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Ubuntu/Windows 7 Dual Boot Issues

Tags:
  • Computers
  • Hard Drives
  • Ubuntu
  • Linux
  • Windows 7
  • Dual Boot
  • Operating Systems
  • Software
Last response: in Linux/Free BSD
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September 7, 2014 11:19:26 PM

I'm going to start off by saying I'm fairly sure I screwed up, but here goes. I have a computer with 2 HDD's. One has Windows 7, the other is unused. I decided to start learning Linux, so I downloaded Ubuntu 14.0.4 (pretty sure that's the newest) and threw it on a CD. I turned the computer off, unplugged the main HDD (to prevent it being accidentally installed onto there) and put the disc in. I turned it on, installed it onto my spare drive, and everything was great. My only problem was, I am not the only one who uses this computer. The other people who use it also don't tend to know what they're doing, so the last thing I want is for the to have to deal with my boot options. I wanted the computer to boot to Windows 7 like normal, unless told otherwise. I tried to edit the GRUB but unfortunately, since I installed Ubuntu with the normal HDD unplugged, it does not know Windows 7 is installed, and vice versa. The only way to switch between OSes is to unplug and plug in the corresponding Hard Drives, which I would prefer not to do. So, I decided to try and reinstall Ubuntu, only now Windows 7 does not even know there is another Hard Drive attached. I only see C:\ come up in Computer, no D:\ like normal, so there is no way of formatting it from my main OS. Did I wreck the drive? Is there a way to fix it? If I did it's no big deal, it was an old drive from an old PC and I have others, but how badly did I screw it up?

EDIT: MiniTool Partition Wizard still recognizes that there is another drive, I'm formatting from there. I'm fairly sure Windows didn't recognize a drive there was because it's formatted to Ext4 (even though it recognized it earlier, I just couldn't see any of the files)

More about : ubuntu windows dual boot issues

September 8, 2014 12:08:08 AM

UPDATE: I reinstalled Ubuntu (Ubuntu is now aware of Windows 7) but Windows 7 is still neither aware of Ubuntu or the corresponding HDD. It now only boots to Windows 7 (unless I have the Windows HDD unplugged, but I would prefer to avoid that) and not even GRUB shows up when holding LSHIFT on boot. Would I have to unplug the Windows drive to allow Ubuntu to finish installation? I'll try that tomorrow if no answers are received, as it is quite late.
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September 8, 2014 12:49:16 PM

UPDATE: Alright, I unplugged the Windows HDD and it booted to Ubuntu. I installed a few things, and then updated the GRUB cfg to boot to Windows automatically. Unfortunately, when I have both HDD's plugged in, GRUB will only recognize Ubuntu, and won't allow me to boot to Windows. For now I will just leave the Ubuntu drive unplugged and work with Windows until an answer is received. Thanks to anyone who tries to help.
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a b 5 Linux
a b $ Windows 7
September 8, 2014 6:18:18 PM

Install EasyBCD from within Windows. It will let you dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu on separate hard drives.
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September 8, 2014 8:03:04 PM

Alabalcho said:
Install EasyBCD from within Windows. It will let you dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu on separate hard drives.


I have installed it, but it seems to think my Ubuntu drive is drive C:\ (It is either drive D:\ or drive K:\, not sure which one I plugged it into) and drive D:\ is not showing up as an option, so I will set it to drive K:\ and see what happens.
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September 8, 2014 8:13:27 PM

Alabalcho said:
Install EasyBCD from within Windows. It will let you dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu on separate hard drives.


All the other drives listed were optical drives, my bad. This worked splendidly, many thanks. Fingers crossed GRUB doesn't botch it up next time I boot Ubuntu...
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