linuxgeek: [LINUX_Newbies] Re: Dual boot question

> If one is going to use multi-booting, then making a rescue disk is a must, because if one reinstalls Windows XP it will write to the MBR and over writes the Grub file that is there. With that said here is how to proceed. Use these commands in the terminal window to make the rescue disk.
>
> grub-mkrescue --output=rescue.iso /boot/grub
> grub-mkrescue, is the command
> --output=rescue.iso, is file name in this example 'rescue.iso'
> /boot/grub, this is the location of grub2 files.
>
> The rescue.iso will be written to your home directory, and now you must burn the image to CD. If you use Brasero (part of the Ubuntu software) make sure you use the Burn image option.
> Make sure that your system BIOS is set to search the DVD or CD drive, before the hard drive, for a bootable disk, which is the one you just made. So place the disk in the DVD or CD drive, and reboot the computer. At the 'grub>' prompt enter the following commands, adjust for where you installed Ubuntu.
>
> 1. grub>linux (hd1,1)/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 (where is the kernal located, and what is the root device)
> 2. grub>initrd (hd1,1)/initrd.img (where is the interrupter image located)
> 3. grub>boot ( now that both images are loaded into memory, you need to tell grub2 to go ahead and boot the system)
>
> Now my Ubuntu system will load from the disk, now you can reinstall Grub2 after MSWindows XP writes over the top of it by using the following commands in the terminal window.
>
> sudo update-grub ( this command updates Grub2 for any changes on your system )
> sudo grub-setup /dev/sda ( this command sets up Grub2 on the bootable hard disk that the BIOS is looking for to start your system )

While this is a roundabout way to do it, a complete newbie might be scared away from the terminal and finding out what HDD and partiton Linux installed to. http://www.ubuntu-inside.me/2009/06/howto-recover-grub2-after-windows.html That is (i found) the easiest way I have found, It allows you to use the disk you installed the OS with. For some reason the commands shown in the post only work in 9.04 or earlyer. (ubuntu) So I just keep a disk of it in my cd case just in case. The article shows you how to find out which partion it installed to, and what to type to recover the GRUB partition.

As for someone elses comment that Linux is always "preselected" first when you boot your computer. That's because linux is better than windows, DUH. You can edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst file to change the order. This one looks good. http://makingtheswitch.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/changing-grub-boot-order-to-boot-windows-xp-before-ubuntu/