Dual-system Windows and Ubuntu

Question

I did dual boot with Windows 7 & Ubuntu 14.04. I get both in boot menu but can't boot into Windows 7. The primary drive where Windows 7 was configured now shows to be logical drive with all files in it. How to resolve it ?

This is what it shows:

irshad@irshad-desktop:~$ lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk     
├─sda1   8:1    0  58.6G  0 part /media/irshad/B2E08E69E08E339F    
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part     
├─sda5   8:5    0 195.3G  0 part /media/irshad/8E90A6A690A6946D    
├─sda6   8:6    0 182.8G  0 part /media/irshad/7650B08250B04B1F   
├─sda7   8:7    0    25G  0 part /   
└─sda8   8:8    0     4G  0 part     
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom

I tried to run update-grub but I get the following result.

$ sudo update-grub 
Generating grub configuration file ... 
/etc/grub.d/06_custom: 31: /etc/grub.d/06_custom: function: not found 
/etc/grub.d/06_custom: 34: /etc/grub.d/06_custom: save_env: not found 
/etc/grub.d/06_custom: 36: /etc/grub.d/06_custom: Syntax error: "}" unexpected

Please run lsblk command inside Ubuntu and edit your question including it's output. — Danatela, Oct 09 '14 at 08:41
@KasiyA: no errors.........when i try to boot win 7, it just goes black and again returns to boot menu. That sda1 is considered to be media.........how to change it to primary drive ? — gambler420, Oct 09 '14 at 08:58
No no wait..... Did you install windows7 after ubuntu? or not — αғsнιη, Oct 09 '14 at 09:04
@KasiyA: no i dint. I installed ubuntu from win 7.now ubuntu works but not win 7 — gambler420, Oct 09 '14 at 09:08
@KasiyA: Yes, i saw some forum and followed. it was last week. Sry forgot to mention i edited grub. i dont e1 know what i followed.......i dont e1 have link......sry for your troubles man........ — gambler420, Oct 09 '14 at 09:21
You should try to restore Windows bootloader then to restore GRUB. Boot from Windows Rescue CD and run bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot then follow advices in this article. — Danatela, Oct 09 '14 at 09:27
@Danatela: i dont have win 7 rescue cd. Can i use rescue cd from someelse's pc ?? — gambler420, Oct 09 '14 at 09:29
You can use Windows Installation media. It can be either DVD or USB stick. And of coarse you can use any official Windows 7 rescue CD you can find because it doesn't rewrite it's product key. — Danatela, Oct 09 '14 at 09:34
It seems the first is the right one… Second should work only in Windows. And I'd not place torrent links here. You can get in trouble. — Danatela, Oct 09 '14 at 09:56

αғsнιη · Answer 1 · 2017-08-12T18:49:09.660

2

Boot your system using windows 7 installation CD to fix your Windows boot first.

Go to "repair your system" after selecting your language from first dialog.
use command prompt (Troubleshoot ► Advanced Options ► Command Prompt)
type bootrec /fixboot then hit enter
type bootrec /fixmbr then hit enter

THEN boot from Ubuntu live CD/USB and do below steps to restore your grub:

Open a Terminal (use Ctlr+Alt+T)
Mount /dev/sda7 (this one you can get from lsblk where root / partition mounted in) by the following commands: (run one by one)
```
sudo mount /dev/sda7 /mnt
for i in /sys /proc /run /dev;do sudo mount --bind "$i" "/mnt$i";done
sudo chroot /mnt
```
And run below command to install grub to main partition /dev/sda:
```
grub-install /dev/sda
```
Update grub and exit and reboot your system.
```
update-grub
exit
sudo reboot
```

edited Aug 12 '17 at 18:49

answered Oct 09 '14 at 09:39

αғsнιη

35,660

my win 7 files are in "dev/sda1 /".......should i still continue to as "dev/sda 7/ mnt" ? and sda 7 is where ubuntu is installed. and i dont think it will have enough space. – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 09:42
@gambler420 yes Of course! but you need fix your windows first then try to restore grub – αғsнιη Oct 09 '14 at 09:44
so with your method i will uninstall ubuntu and restore with win 7 ? – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 09:46
@gambler420 NOooooo I said Use windows 7 installation CD and repair its boot then use Ubuntu installation cd(Select "Try Ubuntu without installation") and restore your Ubuntu Grub boot loader. you don't need to unistall Ubuntu – αғsнιη Oct 09 '14 at 09:48
will either of these torrent files help me as win 7 recovery disc ? https://kickass.to/windows-7-and-windows-vista-recovery-discs-x86-x64-by-kailash-t5382543.html https://kickass.to/kaspersky-rescue-disk-10-0-32-17-windowsunlocker-1-2-2-usb-rescue-disk-maker-1-0-0-7-12-1-2014-rar-t8571855.html – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 09:50
You don't have windows 7 .iso image file? – αғsнιη Oct 09 '14 at 09:53
nope. i installed win 7 like a year b4 – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 09:54
@gambler420 'um use https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair I couldn't open your links – αғsнιη Oct 09 '14 at 10:23
this is the link i got after running repair boot "paste.ubuntu.com/8527832/". – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 16:49
@gambler420 Still you can not boot Windows 7? – αғsнιη Oct 09 '14 at 16:55
was away till now......trying now – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 17:24
Finally booted win 7 with "Testdisk"........thx to you mate for all your help. – gambler420 Oct 09 '14 at 17:49

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 10 '14 at 11:39

At last I booted win 7 by using Testdisk. Link to solution if anyone has problem in booting windows even thought all the files are present/intact.

If you have damaged the boot sector of one of your partitions (e.g. by installing GRUB in it by mistake), you may have troubles. For example, if it is a Windows partition, you will not be able to boot into Windows any more.

Remark: if you have this problem, Boot-Repair should automatically warn and tell you the name (eg sda2) of the broken partition.

Here is how to repair it:

Via an Ubuntu disc

Step 1 - Boot on a liveCD or liveUSB

Boot your computer on a Ubuntu live-CD or live-USB, then choose "Try Ubuntu".

Step 2 - Install TestDisk in the live-session

Once in the Ubuntu live session, install TestDisk this way:

Connect internet
Open the Software Center, in the top bar click Edit -> Software Sources -> enable the Universe repository

Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type :

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y testdisk && sudo testdisk

Step 3 - Use TestDisk

Via the arrows and the Enter key, go to the [No log] menu,
then select the disk where the broken partition is,
then select [Proceed],
then choose the type of partition (generally [Intel]),
then[Advanced],

then select the broken partition with [Boot], it will display something like :

Boot sector
Status: Bad

Backup boot sector
Status: OK

Sectors are not identical.

A valid NTFS Boot sector must be present in order to access
any data; even if the partition is not bootable.

[  List  ]  [Backup BS]  [Rebuild BS]  [  Dump  ]

Check that you have "Status ok" below "Backup boot sector"
select [Backup BS].

Done

Via a Windows disc

This method is only able to fix the bootsector of a Windows partition.

Get a Windows recovery disk, as explained on this page
Boot on it, and use the 'fixboot' command (not the 'fixmbr' one). This should fix the bootsector of Windows.

source: Ubuntu official documentation