OK Gurus.....Here is one for ya'

[KA9MOT]

I decided that it is too much trouble to change machines every time I want to switch between Ubuntu and Windows 7. I decided to do a dual boot setup on my "good" machine (windows 7). Everything has gone well until Grub wouldn't load, so using info I found on Ubuntuforums.org, I tried to manually install grub from Terminal (Text YUCK!). It cam back there was not enough room in the MBR on this Windows drive.

See: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=11571201#post11571201

So, we see Old Fred is a pretty smart guy and he pin pointed my problem.

I decided that since my Ubuntu install was on my new 320G SATA drive I'd do a disk image to another drive I have in this computer for storage ( I have 3 drives), and use Windows 7 restore to set that image up on the 320G SATA drive, and then I could manually configure GRUB from there and use the drive I have windows on as a storage/Back-up drive.

So, everything I try to use this fresh image, Windows Rescue says it can't use the image.

If I haven't confused the shit outta you guys yet, any advice on how to move windows to the new drive? If I do a fresh install it would take me days to find all the keys I have for the software I paid for, and I am desperately trying to avoid that.

Thanks in advance, and if I don't answer quickly, that means I've screwed something up.

So after all that I guess the simplified question is... How do I move windows to the new drive?

[kf0rt]

Have you looked into "Windows Easy Transfer?" This is part of Windows 7 (under Accessories, System Tools).

Never tried it, but I think/thought that there was some intent to do this easy...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer

[KA9MOT]

Have you looked into "Windows Easy Transfer?" This is part of Windows 7 (under Accessories, System Tools).

Never tried it, but I think/thought that there was some intent to do this easy...

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-easy-transfer

Easy is good! Unfortunately Widows Easy Transfer is for moving files to your new PC.... and as good as Windows Recovery works, I don't think I would ever try to use it. :)

[KA9MOT]

I posted a much simplified version of this over on Da Zed and Sue got me set up. Thanks for your help! Now I'll go take a nap and set up Ubuntu later this morning...... :)
Thanks again.

This new drive is dead silent.....it is almost eerie......



Small edit by ad4mg, this being a public forum and all ...

[W1GUH]

When I had Ubuntu on this machine, in the learning pain I came across something called "Suber Grub." And it offered what, IMHO, is the perfect solution for a dual-boot machine.

You can burn a CD with the grub image, and install Ubuntu on an external drive. Then, if the Super Grub is in your machine, you can tell your computer to boot from it. It'll ask for the Ubuntu image, and away you go.

Big, Big, BIG, HUGE advantage:

You don't have to mess with your built-in boot disk. Looks like you're finding out about that!

Plus, with Ubunto on its own, separate disk, you don't have to mess around with partitions on you main system disk. Everything there stays just as it is without Ubuntu. You can still access your C: drive from Ubuntu (I think...don't remember for sure.

One thing about this method. Ubuntu seemed to limit it's root disk to 10G. The rest of the disk is useless (but there may be a way to partition that external disk to use the remainder). Or, just use a small disk. CHEAP!

[KA9MOT]

And we are up an running in a dual boot configuration! Thanks for your help guys.

[W2NAP]

why ubuntu? Linux Mint is much much better.

[ad4mg]

why ubuntu? Linux Mint is much much better.
Meh, six, or a half dozen of the other. Mint is good if you want a lean distro, otherwise, it's just Ubuntu done in lime green. I run Mint in a VM, it's OK. Ubuntu boots faster, and their software repository is much larger.

Under the hood, Ubuntu and Mint are almost interchangeable.

[n6hcm]

Under the hood, Ubuntu and Mint are almost interchangeable.

what he said.

[KA9MOT]

why ubuntu? Linux Mint is much much better.

Because I like Ubuntu. I understand it. It works very well for me. The latest Mint looks cool, and I've downloaded it, but I don't have a DVD to burn it to so I can check it out.

[KA9MOT]

why ubuntu? Linux Mint is much much better.


This got me to thinking... I have Linux Mint 12 and I tried Linux Mint 11 but didn't like it. 12 is s'posed to be a completely different animal and that is why I downloaded it. But, no blank DVDs for a while so I was waiting..........I do have a 4G thumbdrive, so I set it up. If I can try before I buy, I'll check it out. I don't want to install it unless I decide for myself it is better. Maybe on my old Dell.

[KA9MOT]

UGH! That didn't end well..... I'll leave it for another day.......

[ad4mg]

You want a really stripped down Debian Linux distribution, try Bodhi. Interesting, lightweight desktop, Enlightenment. I think the iso file was only ~330MB.

[n2ize]

You can also try running it as a virtual machine.

[W1GUH]

Are there any *nix's out there with these characteristics?

A bare-bones implementation with only the standard command line console.

Includes the vi editor and a c++ compiler. Extra points for a debugger, but not a requirement.

Runs under Windows?

Sorta like a Windows Command window, but with *nix syntax & behavior.

*nix file system is a non-requrement.

The most important requirement is it runs under native mode Windows, just like any other Windows program.

[W1GUH]

Just found one..

UWIN - Unix for Windows (http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/01/uwin-unix-for-windows.html)

Will be checking that out!

[n2ize]

Check out Cygwin

http://www.cygwin.com/

[KC2UGV]

Because I like Ubuntu. I understand it. It works very well for me. The latest Mint looks cool, and I've downloaded it, but I don't have a DVD to burn it to so I can check it out.

Like Luke said, Mint is Ubuntu in Lime Green, but with the new version of Ubuntu, it's also the one that "Just Works".

They are pretty much wholly interchangeable. If you are running Mint, you can do a "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop" and have Ubuntu.

Sorry to hear your dual-boot went wonky; but glad to see it's up and running.

[KA9MOT]

"Wonky"... I wouldn't have called it that but that really is the perfect word for it........

[KC2UGV]

"Wonky"... I wouldn't have called it that but that really is the perfect word for it........

And, now that you have that word in your arsenal, you'll use it plenty, I'm sure :)