I am a beginner with Linux and I had a bad inspiration to try a quick Ubuntu installation without reading properly about it first.  I found a tutorial and have installed Ubuntu on my laptop (Gateway NV56R30u) alongside preinstalled Windows 8. I made a recovery disk first of my Windows 8 and saved it on a 8GB USB flash drive (it used 2.6 GB of it).  The installation of Ubuntu went flawlessly. After reboot it started with that screen with Ubuntu logo on it, but no GRUB screen as expected, where there should have been the option to choose between Windows and Ubuntu. I tried to find a solution for my problem and found that I need a Boot Repair. I used boot repair several attempts but it partially solved my problem. I now start with a GRUB welcome screen, but there is still no option to choose Windows.    Here you can also see my .  Analyzing what I've done wrong I found that I made a huge mistake with partitioning. I have a 1TB HDD, which I have partitioned as shown in the below screenshot. I believe I am the only idiot on this planet who has ever done this.    I could use the recovery drive to backup Windows, but I've got these questions, which may look stupid, but I would appreciate some good answers:   How bad can affect my data from HDD my "genius" way of partitioning? Is it reversible?   Considering the way I have done the partitioning, if I decide to use the recovery drive to repair Windows, what are my chances to have a good result, without losing all my data? I think it's a pipe dream.   I have searched lots of forums and I realized that the TestDisk application may help me to figure out if I have messed up my hard disk. After using TestDisk I've got some results (you can see them in this ), but I don't really know how to interpret them.  Ideally I would have these priorities to solve this problem:   Plan A: It would be great to make the dual boot work, so I could use both systems.   Plan B: In case plan A fails, I then prefer to come back to Windows and to be able to recover at least drive D (with the most important data) and C, if possible.  Plan C: To recover the major part of my data.
285
I have a Toshiba satellite A-200 laptop with a Vista OS on it with 4 NTFS partitions  (C:) Vista  (D:) Entertainment  (E:) Work  (F:) Sources   and I wanted to start using Ubuntu instead. So I tried it first from the live CD and everything was OK and all the partitions were shown and working and so I decided to install Ubuntu to replace Vista on the (C:) drive. After I did that I can no longer find my folders and files on the (D:), (E:), (F:) partitions and the only file system that is shown is one 198 GB although my HDD is 320 GB.  I can't access the lost data on the remaining 120 GB which I hope is still there and not totally lost  I am now working from the live CD but I am unable to install testdisk. Can I recover the Vista partitions by the product recovery CD to get my laptop back to the factory settings? Can I recover the NTFS partitions using a recovery program for Windows or will that make the problem worse?   I need these data badly as I don't have a backup for them.
79211
I installed windows 8.1 on my new laptop (which came with freedos), I later tried to dual boot the pc with ubuntu 14.04 (with legacy mode). I didn't get an option to install alongside windows 8 so I went with "something else" option. I created the root and swap partitions and then installed ubuntu. Everything went fine while installation. But after rebooting it directly boots into ubuntu, it does not show the GRUB menu for choosing between ubuntu and windows.   After using 'fixmbr' in the windows installation disc, I can now boot into windows but cannot boot to ubuntu. I deleted the linux partition and tried to the above again but I ended with the same problem.  So I was thinking if there was a solution like a command or something which could make GRUB identify the windows partition and give an option to boot to it.  (if it may help, my windows is installed in legacy mode(as in BIOS mode).. if I disable legacy mode the laptop does not boot into any os and it asks for an EFI file to boot from. Also my liveusb boots only through UEFI mode. When I boot it in normal/BIOS mode it shows a blinking '_' )  Please help guys.. I need both the OSes for my projects. And I need them fast.  Thanx in advance..
114100
I bought my PC with Windows 10 on it, later installing Ubuntu for dual-booting. Recently, I wanted to replace the HDD inside with an SSD of the same size, so I copied all the partitions to the SSD (GPT partitioning) using GParted and installed the SSD in the laptop. On startup, GRUB is loaded and I can:  Boot Ubuntu normally Select the &quot;Windows Boot Manager on /boot/sda1 or select bootmgfw.efi manually, however it loads a Recovery BSOD, stating the following with options to access the recovery environment (F1) or boot parameters (F8) but those don't work (same screen): File: \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi is missing or broken Error code: 0xc000000e    As I understand it, Windows Boot Manager is loaded but cannot find the Windows boot loader (probably because not looking into the right partition), so what I need to do is give the right partition to the boot loader, but I have no idea how to do that. How do I fix this, preferably something that can be done from Linux and doesn't involve a reinstall of Windows?
