Reformatted a partition how can i boot in linux again?

Question

I just reformatted the C drive to fresh install XP and at first i thought i may have formatted the whole drive because it no longer boots into that loader allowing me to choose which OS i want. I grabbed my liveCD and looked at the partitions and it says there still is an EXT4 partition which i assume is my linux partition. How can i get it to boot into that or put the loader back up?

Answer 1

Windows automatically overwrites the Master Boot Record, in which GRUB, GRUB2, or LILO is stored on. You'd need to reinstall GRUB Boot Loader since Windows replaced it with it's own. Windows wants to be the boss of your HDD, so when you install, even if it's partitioned, it'll overwrite it.



Try this guide



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6fpIe-QnVE

Answer 2

This may help if anything is messed up....



Get Easy BCD

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

EasyBCD is NeoSmart Technologies' multiple award-winning answer to taking control of your bootloader. EasyBCD extends and revamps the Windows Vista/Windows 7 BCD bootloader, and with EasyBCD, almost anything is possible. Setting up and configuring a dual-boot between Windows 7, Windows Vista, older versions of Windows such as XP & 2003, Linux, Ubuntu, BSD, and Mac OS X is a breeze. You just point & click and EasyBCD does the rest. EasyBCD is free for all private, non-commercial use.....

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1



Here is a sample YouTube vid showing things and how to use that and why and when....

YouTube - Uninstall Ubuntu From Dual Boot Vista WITHOUT An Installation CD

Jun 19, 2009 - Uploaded by yng63un

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6I6xv8BNoc

Answer 3

Make a bootable "pein-drive" with Linux on it, or a live CD (Koppix is very good for this). You may also be able to find a "rescue disc" for your distribution. Most rescue discs are set up to bring up your computer in the "single user" mode (Runlevel 1). Assuming you successfully boot, then you can run fdisk /dev/sd[a,b,c, etc] to see what is left of your Linux partitions. Keep in mind that Lunix almost always uses two or more partions. I just chekced my CentOS.



Good luck

Answer 4

bypass into abode windows. precise click my laptop... pick "take care of".... bypass to the mass storage gadget supervisor (i can't remember what its called in English... my laptop is in eastern)... per risk rigidity supervisor? ... besides... discover the linux partition... delete it, and format it. that easy.