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I have a problem and this isn't really my area and am not able to find a good solution.

Basically I have two Hard Disks

  • 500 G
  • 1000 G

In the 500 G HDD > I have windows running

In the 1000 G HDD > I have Ubuntu running

A couple of days back, due to high voltage my SMPS sparked out. I took it to the service center and they changed my SMPS and updated BIOS.

From then on, BIOS doesn't boot into Ubuntu (1000 G HDD) and directly boots into WINDOWS (500 G HDD).

So far:

  • The 1000 G HDD is detected by the BIOS. I can see it in the BIOS settings. I can change the boot order between the TWO HDDs

  • Using F10 I tried to boot from the 1000 G HDD and instead got a PXE error. BIOS was not able to boot from 1000G and have tried to 'Boot from Network' resulting in the error. I Disabled the 'Boot from Network' option.

  • I even disconnected 500 G HDD and tried using only the 1000 G. It simply said "Reboot and Select proper Boot device"

  • When I boot into WINDOWS, under Disk Management, I can see that the 1000 G Hard Disk is in a Good State

  • Finally I borrowed a USB with Ubuntu and booted into it. It provided the option to TRY UBUNTU without actually installing it. I used that option - logged in - and was able to see all my DATA in the 1000 G HDD intact

  • I didn't partition my 1000 G HDD when I installed Ubuntu - so all my data lies in the single partition (nearly 400 G of DATA). Hence I'm not open for Re-installing the OS (And I also think it isn't needed).

It'd be of great help if someone can point me in the correct direction through which I can boot into UBUNTU without losing my DATA.

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    I'm not entirely sure if this will fix it, but if you haven't tried it yet you can try boot-repair. Boot from the live usb again, follow the 2nd option on the site to install it, and the recommended repair right underneath that. This tool has saved my ass a couple of times before. – Peetah Nov 15 '17 at 18:01
  • You will need to go into the advanced option to avoid wiping your Windows bootloader. – Andrew Shum Nov 15 '17 at 18:08
  • Adding to previous: expand "Advanced option", select tab "GRUB locations", choose "Install Grub into:", choose your Ubuntu partition. – Andrew Shum Nov 15 '17 at 18:18
  • @AndrewShum Without knowing whether the OSes were installed in UEFI or Legacy modes you shouldn't be giving that kind of advice (and it's wrong). Up next: –  Nov 16 '17 at 02:23
  • Legacy: Only one bootloader can exist and it must be installed in the MBR of the drive with first priority in the boot order, never in the Ubuntu's partition, and, if dual booting then the original Windows bootloader has to be replaced by Grub which in turn chainloads to either the Ubuntu's or the other OS' partitions. 2. (U)EFI: Many bootloaders can coexist and all are installed in the ESP (EFI System Partition) which, again, is NOT the Ubuntu partition.
  • –  Nov 16 '17 at 02:23
  • @Krishnakumar You can follow the instructions in answers to this question: https://askubuntu.com/questions/88384/how-can-i-repair-grub-how-to-get-ubuntu-back-after-installing-windows Please note I'm not saying it's the same situation (it isn't) but solutions are the same regardless. –  Nov 16 '17 at 03:16
  • @MichaelBay Thanks a lot for the response... I spent a lot of time to read about UEFI / Legacy and finally managed to isolate the issue. It was too simple. In my BIOS settings - under the BOOT Menu - UEFI Boot was disabled (possible because of the BIOS update) I just enabled it and it was Good – Krishnakumar Nov 16 '17 at 18:45
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    You're welcome and yes, now everything makes sense. Unlike Windows, Ubuntu can be installed in Legacy mode in a GPT drive (Windows requires GPT for UEFI and msdos/MBR for Legacy), provide it has also a small partition at the beginning for Grub, reason why Boot-Repair, at the time booting in Legacy mode, asked you to create a BIOS-Boot partition. –  Nov 16 '17 at 19:02