[oclug] Help - Lost my NT

[Doug Wilger]

On Monday 08 January 2001 12:50, you wrote:
> Hi, I hope someone can answer a question for a complete Linux Newbie.
> I installed Mandrake Linux on a partition of my NT machine (NT is on the
> first partition). Now I cannot boot NT. I have read the HOW-TO's and I have
> added the entry to lilo.conf for windows to boot from /dev/hda1, but when I
> select this option at startup, it seems to try for a second or two ( the
> last line of output is "stage_1 stage_2" ) and then it goes back to the
> Lilo screen. What did I do wrong, and can I rescue NT somehow?
> Thanks
>

Yeah, been there.  The NT bootloader and LILO both want to be in the MBR.  On 
my Win2k/Linux laptop, I've got LILO on a floppy.

Note that the following instructions are from my less than reliable memory, 
but with that in mind:

1) Build and TEST a rescue or LILO floppy.  MAKE SURE THAT IT WILL BOOT YOUR 
LINUX PARTITION PROPERLY BEFORE YOU CONTINUE!

2) Get your NT install CD, and start the install process.

3) Choose repair a damaged NT install at the appropriate time.

4) At some point, you'll get the option to restore/repair the MBR.  Only do 
this - unselect anything else that is selected.

5) Follow along until reboot.

After this, the machine will boot to NT - which is where your boot disk from 
step one comes in.

All that being said, I think I've heard that there is a way to configure GRUB 
to boot NT, although I've never tried it.  I've also heard that it's possible 
to edit the NT BOOT.INI file to add Linux to the NT boot menu - never tried 
that either.  I'd assume that you need to put LILO in the superblock of your 
Linux partition - again, never tried it.

Doug