cant boot windows

[petzoldt01]

I currently have both linux and windows installed. I can boot linux just fine, but when i attempt to boot windows, i get something like this (this may not be word for word, but its close)

chainloader (hd0, 0)

cannot find NTLDR (or NLTDR)
Press CLT-ALT-DEL to Restart

Is this a problem with windows or a problem with GRUB, and how do I fix that.

BTW, it was pretty random, my computer was working fine, I turn it off for the weekend and it windows wont boot on Monday.

Thanks.

[Chaky]

That sounds more like a hardware or BIOS setup related issue.

May be that your HD developed a bad sector in bood area of HD. You would also have random time delays when accessing files. To rule this out run scandisk with all options checked (takes a lot of time to complete, but will first run the surface scan in boot area).

Also can be a CMOS battery failing (occures when PC is turned off for a long period of time), making your bios look for a HD using wrong settings (not the settings that were previously saveed) upon boot. Possibly displaying "corrupt CMOS" or "media failure" error.

[BinaryMayhem]

hmmm, maybe those files just got corrupted... could be virus, spyware... or something. find your windows cd... boot from it...
when prompted... hit R for recovery console. load that, and login
once you login and get to the C:\windows or what ever... type in

bootcfg /rebuild

(this will recopy all those missing dll's, exe's or what not)
let that run....at the end it will ask you if you want to modify boot.ini and the like... hit N for what ever pops up. when its complete... take out cd... and reboot. all should work fine!

[DMR]

this may not be word for word, but its close...

You need to be very specific (and correct) when you post error messages and the like.

Please give us the full details of your partition/drive configuration, and also post the contents of your Windows C:\boot.ini file and your Grub configuration file.

[petzoldt01]

Here is the windows boot.ini

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="" 
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

here is what the screen reads when I attempt to run windows

Booting 'Windows'
chainloader (hd0,0)+1
NTLDR is missing
Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart

I looked in my boot partition and found a folder named grub, but there were no config files that i saw. There was one config file in my boot partition, but i think that belongs to linux. If you could tell me where to look for the grub config file, i will post it.

Also, I used the recovery console on the Windows XP CD, and followed your directions, and I still get the same message as before

[petzoldt01]

I found the grub config file. Everything is great on it for the linux options, and under windows it says

##Do not change this yatta yatta##
Windows
chainloader (hd0,0)+1

It also says that the last time this file was modified was May 28, and interestingly enough, that is when I discovered I could no longer boot windows. So, how do I make sure that grub is being pointed in the correct direction. How do I make sure that (hd0,0)+1 is where windows is located.

[petzoldt01]

ok, I am kinda new to linux, so maybe you can explain some things to me and in the process solve my problem.

First, I found an article saying that if you get the missing NTLDR message, there are a number of things to try, one of which is putting a new copy of it into the root windows partition. So, i find a copy of it, and when i try to copy it, I get a message saying that i dont have access to the hard drive ( I was doing all of this through linux, while logged in as root) How do I change that, I have read permission, just not write.

Also I thought now would be a good time to mention that I have windows installed on one 80 gig hd, then linux and a storage partition are all on a 250 gig hd. I can view the hd that windows is installed on just fine, but i guess that isnt to say its not corrupted. Can linux read and write to a ntfs partition all right, or is that why i am having problems copying files from linux to windows.

Also, I tried to use the recovery console to copy the files fromt he XP CD, and i cant find the drive letter its on. D is currently a raw partition on my 250 gig hard drive, E is my little storage partition, and when i try F, i get a message saying i dont have permission. wtf is going on

If anyone can answer any of the questions above, id be grateful

[DMR]

D is currently a raw partition on my 250 gig hard drive, E is my little storage partition, and when i try F, i get a message saying i dont have permission. wtf is going on

When dealing with problems like this, you need to be very specific about your drive and partition designations. Knowing the following details would help in this case:
* Which IDE position (Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, or Secondary slave) is each drive on.
* Which exact partition each operating system and/or filesystem is on (hda1, hda2, hdb1, C:, D:, etc).

Can linux read and write to a ntfs partition all right, or is that why i am having problems

That's the problem, yes. Linux natively fully supports reading NTFS, but, as NTFS is a proprietary and complex filesystem, full write support is more difficult to accomplish. Although write support can be added, the function is still not perfect or foolproof, so most (all?) distros do not enable the ability in their shipped product.

Your grub.conf file looks a bit mangled.
The normal stanza for booting a Windows installation which exists on the first Primary partition of a Primary Master drive ("C:\" in Windows, "hd(0,0)" in grub, "hda1" in Linux) would be as follows:

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

[Chaky]

Also, I tried to use the recovery console to copy the files fromt he XP CD, and i cant find the drive letter its on. D is currently a raw partition on my 250 gig hard drive, E is my little storage partition, and when i try F, i get a message saying i dont have permission.

It is possible that the CD has designated drive letter D if it is vacant.
You could try (from recovery console) this:

Copy D:\I386\NTLDR C:\NTLDR
Copy D:\I386\NTDETECT.COM C:\NTDETECT.COM

Giving that D is CD drive letter.

[petzoldt01]

Thanks guys. Turns out my dvd drive was letter H due to all the partitions I made on my 250 gig HD, and the first time I had tried, I quit when I got up to letter F because I thought something was screwed up. Everything works fine after I copied those two files. Any thoughts on what caused that to happen in the first place so it doesnt happen again.