sonay (2012-10-07 18:20:20)

grub-probe --target=hints_string /boot/efi/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
--hint-bios=hd0,gpt1 --hint-efi=hd0,gpt1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,gpt1
Sorry, no need to anymore. Thanks anyways.
Last edited by sonay (2012-10-07 18:08:39)

Dual boot problems 10.3.9 and 10.4.6

I have a power mac G5 with 2 internal hard drives. The primary drive is running 10.3.9. I just installed 10.4.6 on the secondary hard drive. Ever since, the computer boots from the secondary drive and the primary hard drive will not mount. it won't come up as a startup disk in the system preferences, it only appears in the system profiler and disk utility. in system profiler, the partition is greyed out. in the disk utility, disk repair reports an error: invalid b-tree node size, which it is not able to fix. (read on as the drive atually works). when i disconnect the secondary drive, the primary drive running 10.3.9 boots and runs. i swapped the drives, moving the secondary as the primary. no change. i need to keep both systems running until i can update all my software. why is it that whatever both drives are connected only the drive running tiger ounts? any help? thanks!
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Hello Friends
Good Evening.I am using NI PXI 8108 Embedded Controller.I need to Install both the OS Windows XP and LabVIEW RT .First I make the two Partition in the PXI Controller.One Partition i installed the Windows XP and Another Partition I make it as free.I dont know how to install the LabVIEW RT OS in the Another Partition.
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W8.1/W7-64 dual boot, dual drive (SSD & SATA) GPT/MBR problems

I'm posting in both the W8 and W7 forums because I'm not sure which is more appropriate.
Setup:
New Dell XPS8700 with Windows 8.1 installed on a 256GB SSD drive. I upgraded to W8.1 Pro.
2nd drive is a 2TB SATA.
Goal:
Keep W8.1 Pro on SSD.
Install W7 Ultimate 64 (legal copy, installation disk) on SATA Drive.
Select which one I want at boot.
Main Issue
Cannot easily choose which OS to log into. See Dual Boot Problems and Current State for details.
Background: W7 Installation Probems
1. I disabled Secure Boot in the BIOS and Fast Startup in Windows 8.1
2. I created 3 partitions (D, E, F) on the SATA drive (a GPT drive)
3. Used the Advanced Option in W8 to boot from the DVD (absurd),
4. Windows 7 started setup from the DVD but at the initial screen (Language, Country), it hung. Hard. No keyboard, no mouse. Had to turn off computer.
5. Using F12, selected legacy boot from DVD. Now the installation got beyond the first screen. I selected Custom Install. When I tried to install to the E: partition, I got the message that W7 could not be installed on a GPT drive. From
a lot of research and reading, I'm guessing this is because I chose a legacy boot. But, please, note: the only reason I did a legacy boot was because I could not get past the first screen with a "normal" CD/DVD boot,
6. So, I went back into W8, deleted the volumes on the SATA drive, changed it to MBR, recreated the volumes.
7. Using F12, again selected legacy boot from DVD and was able to install W7 on the E: partition, except that every reboot during the installation process got me back into W8, so I had to restart with the F12 option/legacy boot to finish W7 installation.
8. Finally got W7 installed. Logged in. OK so far.
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1. No boot menu. Computer booted directly into W8.1. And, yes, Fast Startup in W8.1 still disabled.
2. Downloaded and installed EasyBCD. Created boot menu for W8.1 and W7 with W8.1 the default.
3. Reboot, select W8. Fine, I'm into W8.1
4. Reboot, select W7. All I get is one bar of hieroglyphics across top of screen. Hard freeze. Had to unplug computer.
5. Do an F12 reboot and select legacy boot from the SATA drive. Get a different boot menu with Windows 7 on top and W8 Media version below. Select W7. It loads and I log in.
6. Do an F12 reboot and select legacy boot from the SATA drive. This time, select W8. Get an error that it can't find W8.
Current State
1. The default boot into W8 works fine.
2. Can't get into W7 unless I do an F12 legacy boot from SATA at startup.
3. If I do an F12 legacy boot from SATA, I can't get into W8.
I do not want to rely on F12 for 2 reasons: first, I want W7 to be my default working enviroment. Please do not try to convince me that there is no good reason for that. I want to do this, have legal, paid for copies of W7 (actually, I now have four.)
Second, it will make installing W7 updates nightmarish since I'll have go go through the whole F12 thing for every reboot.
I am assuming that the problem stems from the original GPT/MBR split (with the SSD being GPT and the SATA being MBR) - although I could be wrong. And, remember, the only reason I changed the SATA from GPT to MBR was because the W7 setup froze
at the initial screen when I first tried to install W7 with a normal boot from DVD.
Things I've tried:
1. Via W8, got to a command prompt where I ran bootsect.exe /scanos. The result was that it found NO Windows Installations. Obviously incorrect.
2. Uninstalled EasyBCD from W8.
3. Rebooted. Same boot menu as before: W8.1 on top, Windows 7 below (as I had set things up in EasyBCD).
2. Via W8 Command Prompt did a bcdboot c:\windows to try to get GUI boot menu. Got the error message: failure when attemptng to copy boot files.
What I want to do seems to me to be quite simple: run W8 from the SSD, run W7 from the SATA. It's my understanding that I should be able to install W7 on a GPT drive and that would, I am hoping,
solve the boot menu problem. But see Installation Problems above: I couldn't do the default boot from the DVD and install W7 because it froze at the first screen. Is there some other way to get past the freeze and install W7 to a GPT?
I've been working on this for two weeks now, have read more articles, watched more YouTube videos than I care to list. Need Help Desperately.
<textarea style="height:80px;width:444px;border:1px solid grey;padding:2px;"></textarea><select><option value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option
value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option
value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese (Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option
value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option selected="selected" value="auto">Detect language</option><option value="nl">Dutch</option><option
value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option
value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian
Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option value="is">Icelandic</option><option
value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option value="ko">Korean</option><option
value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option value="ms">Malay</option><option
value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option value="pt">Portuguese</option><option
value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option value="sl">Slovenian</option><option
value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option value="tr">Turkish</option><option
value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>⇄<select><option
value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option
value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese
(Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option
value="nl">Dutch</option><option selected="selected" value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option
value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option
value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option
value="is">Icelandic</option><option value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option
value="ko">Korean</option><option value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option
value="ms">Malay</option><option value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option
value="pt">Portuguese</option><option value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option
value="sl">Slovenian</option><option value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option
value="tr">Turkish</option><option value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option
value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>
English (auto-detected) » English

