[ltp] dual boot, t22, Linux and XP

[Vijay Garla]

Hi,

I restored my Windows from the IBM Restore CDs (I have a t40p) - ibm 
wanted me to do a
restore before sending it in for repair to rule out software problems -
at any rate I popped in my hard drive mirror (c:,d:,and ext2), and 
restored into this mirror  The restore  only
touched hda1 (the C: drive) partition, and did nothing to other partions
(D: and my ext2 linux partition) or the partition table.  At any rate, I
reproduced the hardware problem with the virgin system, and IBM will now
take my laptop replace the system board.

So, to make a long story short, if you're reinstalling from the IBM
Restore CDs (they'll send 'em to you if you ask), you don't have to
worry about your MBR or partition table - it only touches the C: drive. 
  Nevertheless, back everything up before you do this.

BTW, the restore CDs - and I'm guessing rapid restore - are almost 
useless - they install the base OS, without any of the drivers required 
for all the devices: Network, WLAN, Modem are not installed - maybe on 
the harddrive somewhere but why not install before forcing the user to 
register windows online?  I can't imagine that too many windows users 
are terribly happy when they restore from a fubarred windows.

Cheers,

- vijay


Tim Prince wrote:

> Eben King wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 25 Jun 2005, Jane Ellen Jarrell wrote:
>>
>>  
>>
>>> I have both Mandrake Linux 10.1 and XP sp2 on my Thinkpad T22 type
>>> 2747.  The XP side crashed.   Every time I try to boot, it shows the
>>> blue screen.  Can I reinstall the XP without destroying the Linux?
>>>   
>>
>>
>> Sure, but it'll nuke the boot block.  Have a rescue disk ready.
>>
>>  
>>
> An alternative is to copy the boot sector to a file on the Windows C: 
> drive first, and add the entry to C:\boot.ini which invokes this 
> file.  Then you can repair Windows as often as necessary without 
> damage on the linux side.  I have seen one current version of Windows 
> which leaves my SuSE grub installation on MBR, but that's the 
> proverbial exception.