Wubi

Wubi installed Ubuntu: i have selected ubuntu as the default os in windows, now i cant boot back into windows to change it.

Asked by sam roland

well, sadly i have installed ubuntu ( well, thats actually the good part, if only i didnt do the next part) , and then , thinking i would never need windows again, foolishly selected ubuntu as the default os in windows in the windows option for default os.

i did a wubi installation and it went fine, only for the fact that i can no longer boot into windows, and windows is not seen on the grub boot screen where you choose from recovery Ubuntu, Ubuntu, etc. anymore.

however from looking at my files on OS (c) using my BOOTABLE disc.

i can clearly see windows is still there.

all i want is to be able to boot into windows once more so that i can change the default os back to windows, and then have a happily existing Ubuntu and windows dual-boot.

on a side note, i also hit an option in windows about not showing the selection , and just having it choose ubuntu automatically.

i know, I'm such an idiot.

just please help me!

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

You aren't an idiot, you are just new to the OS as all you have probably ever used is Windows.

If you run:

sudo update-grub

What is output?

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sam roland (theamazingplant) said : 		#2

/etc/default/grub: 6: 7: not found

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Best bcbc (bcbc) said : 		#3

The solution is different depending on the version of Windows you are running. With XP you can edit the boot.ini file (very carefully and after backing it up). Just change the TIMEOUT to 10.
cp /host/boot.ini /host/boot.ini.backup
nano /host/boot.ini
Ctrl+O to save
Ctrl+X to exit

Note, just change the TIMEOUT, don't hit Enter as the linux line endings are different than Windows and you can stop both OSes booting if you edit it badly.

For Windows 7/Vista... it's unfort. harder.
First try:
1. As you boot hit F8 repeatedly to see if it pops the Windows boot manager
2. If 1. didn't work, hit the "Up arrow" repeatedly (someone once said this works, no confirmation, but no harm in trying).
3. If 1. and 2. don't work, you need to boot from a Windows repair CD. You can burn one of these freely from Windows (ask a friend if you didn't create one yourself) or go here for instructions: http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/

Then you boot from that repair CD to a repair prompt and run:
bcdedit /timeout 10

Please report back with what works and what doesn't.
Thanks

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bcbc (bcbc) said : 		#4

PS just to be clear, commands run in a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) on Ubuntu are case-sensitive. Be careful about spaces (cut and paste if unclear).
e.g. it's
cp /host/boot.ini /host/boot.ini.backup
nano /host/boot.ini

nano is an editor, you can also use gedit.

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bcbc (bcbc) said : 		#5

Launchpad is removing the extra spaces I put in (it's not the greatest tool for adding instructions). Cut and paste to be sure.

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sam roland (theamazingplant) said : 		#6

okay, i downloaded that tool. it did cost me money though. i am going to do what you said with the command prompt. i will post results as soon as i get back ( keep in mind i can not post during the day as i am a student)

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sam roland (theamazingplant) said : 		#7

thank you sooooo much! i did that, and although i had to play around a little bit in the bcdedit help for the right command ( the command you gave me seemed to not work, i did finally figure it out and entered the right one. ) but again, thanks! i am so happy! you have saved my pc forever! i can not repay you for this its just so amazing! i am now using both windows and ubuntu. words just cant explain how grateful i am.
i am definitely going to be staying with ubuntu, although i think i will not make decisions based on assumptions like the one i made before anymore! ( the one where i said i wont need windows) i am just so grateful for you guys. you guys are the best.if i have any more troubles ill definitely come here.

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sam roland (theamazingplant) said : 		#8

Thanks bcbc, that solved my question.

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bcbc (bcbc) said : 		#9

Great! Glad you got it sorted out.

I'll follow up with the bcdedit thing to make sure I get it right next
time. And pity you had to spend $10 on the repair disk... but I suppose
it's a small price to pay.

Ubuntu is pretty easy to use out of the box, but there is always a bit of a
learning curve on a new OS. And some things you are used to (games,
itunes,...) may just not work - or at least not in the same way. So I agree
with you that it's better to take it slowly before deciding to commit
either way.

Just note that you have a Wubi install - this is the easiest way to try
Ubuntu in a realistic way. In all appearances it's like a real install, but
it's not the same. For one, the booting problem you had is unique to Wubi
since it uses the Windows Boot Manager to launch into Ubuntu. And you told
Windows to default to Ubuntu with no Timeout. (A normal dual boot uses a
different bootloader). Another thing is that Wubi installs to a virtual
partition which is a single file (\ubuntu\disks\root.disk) stored on the
Windows host (mounted under /host). So it's not as safe as having a
dedicated partitions - if one file gets corrupted it's not normally a big
issue, but the root.disk gone means everything on a Wubi install.

It's a good idea to review the https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide - there's
a lot of info in there, but it does cover things like how to reboot if your
keyboard/mouse are frozen, and how to migrate a wubi install to partition,
etc.

As well as this support site, there's
http://askubuntu.com/questions/tagged/wubi and http://ubuntuforums.org/ and
I've blogged about some specific Wubi things as well (some of it's a bit
technical, but other bits might be useful):
http://ubuntu-with-wubi.blogspot.com/

Good luck.