54916
It's my first time installing ubuntu. I have Windows 7 and 8 before in my laptop (Acer Aspire 4752z). After Ubuntu (12.04) installed in my laptop, the Windows boot loader didn't recognize my Ubuntu so I updated grub from a live USB.   And after grub updated, Ubuntu was booting perfectly but my Windows wasn't listed in the grub menu. So I follow someone instruction to update grub again. And after reboot, the grub menu didn't show anymore.   After searching about this problem on the net and trying to update grub again and again, I decided to delete the Ubuntu partition from live USB. And shortly after, I booted to Windows with Hiren boot and I used mbrfix. But i think it failed. Now i cant show my BIOS setup or boot from DVD or USB.   After that, the only screen i can see after booting is:  error: unknown filesystem grub rescue&gt;
12643
First some background: I have dual-boot Windows 7 / Ubuntu 13.04 on Lenovo laptop. As I did the installation about 1.5 years ago and was then even more un-savvy linux user than I am now, I can't recall everything I did to get both OSes up and running. However, I do remember that it was quite troublesome procedure (running boot-repair at least once).  Now I'm considering trying another linux distro in addition to Ubuntu (most likely Arch), and this time I'd like to do it in a way that I have an idea what I'm doing (and possibly learn more about 'inner workings' of linux distros).  So that's enough for the background. Now my question is: How do I get information on what is my current grub / boot-loader configuration?  This seems to be first and quite separate issue to consider before even dreaming about installing a third OS and more advanced messing with partitions and boot.
19647
Long story short, my Ubuntu partition and my Windows 8 partition had a fight, and they both lost. I have a computer booting nothing at the moment. So I'm trying to figure out how to get a clean-install of Windows 8 on my laptop. The usual refresh/reset features are out. There are no backups. Recovery partitions are gone.  Ideally, I need a Windows 8 (not Pro) ISO to install, but despite my searches, I cannot seem to find one. Anyone have any ideas how I can reset my PC and install Windows 8 again?
120087
I plan to install Ubuntu 13.04 alongside Windows 8, and I'm looking for a CLEAR answer on how to conduct partitioning appropriately.    I'm very new to all of this so a thorough explanation with minimal jargon would be great.  I have an Acer Aspire M5 x64 with 6G RAM.  I think I already figured out how to deal with the fast startup, UEFI and SecureBoot issues (I disabled fast startup and disabled Secure Boot).  I am able to boot into Ubuntu from a LiveUSB, and I think I am ready to install Ubuntu. Note - despite some advice found here, I do have to disable SecureBoot to boot 13.04 from my LiveUSB.  From what I have read here, it seems that I should (at least at first) create the partitions from WITHIN Windows 8, not from the LiveUSB, to avoid reported problems.  I have run compmgmt.msc and I see the existing partitions.  I see the following:  Disk 0:  400 MB Recovery; 300 MB EFI System; Acer (C:) 444.95 GB (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition); 20 GB Recovery  Disk 1:  3.74 GB Primary Partition; 14.90 GB Primary Partition  I gather I need to create a mounting point '/' Partition (??), a swap partition, and a home partition.   Please explain what these are, how big they should be, how I create them from Windows Disk Management, and anything else I need to know.    Eventually, I plan to fully replace Windows 8 with Ubuntu, but for now I want to run alongside Windows 8 and not screw things up.  I don't have any critical files saved on this computer yet.  Thanks.
13109
I have an Ubuntu 12.04 / Windows 7 dual boot. After installing Ubuntu my computer reboots straight to Windows. There is no option to boot Ubuntu.  Specs:   OS: Windows 7 Home Premium     CPU: Intel i5 2500k     mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro     GPU: GeForce GTX 570      SSD: Corsair 120GB (Windows 7)     HDD: WD 1TB      I select the USB drive in the BIOS and boot to it and choose install. I select to manually configure partitions, partition the 200 GB of unallocated space on my 1 TB HDD into 16 GB swap file, 30 GB / ext4, and 154 GB /home ext4.   I made sure that the bootloader is installed on the Corsair 120GB SSD (where the Windows boot is) and the installation goes smoothly.  When I reboot after the install it runs through the BIOS straight into Windows. I have tried upwards of a dozen times and I have also tried with Linux Mint. I have also redownloaded the ISO and used two different programs to create the live USB.   The installation seems to have gone well, as after the installation I can see the partitions I have created in Windows Device Manager.       I currently run Lubuntu on my laptop, but it is not a dual boot. I'm assuming this is a bootloader issue and I am assuming that inside those partitioned files in my screenshot there is a working Ubuntu 12.04. I just have no way of getting to it.    Update: (copied from comment)  I booted using my Ubuntu live USB and used the Boot-Repair tool suggested in .   Upon opening the tool I saw that it was recognizing my SSD as a removable drive and defaulting to install on the HDD. Once I realized that I was able to force install onto the SSD. My computer can now boot Ubuntu.
