i just installed Fedora today alongside my previously installed Win2k and am using GRUB as my bootloader. the problem comes wen i want to switch to Windows.. after i choose to boot windows, i get this message:

Booting 'Win2k'
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader+1

and it jus hangs there w/a blinking underscore.
i've read through the forums and saw that adding "makeactive" after the "rootnoverify" line would help, but to no avail, that didn't work either.

can sumone give me hand w/this thing? did i mention i'm a lil new at linux? so this is kinda giving me the creeps. thanks a lot.

o yeah, here's wut my grub.conf looks like:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd1,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdc2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=2
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
password --md5 $1$8r/F6uJb$pg/xMOWx.ipkkHQQ2P1wq/
title Fedora Core (2.6.3-1.91)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.3-1.91 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb
initrd /initrd-2.6.3-1.91.img
title Win2k
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

You can try my floppy to try booting Windows until you get your bootloader fixed.
Good Luck.

Here's a copy of my grub.conf file. I have XP running on one hard drive with Linux on the other. The only thing I can see different is the "makeactive" under your windows section.

Set the "default" to 0 or 1 depending on which OS you want to boot as default OS.

This works for me and I haven't had any problems at all.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd1,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title Fedora Core 1 (Linux)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.22-1.2166.nptl ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi rhgb
initrd /initrd-2.4.22-1.2166.nptl.img

title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

sorry, 2damncommon, ur floppy doesn't seem to work. it just goes straight to GRUB again.

i tried switching the "default " to 1 but all that does is make my Win2k selection first wen it enters the GRUB bootloader. it still seems to hang after the chainloader message, either with or without the "makeactive" command.

if it helps, i installed each OS on its own harddrive (hda is the Primary Master, hdc is the Secondary Master, and the Slaves are set as my CD-ROMs), but i remember the installer installing GRUB into hda (where Win2k is). is there a way i can boot to Windows using my Win2k installation CD?

Sorry about that. Does the floppy boot you to a lilo screen that gives you the one choice of Windows or does your startup bypass the floppy altogether? I'm interested for troubleshooting.

i'm thinking it just bypasses it, but i'm not too sure.

If you don't get the lilo screen from the floppy, then the floppy is not booting correctly.
Is you computer BIOS set to boot from floppy (normally, yes)?
How did you put the file onto the floppy?
Maybe I need to check my floppy images.

yeah, i didn't get a lilo screen. i did set BIOS to boot from the floppy and used the dd command to write the image onto the floppy.

another thing, i read 'round that linux can't read NTFS partitions. the windows HD is a NTFS partition. could this be a reason why it won't boot?

The only other thing I can think to ask is if you uncompressed the file as needed.
Sounds like you have done things correctly.
Since I have used Lilo to boot a Windows XP install that was on an NTFS partition I do not think that is it.
Probably some hardware issue. I made the lilo.conf what seemed most generic.
I will check my floppy images in any case.

is LILO and GRUB the same thing?

Lilo and Grub are both boot managers. They are not the same program.
There is usually an option to use one or the other during install, but each distro has their default.
The Lilo on the floppy is independent of any boot manager being present or not on the hard drive.

there's good news, then there's bad news.

i rewrote the image onto the floppy again, and ur LILO booter seems to be working. it gives me that red interface with only Windows as an option. so i choose that then it gives me this message:

Booting Windows

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart

what can i do now?

My floppy worked on a few different Windows 98 installs and a Windows XP install. I will check it against some Win2K installs now. If you got the LILO screen and it failed I think it's usefulness is zero today.
Looks like you want to make a boot floppy for your Linux system, confirm it works, and take a look here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318728
When you succeed in getting Win2K back to normal you will need the boot floppy to get into Linux (or does the Fedora CD have a rescue system?).

i tried the rescue utility in the Win2k CD and now i instead of the previous message i get:

Booting Windows

NTLDR is compressed
Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000...b_dis_eudu.asp
Did you try the "fixmbr" and "fixboot" commands?
They will overwrite the Linux bootmanager, you will need your boot floppy or CD to be able to boot into Linux.