Member Avatar for Zyan17

i have windows xp pro on my pc and recently installed ubuntu 7.10 but when i try to boot up the xp partition the screen just goes to starting up... and never boots into windows. i can still use ubuntu and view all my files on the windows partition but i can't boot into windows any help would be extremely grateful.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

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The black screen with a small “Starting Up...” message usually means Windows gets as far as the very early boot stage and then stalls. Common non‑destructive causes are missing/corrupt Windows boot files, the Windows partition not set active, or NTFS filesystem errors; more invasive causes are an overwritten MBR or a corrupt partition table. described the exact symptom; replies from and touched on loader/repair paths. Try the checklist below before reinstalling.

From Ubuntu you can inspect and often fix the obvious issues without touching the MBR. Identify and mount the Windows partition, then verify the presence of the boot files and run a lightweight NTFS check:

sudo fdisk -l
lsblk -f
sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt
ls /mnt        # look for NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, boot.ini
sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda1

Notes: ntfsfix is not a full chkdsk replacement — it fixes some common NTFS issues but you should run chkdsk from Windows/Recovery Console if possible. Use parted or GParted to confirm the Windows partition has the "boot" (active) flag set.

If the partition and files look OK, the problem can be GRUB not chainloading the Windows boot sector correctly. For older GRUB (Ubuntu 7.10 era) a working menu entry looks like:

title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

If you must use the XP Recovery Console (more intrusive) to run fixboot/fixmbr, be prepared to restore GRUB afterward from an Ubuntu live CD. Always back up important data first; if unsure, capture a disk image or get help — repairing boot records can be quick, but mistakes cost data.

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Member Avatar for pty

i have windows xp pro on my pc and recently installed ubuntu 7.10 but when i try to boot up the xp partition the screen just goes to starting up... and never boots into windows. i can still use ubuntu and view all my files on the windows partition but i can't boot into windows any help would be extremely grateful.

'starting up' ?

Do you mean the Windows loading screen?

If it gets to the 'Loading Windows XP' screen you may need to do a system repair with an XP disk.

If it doesn't get as far as the windows screen (which I suspect is the case) GRUB is not set up correctly. There are lots of threads about this on

Member Avatar for Zyan17

thanks... no it doesn't get to the windows screen at all its just all black and with white letters saying 'Starting Up...' in the top left corner.. i'll go check out those other forums though.

Member Avatar for SlovaKmomo

Please, can you tell me, if you started windows, and how? I have same problem, and i dont know, what to do...
Please, help me soon.
Thanks

Member Avatar for Zyan17

i think my problem was i overwrote the windows boot partition but i just ended up reinstalling xp and then reinstalling ubuntu and it worked out fine

Member Avatar for jbennet

You can fix it using recovery console on the XP cd

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