SOLUTION:
The problem I described above stemmed from the fact that I had been unable to install W7 without using the legacy option. (The W7 installation would freeze at the first screen.) That created the boot incompatibilities between W8.1 and W7because I had
to use legacy for the latter but not for the former.
It turned out that the USB ports were the basic problem. The Windows 7 installation program doesn't recognize USB 3.0 ports. Unfortunately, the A08 BIOS in the XPS 8700 -Special Edition (as of late Dec. 2014) has only 3 options for enabling/disabling
the USB ports: Front, Top, Back. The back panel has a mix of USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports and I needed a 2.0 port for the mouse and keyboard to work. However, disabling the Front and Top USB ports was sufficient. The W7 install no longer froze.
So, from my W8 installation, I wiped out the SATA drive, changed it back to GPT, partitioned it, disabled the Front and Top USB ports in the BIOS and booted from the W7 DVD. The installation went fine. After installing the network driver, downloaded
previously, and updating W7, I installed the USB 3.0 drivers and then re-enabled the Top and Front in the BIOS.
So, now the EasyBCD boot options work just fine. Both drives are GPT. No legacy options.
<textarea style="height:80px;width:444px;border:1px solid grey;padding:2px;"></textarea><select><option value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option
value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option
value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese (Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option
value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option selected="selected" value="auto">Detect language</option><option value="nl">Dutch</option><option
value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option
value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian
Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option value="is">Icelandic</option><option
value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option value="ko">Korean</option><option
value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option value="ms">Malay</option><option
value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option value="pt">Portuguese</option><option
value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option value="sl">Slovenian</option><option
value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option value="tr">Turkish</option><option
value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>⇄<select><option
value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option
value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese
(Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option
value="nl">Dutch</option><option selected="selected" value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option
value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option
value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option
value="is">Icelandic</option><option value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option
value="ko">Korean</option><option value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option
value="ms">Malay</option><option value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option
value="pt">Portuguese</option><option value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option
value="sl">Slovenian</option><option value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option
value="tr">Turkish</option><option value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option
value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>
English (auto-detected) » English
<textarea style="height:80px;width:444px;border:1px solid grey;padding:2px;"></textarea><select><option value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option
value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option
value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese (Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option
value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option selected="selected" value="auto">Detect language</option><option value="nl">Dutch</option><option
value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option
value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian
Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option value="is">Icelandic</option><option
value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option value="ko">Korean</option><option
value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option value="ms">Malay</option><option
value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option value="pt">Portuguese</option><option
value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option value="sl">Slovenian</option><option
value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option value="tr">Turkish</option><option
value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>⇄<select><option
value="af">Afrikaans</option><option value="sq">Albanian</option><option value="ar">Arabic</option><option value="hy">Armenian</option><option value="az">Azerbaijani</option><option
value="eu">Basque</option><option value="be">Belarusian</option><option value="bg">Bulgarian</option><option value="ca">Catalan</option><option value="zh-CN">Chinese
(Simplified)</option><option value="zh-TW">Chinese (Traditional)</option><option value="hr">Croatian</option><option value="cs">Czech</option><option value="da">Danish</option><option
value="nl">Dutch</option><option selected="selected" value="en">English</option><option value="et">Estonian</option><option value="tl">Filipino</option><option
value="fi">Finnish</option><option value="fr">French</option><option value="gl">Galician</option><option value="ka">Georgian</option><option value="de">German</option><option
value="el">Greek</option><option value="ht">Haitian Creole</option><option value="iw">Hebrew</option><option value="hi">Hindi</option><option value="hu">Hungarian</option><option
value="is">Icelandic</option><option value="id">Indonesian</option><option value="ga">Irish</option><option value="it">Italian</option><option value="ja">Japanese</option><option
value="ko">Korean</option><option value="la">Latin</option><option value="lv">Latvian</option><option value="lt">Lithuanian</option><option value="mk">Macedonian</option><option
value="ms">Malay</option><option value="mt">Maltese</option><option value="no">Norwegian</option><option value="fa">Persian</option><option value="pl">Polish</option><option
value="pt">Portuguese</option><option value="ro">Romanian</option><option value="ru">Russian</option><option value="sr">Serbian</option><option value="sk">Slovak</option><option
value="sl">Slovenian</option><option value="es">Spanish</option><option value="sw">Swahili</option><option value="sv">Swedish</option><option value="th">Thai</option><option
value="tr">Turkish</option><option value="uk">Ukrainian</option><option value="ur">Urdu</option><option value="vi">Vietnamese</option><option value="cy">Welsh</option><option
value="yi">Yiddish</option></select>
English (auto-detected) » English

