PC won't boot
 

I have a strange problem that I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me with. I have a Dell PC that originally runs Windows Vista, and I've set it up to duel boot Ubuntu. I use the Linux side, while the rest of my family uses the Windows side. I decided I wanted to check out the progress of Meego for my N900. I'm not a programmer, but I have used the terminal for a few things and felt confident that if I screwed up my N900 I could fix it. I was unable to install the power kernel from my N900, so I did a full reflash using the flasher and latest US release firmware. Then I installed uboot on my N900, and formatted the SD card. I tried to restart my pc to load windows for my sister, and it now says "no boot device available" as it's trying to boot off a CD. I have gone into BIOS and it is set to boot from the hard disc first, but I can't load either OS. My friend has my Ubuntu disc, so I should be able to get that back tonight. Does anyone have any ideas what went wrong that I can't boot off the hard disc, and how I might be able to fix it once I can get back into my system?

Re: PC won't boot
 

It's possible you have messed up your bootloader.

Download "super grub disk" and create a bootable usb or cd via unetbootin and use it to rebuild your grub menu.

Assuming you are using grub as a bootloader

Re: PC won't boot
 

Thanks, I will try that as soon as I can.

Re: PC won't boot
 

This solved a similar problem for me. However, it could also be a hard drive malfunction (ie. not something you can sort out with software).

I used to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows, but I finally managed to migrate my girlfriend (relectantly) to a pure Ubuntu install. She now has a desktop and a netbook, both running Ubuntu 10.04 and is very happy with it :)

Re: PC won't boot
 

Super Grub Disc hasn't been able to help me. If I boot into Linux with a live disc, is there any way to access the files from the windows partition?