20408
I'm very new with Ubuntu and generally with linux. I saw ubuntu and it seems like this OS is really good and stable, and so I decided to install it alongside my windows 7 OS.  I have a few problems with the installation. Here is what I did:   I downloaded the 64bit version from Ubuntu official website, and burned it on a dvd. I set the boot sequence to first load from my CD-Rom. Ubuntu installation started, and I chose "Install Ubuntu" in the menu. (where there is also a "Try Ubuntu" option) I clicked forward until I got into the installation type screen    As you can see, the installation wont show my actual details about my hard drive! I have 1 hard drive with 750 GB - 80 GB - My main drive with windows 7 OS 600GB - All of my stuff 20GB Free space that I saved for Ubuntu But the installation wont show that!
96069
I have extremely important stuff on my windows partition which during the ubuntu 10.10 installation,when it said that I should create something called swap space, I selected it to be a swap space (without even knowing what it actually meant)  The Grub2 doesn't show up so I don't get a choice to boot Ubuntu or Windows. I don't get my windows partition as a removable device in Ubuntu either. When I go to disk utility and select the sda2 (i.e.. my windows partition) and click edit partition and select HPFS/NTFS for the type and tick bootable and click OK the small processing sign keep on rotating on the bottom right of the sda2 in the chart and after about 10 to 15 minutes it gives an unknown error and thus, I am still unable to use my windows.  I am even worse than a beginner who doesn't know a thing about Ubuntu so please be patient and help me out.
115047
So i'm trying to install Ubuntu on my laptop, it seems to work fine until it tries to install grub. I haven't seen progress the past hour and this is the second attempt.  I'm trying to install 13.10, using a Linux Live USB. I don't care about the contents of the laptop.   I've been trying to find instructions about installing grub before starting the installation, hoping that would solve my issues, but I came up empty.  Laptop is 2 years old, it used to run dual-boot windows 7 and Ubuntu. I'm now doing a fresh install of just Ubuntu.  I hope anyone knows how I can find out why it is happening.
68093
I'm new to how Ubuntu works and installed it yesterday alongside Windows 7, but in doing so I have created a few problems. I have partitions for Windows, Ubuntu, System Recovery, and storage for all my files with the intention to access them on either OS, but I don't even see all of my drives listed on Home Folder. Not to mention that  during the Ubuntu instillation I managed to screw up any chance of booting to the Windows side of things at all. I'll fix Windows once I get my hands on a copy in a couple days, but in the mean time any suggestions for accessing my files?  If you need me to find any data about my computer to help you figure out what's wrong with it, please don't hesitate to tell me what I need to show you. Thanks
7344
So I installed Ubuntu 12.04 alongside Windows XP, and I played with it for a like an hour. When I wanted to go back to Windows, I chose the Windows option in the GRUB screen. It just gives a black screen and goes back to grub. I tried boot-repair as I've seen in some other post that it could resolve the problem, but it's all the same. Nothing changed. I can use Ubuntu but not Windows. Can someone please tell me how I can solve this? Thanks.
11738
I have Windows 8 Release Customer Preview on my laptop. I tried to install Ubuntu on it with Ubuntu Windows installer (I have always used this to install, although that was on Windows 7), it installs and asks to reboot, then immediately Windows 8 boots up.  I do not have the option to choose what OS to boot. How can I boot to Ubuntu? VM is not exactly what I would like to use, but it is an option, however a last resort. Any help?
100815
I've read several answers to related questions here, but have not found one that matches my situation.  I assisted a colleague to reinstall Windows 7 from a recovery partition. We then booted into Windows, shrank the Windows partition (/dev/sda3) and the installed Ubuntu 12.04 (we partitioned the remaining space into / (sda5), /home (sda6), /swap (sda7) and free space for another Windows drive later.) I specified GRUB to install to /dev/sda. /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 were recovery/system partitions.  After rebooting, grub showed the Ubuntu boot options in the menu, and an option for a Windows recovery on /dev/sda1 and a similar one for /dev/sda2. It did not show an entry for Windows 7 on /dev/sda3. I booted into Ubuntu and ran sudo update-grub, but this failed to detect Windows on /dev/sda3. I checked the contents of /dev/sda3 and Windows is still there.  I hope I can resolve this soon, as this is not a good first impression of an LTS release to someone who has just decided to start using Ubuntu/GNU/Linux!
797
I'm absolutely new to Linux. I would like to know how to install Ubuntu alongside the pre-installed Windows 8+ OS.  Should I do it with Wubi, or through the Live USB/DVD?  What steps do I need to take to correctly install Ubuntu?
12970
I installed Ubuntu (I had already had Windows 8.1) from USB (I still have live Ubuntu on it). Is there a way I can uninstall Ubuntu in a way that my Windows will remain bootable? All the tutorials I have seen say that uninstalling ubuntu will delete GRUB also so I will need a Windows recovery CD to boot into it, but I don't have one. Is there a solution?