Dual boot Windows 7 (64) and Arch Linux (64) problems

Hello:
I am new to Arch Linux and just finished installing the 64bit on my laptop. It had a prebuilt Windows 7 (64) installed which I kept but split the hdd from 160Gb to 80Gb and 80Gb. I installed Arch there and set 4 partitions, all of them as Logical - a 64 MB ext2 /boot partition; a 512 MB swap partition; a 15 GB root partition; and the rest as my /home partition. My partitions look like this:
Disk Drive: /dev/sda
Size: 160041885696 bytes, 160.0 GB
Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 19457
Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size (MB)
sda1 Primary Unknown (27) 12889.02
sda2 Boot Primary NTFS 106.93
sda3 Primary NTFS [] 73915.11*
sda5 Logical Linux ext2 65.81*
sda6 Logical Linux 509.97*
sda7 Logical Linux ext2 15002.92*
sda8 Logical Linux ext2 57549.55*
The install was succesful(this was running from the core install cd) and I installed GRUB to my /boot but when I restarted it loaded Windows 7. I have used Knoppix USB disc to boot and see my Arch Linux install files and edited the /boot/gur/menu.lst file.
In Windows I installed EasyBCD 1.7.2 and tried to get NeoGrub bootloader working as a dual boot. I tried getting rid of the boot flag for Windows with cfdisk and setting it to my (Logical) sda5. That did not work. So far the only way I have booted into my Arch Linux install has been by going to the Live CD, choosing "Boot from Existing Linux Install" and editing the command files there.
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro
initrd /kernel26.img
My goal is to get a dual boot working for Windows 7 and Arch Linux 64 and continue installing the Xorg and KDE to Arch. I just don't know what the problem is here. I don't mind reinstalling Arch if something went wrong, but I would like to keep my Windows running in order and add Arch on.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I ran the LiveCD and chose "Install to MBR hd0". I ended up with this:
setup hd(0,1)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists.....yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5" exists.....yes
Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd0,1)".....failed(this is not fatal)
Running "embed /boot/grub/iso9660_stage1_5 (hd16)".....failed(this is not fatal)
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 d (hd0,1) /boot/grub/stage2 p (hd0,1) boot/grub/menu.lst".....failed
Error 31: File is not sector aligned
My entry for Windows into the menu.lst looks like this:
# (0) Arch Linux x64
title Arch Linux x64
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
initrd /kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux x64
title Arch Linux x64 Fallback
root (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/3841273c-d91e-41d6-9dbf-716a15d03a01 ro
initrd /kernel26-fallback.img
# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Problem dual booting Windows 8 and windows 7 G480

