Ubuntu install overtakes my bootloader

[pmonett]

Interesting little problem since I installed Ubuntu 9.1 (64-bit).

I had Windows 7 and XP on disk 0, boot options managed properly by the Windows 7 boot utility.

That still works, ironically enough (see below).

For educational purposes, I installed Ubuntu. Thinking that I still have 140GB unallocated on disk 0, I was expecting to install it there, but Ubuntu didn't give me the choice (hey, are they getting inspired by some well-known software behemoth ?) and installed itself on disk 2. The only choice I had was to indicate that I wanted a side-by-side installation. Worse, Ubuntu clearly indicated that there was an existing Windows installation, and the graphic it showed clearly made it look like Ubuntu would install _next_ to Windows - thus I fully expected the same disk would be used, but no dice.

Now, when I boot, I get a first options screen with no less than 4 lines for Ubuntu (two different version numbers and two choices for each version), followed by two lines for Win7 and XP.

The problem for me is that Ubuntu has clearly decided that it is the main operating system (wrong) and its loader (on disk 2 I guess) loads it automatically if I am not there to choose Windows.
To add insult to injury, if I do choose Win 7, I then get the Win 7 boot options, as things were before I installed Ubuntu.

Now I've checked quite a few web pages about Grub, and how to edit the menu.lst file. The problem with that is that I can find no /boot/menu.lst, nor can I find a /boot/grub/menu.lst file.
So I don't know where to edit those options, clean up the list and get Win 7 back to the initial loading option.

What I would like to do is basically do away with Ubuntu's loader, and have Win 7 do the boot options as before, because, supreme irony, I know how to modify the boot options in Win 7.

So could someone help me sort out this little mess ?

Thanks,

Pascal.

I've got nothing to hide, and I'd very much like to keep that away from prying eyes.

 

[flyboytim]

I think this is the wrong area for these problems. You might get better answers here:

http://tek-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=619

or on the support forum for the Ubuntu version you installed.

In most cases, you will end up doing a repair install of Windows 7 after uninstalling the grub bootloader from Linux and then deleting the Linux partitions.

If you want a version of Linux that cohabits with windows, check out the Linux distrowatch. Winlinux springs to mind. It was once available in older versions of Ubuntu on live CD, using Wubi, but instabilities mean it was left out since versions released in 2008, I think. I may be wrong but Gutsy-Gibbon may have worked this way.

No Ubuntu version I have ever used is as stable as XP or Win7. Expect it to freeze on occasions, like Windows 98 used to.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[BadBigBen]

Ubuntu as far as I know, uses the newer GRUB2 Bootloader, thus you would not find a MENU.LST file...

take a closer look at:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

and if you want to boot from the Windows 7 boot manager, then take a look at:

http://blog.norbert-klose.de/?p=103

this might be of interest, as well:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm?page=4

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[Noway2]

Bigbadben is right about grub2 and the menu.lst and that should solve that problem.

I would like to comment on the partitioning issue you had. Ubuntu is developed with the mindset of being friendly towards the beginner. Many people who might want to give it a try would run screaming for the hills when faced with having to shrink their Windows partition and create a set of custom partitions for Linux. Consequently, the default path in Ubuntu will be one that should be, at least relatively, safe and in your case that was installing to the second drive. You can opt to manually partition the drives and then create the partitions you want and place Ubuntu in them. I don't recall the exact commands steps off hand because it has been over a year since I have performed this operation, but I think it is either the manual or advance option.

I would also like to comment on this subject:

No Ubuntu version I have ever used is as stable as XP or Win7

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Flyboytim, at least to a degree. While my personal experience with Ubuntu is that it is considerably more stable than Windows XP (I haven't used 7 much), it is starting to show some cracks around the edges. I suspect a lot of this has to do with the aggressive release cycle of every six months come hell or high water, a package system that tends to install a lot of optional dependencies automatically, and a design that is tending towards hiding the details from the user by default to make things beginner friendly.

If you are more interested in a personalized Linux experience, you might want to consider a distribution such as Gentoo or Slackware which put more of the choices in your hands.