fixing windows from within ubuntu?

bittihuduga

hi,
i had windows xp on my laptop
then i downloaded and installed ubuntu 10.04.
all was fine for a long time with dual boot option.
just suddenly one day my system failed to boot into win xp.
i can still boot into ubuntu.
when i select windows on boot screen, it throws an error screen and quickly restarts.
i cannot see what the error is.
unfortunately i dont have a cd/dvd drive, to run the winxp.
also i dont want to lose my current data on file system.
is there a way to fix my winxp errors from within ubuntu?

FSL

The first thing to do would be to backup your data to an external drive/usb stick.

Boot windows into Safe mode (usually by pressing 'F8' while booting). Turn off the option to reboot on error. (Control Panel - System- Advanced - start up and recovery options - uncheck reboot on error)

Reboot and the error screen should then stay on so you can see what the error is. Once the error is known there is a better chance of knowing how to rectify it.

If you can't get into safe mode then having backed up the data borrow a Windows XP disc from a friend/colleague boot from the CD and when given the option to repair the existing installation choose yes.

yoyo

I would also check the hard disk after backing up, windows doesn't usually break like that with no other issue, so I would investigate the hard disk (run a full diagnostics scan)

Nick

bittihuduga

thanks lads for your suggestions.
will back up the data first.
no errors thrown on ubuntu.
so i am not sure if the hdd is faulty.
the laptop does not have a cd drive.
so need to borrow a external drive to reinstal the files.

yoyo

bittihuduga wrote: »

thanks lads for your suggestions.
will back up the data first.
no errors thrown on ubuntu.
so i am not sure if the hdd is faulty.
the laptop does not have a cd drive.
so need to borrow a external drive to reinstal the files.

Ubuntu is on a seperate partition, you need to run diagnostics on the drive to ensure it is ok (well my advice anyways :pac:),

Nick