[ltp] windows won't boot on dual boot T40

[Aaron Mulder]

	If you run the recovery CDs, they'll:

 - delete the first hard drive partition

 - select the first contiguous block of unpartitioned space (e.g. the 
newly-deleted partition plus any free space formerly after it)

 - format that as a new C: drive and install to it

	However, if the recovery CDs don't think there's enough disk 
space, they'll use some funky disk compression routine, which screws up 
the entire Windows install (important hardware drivers refuse to load, 
etc.).  IIRC, you need at least 8GB to get a "clean" Windows install, and 
10GB is probably safer.  So I think, based on your partitioning below, 
that this is not an option for you.
	Note that the Windows install key on the bottom of your machine
won't work with a retail or MSDN Windows XP install CD, but it works
perfectly with a Dell Windows XP install CD.  If you install from a Dell
CD, 3GB is plenty, and you can download all the drivers and most if not
all of the pre-installed software from the IBM web site (the NIC works
with the basic XP install).

	All that aside, try fixing your boot flags and MBR as others have 
suggested before you go this far.  :)

Aaron

On Sun, 21 Dec 2003, Douglas N. Arnold wrote:
> I have installed Debian Woody on a new IBM Thinkpad T40, keeping the
> delivered Windows XP around as an alternative, but I am unable to boot
> windows.
> 
> Lilo seems OK and booting into Linux succeeds, but when I try to 
> boot into Windows I get 
> 
>   Bad system disk,
>   Replace the disk and then press any key
>   
> I can mount the windows partition under Linux (I have never booted it,
> so it hasn't been converted from FAT32 to NTFS), and it looks fine.
> 
> Any suggestions on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.  I do have
> the recovery CDs from IBM, but as best I can tell if I run the recovery
> program from them it will reformat and repartition my disk and I will
> lose the Linux installation.
> 
> Here is some background info:
> I used qtparted to partition the disk leaving Windows in
> hda1 and installing Linux in hda2 and hda4, with swap in hda3.
> fdisk reports:
> 
> Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
> 240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 10337 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes
> 
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/hda1   *           1         948     7166848+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
> /dev/hda2   *         949        1078      982800   83  Linux
> /dev/hda3            1079        1208      982800   82  Linux swap
> /dev/hda4            1209        9921    65870280   83  Linux
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for any help. -- Doug Arnold
>