GRUB - Toshiba boot loader

[Cityscape]

From what I've read on the web Ubuntu now has an easy feature that installs it safely inside of windows http://www.windowslifestyle.com/index.php/2010/03/install-ubuntu-inside-windows-7/ The Toshiba screen will not be affected either way. I'm not really in a hurry to start using Ubuntu, I've used it before and right now I'm just playing games on Windows.

I'm probably going to test Lucid on my system first before I install and see if it works alright with my hardware, and if not I'll probably report the problems to the Ubuntu community and the manufacturer. After, of-course, seeing if there is any way I can get it to work. If it doesn't work, I'll down-grade to karmic or any other version that works (sometimes they do). AND MAYBE --> I'll use G Parted or something similar to partition my drive, then I'll back up important files ( I already knew to do this, but its great that people have to repeat it, though I understand it is that important), and lastly I'll install Ubuntu 10.04 keeping in mind everything you guys have said.

Yes that will work really well for you. The feature of installing inside Windows is for people who want to try but maybe not keep it. If you decide you like it then you can install it on your hard drive.

I'm glad you've figured it out

[3katie3]

hello, i found this topic looking for xp bootloader problems.   
may i offer my recent (3 days ago) experience with the latest ubuntu distro.

as a preface, i've been trying out linux since at least 5, and before that red hat, because it is such a great idea.  unfortunately, i find i still have to do my work on windows.  reluctantly moved up to xp from wonderful W2K about 4 years ago.   and now considering a 7 install, but will wait a year or two for a service pack to come out.

vista was like living in a police state, and i ended up giving away a vista laptop for which there were essential XP drivers unavailable.  so i am not a windows booster, it's just i know how to keep the whole creaky mess moving along.

so, after a nice painfree wubi install of ubuntu 10.x on its own tidy, last place partition on (hd0),
---moments like that, you have to love linux---but then, the update machine roared into life, and instead of letting me choose which updates i wanted (as it used to), it listed over 300 undates, and then in a flashing window ontop of the update app, it sternly warned that GRUB 2 was the latest thing, and if i didn't get it RIGHT NOW, then some of these 300 updates would be OUT OF SYNC.     

so, even though i knew better, i forgot that i knew better, and i allowed ubuntu update to do what it wanted, including install GRUB 2, as part of the initial update.

so now, 30 hours of work later, and a total clean factory OS cd reinstall of win XP, and format of the laptop harddrive (erasing 6 existing well filled partitions),

this error message is still appearing

.....blah blah x numbers
GRUB rescue>

at least i have found a way to avoid the GRUB error and to load the xp OS, by making the boot order
1. cd
2. inside laptop HD
3. ext usb hd
4, 5, 6, usb keys, lan etc.

but if i change the boot order and put the ext usb hd above the inside HD, then the GRUB rescue>  error still appears.

 i read up on GRUB RESCUE and all the handy CLI commands that should have worked.    but only 2 did anything to move the caret, and they did not rescue the boot.

so, i'm going to reflash the bios next thing.   after that???

ubuntu 10.x isn't quite there yet, this time either.

[Geek-9pm]

vista was like living in a police state, and i ended up giving away a vista laptop for which there were essential XP drivers unavailable.  so i am not a windows booster, it's just i know how to keep the whole creaky mess moving along.

Well said.   

[BC_Programmer]

Vista is not like living a police state. I'm sure anybody who actually <HAS> lived in a police state can testify that there isn't a form they can fill out to stop it. UAC can be disabled in less then a minute, yet people constantly complain anyway without actually investigating that option, or even stop and realize that the analogy is completely flawed.

a Police state is a country that maintains repressive control over the people by means of police (thought police (1984) or secret police, etc).

However, Vista is not in control of you. You are in control of it, and it is in control of what programs run. Basically, you are the benevolent dictator in said police state, and you say what programs live and which programs die and what they are allowed to do when they are born. By default, you have your police set to ask you about everything they do. "we found this program sneaking about where you put Admin access only signs! Should we give him admin access or execute him on the spot?(Yes/No)". If you don't control your program populace, you quickly have a "revolution" where malware and spyware manage to take control. Then your decisions are irrelevant.

Analogies between real world historical events,forms of government and Computing are never apt and are always flawed. In fact I quite recall that one member(not sure if it was this forum or not) who stated quite succinctly that The "Browser wars" were going to be bigger then both the world wars put together. I wanted to punch him in the face, because I failed to see any correlation between wars that killed hundreds of millions and involved nearly the entire world, and a couple software programs and their popularity contest.

[Cityscape]

Vista is not like living a police state.

Agreed. I use Vista on a regular basis and have found there to be nothing wrong with it. If you don't like UAC then disable it. It is true that Vista will perform slower than Windows 7 in general but it is still a decent OS and has no real problems (unlike ME which did have real probs) with it's general usage.