I bought new laptop g480 and it comes with windows 8 single language and I want to dual boot it with windows 7 Ultimate. So I create one partition 50 Gig using Minitool Partition Wizard, after that I boot into USB device ( I've bootable Windows 7 USB and already disable secure boot in BIOS). The process went fine until it ask me where to install the windows, so I choose the partition 50 Gig I created before but I get this message "Windows cannot be installed to this disk of the GPT partition style". Help me guys how to solve this problem, I've searched solution for this but non of them seems working for me. Step by step will be good for me. I hope to get quick reply for this because I've this problem since 2 days ago and never get solution .
Thank you.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi @CharlyAR
I tried your solution before I posted the message here but it didn't work but then I give it try again and I manage to install the Windows 7 ultimate. Now my pc dual boot with windows 7 and windows 8 (windows 8 is the main OS).
p.s. This is important guys, if u want to make windows 7 bootable USB by following the tutorial on youtube it wont work if you pc/laptops is pure GPT (UEFI) because most of them using MBR to make the tutorial thats why it look easy and works for them, it's almost same but there's "add-on" with GPT mode. You have to make the windows 7 bootable USB in GPT (UEFI) mode or it wont let you install. I couldn't find tutorial for this GPT mode on youtube.
All I do is search my old DVD-RW and erase it and I follow the tutorial here, same what @CharlyAR told me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rRsQGew28

Problems dual booting Windows Vista with Oracle Enterprise Linux 4

I tried dual booting my sony laptop which came pre installed with windows Vista,After a successful installation,windows Vista boots fine,but Oracle enterprise linux just stops booting at this point " Starting Udev...................................................(OK)
Initializing hardware....Storage network"
It's posibly a hardware compatibility problem but I dont know why I get stuck at this point.Can anyone help please?

hi,
r u getting this error while installing oel or after installation?
which version of oel u r installing?
u may get this error probably due to hard disk (usually sata) compatility with linux.
--Regards
Xaheer

Problem with dual boot after upgrade to Mountain lion

Hello Every One,
I have a Macbook pro from 2009 which had dual boot option Windows 7 + Snow Leopard.
The windows 7 had 2 partitions (C; and D: an extended partition).
I upgraded the OS X to Mountain lion. after upgrade the system showed 3 options at boot time. Mac, Windows and a recovery partition.
when i boot to windows the D: drive is gone...I mean even though i can see the partition in partition software, windows 7 stopped showing D: in "My computer".
So i used testdisk utility to get the D: drive back and now when i boot to mountain Lion i am able to access both C:(BOOTCAMP) and D: drives.
but now the problem is during boot time my Mac Book pro doesn't show the windows option.
Can some suggest a means to boot into windows 7? Also what is the purpose of recovery partition that Mountain lion adds to the system? I mean is it going to hurt if i get rid of it so that i can go back to my old configuration of 3 primary partitions (1 for windows 7 ...C: bootcamp + MountainLion) + 1 extended partition for D:
any help would be appreciated?
Regards

Ragu79 wrote:
Also what is the purpose of recovery partition that Mountain lion adds to the system? I mean is it going to hurt if i get rid of it
Leave it: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

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