Hi, only a week ago I installed Suse Linux 10.2. It came with the Grub boot loader. I didn't much like it and I started to realize that whenever I tried to boot into Windows XP it would have to restart once, I would have to choose Windows XP again, and then it would load. I decided to format my drives and just add the space to my XP partition. So, I did this and got rid of Linux and the Grub boot loader. My problem now is that even without Grub it still does it. It would load up get just past the Windows XP booting screen and crash with a blue screen that is shown too fast to make any text out. It would then restart and load normally. I hate this whole reboot thing. I would like to know is there any way to fix this other than reformatting? Thanks.
You need to configure grub (which is still on the MBR) to boot windows automatically after 0 or 1 seconds. I suggest reading the manual because you may not be able to do anything about it now you have attempted to remove all trace of suse. http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p15.htm Failing any help from that try rebuilding the MBR from the xp install disk.
I don't beleive I have Grub any longer because it does not boot into it. I formatted all 3 partitions that Suse created. Thanks.
Ahh so you say.. suse made a swap root and home partitions.. but it also added grub to the mbr (master boot record) which is a totally hidden 512 byte area at sector0 on the hdd This is why your boot problems.. you can probably solve all these problems with a live linux cd, or try repairing the mbr with the xp install disk.. No guarantees either way, but worth trying before formatting everything.
I have a SLAX live CD if it would help but I would not know how to approach this to repair it. Also, with the Windows CD my partition would not be affected if I used this method would it? If you could, please provide a link or information on how to perform each or either procedure. Thanks again.
The linux way is very advanced, and I'm not sure it can be done by manually editing the MBR. It's hesitating because it can't find the menu.list file. This is the approved procedure.. Boot from the windows XP CD, press the "R" key in the setup in order to start the restoration console. Select your windows XP installation from the list, and enter the administrator password. Enter the command: "FIXMBR" (without the quotes) at the input prompt and confirm the next question with a "Y" (without the quotes). Use exit to restore the computer. There may be a password bug, did you ever set an administrator password?.. if not see this.. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;308402 This seems to only affect some installations, included for info if it happens to you. Got to go to bed now.. Will check back later, post how it goes or any errors and I will see what else we can do.
I never set a password for the Administrator account I'll try this in a bit. Once again, thanks for everything. I'll get back to you on how it goes.
Well I tried it but no cigar. Do you know of any other things I can try or is the only other alternative a reformat? Thanks.
I'm not sure.. It's a long time since I used windows. There are some options here http://www.ambience.sk/fdisk-master-boot-record-windows-linux-lilo-fixmbr.php I have no way to test this app, apart from opening it in a hex editor. It seems clean and what it says it is. As it is a small file you should be able to add it to a windows98 boot disk, or just (as your machine is working after the dodgy startup) run from windows. And if you need a windows 98 boot disk you can get one from http://www.bootdisk.com/ Of course none of this may work, in that case you could try a repair install of windows over the existing one.
Actually after rebooting it once, after I did your recommended steps, it did the same thing but the problem seems to no longer exist. Thanks man for the help, I believe the problem has been fixed.
Sometimes it's like that.. Takes a reboot or two for things to stick. Good luck, if it comes back again then please post and we can have another go at it.
