Hi, Iv recently installed SUSE 9.1
I was told that installing it over windows xp wouldnt be a problem.

I installed SUSE from the ISO off the website, and used all the default setting for everything including partitioning.
SUSE is running fine, but i cant load windows at all.
At first when i tried to load it would give an error about a partition,
I tried reinstalling xp from the cd and now all it does when i try and boot is restart.

I have to be able to get back into XP, i have important work files there.

Someone please help!
Im completly new to LINUX so dont ask complicated questions

Matt

Help me out...Linux is up and running...correct?
Windows will not come up...correct?
Were you "successful" in reinstalling windows from the CD?

Linux is up and running
Windows is not
Not sucsessful after reinstalling.

Any time that you reinstall windows over linux it will over write the MBR forciing you into Windows only, boot w/ a linux disk and repair/resetup LILO or whatever boot manager you are using

Well if you need to get those files off of your Windows partition then I would hold off on the linux boot loader fix, and do a repair install of windows, get the necessary files, and then attempt to repair. And yes, NEVER INSTALL WINDOWS OVER LINUX. Always install windows first if a dual boot is desired (which is most certainly not needed, LoL!).

I tried a repair install of windows,
all its doing when i select it is restarting the PC.
Again there is no problem getting into SUSE.

This problem is due to Linux not writing the correct values to the partition table. This is due to the 2.6 kernel rather than SUSE specifically.

The official SUSE fix is here

http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...booting91.html

D.

Sounds like an "corrupt" partition table. Just activate the LBA or large access mode for the hard disks in the computer's BIOS. It is important that the hard disk values not be set to "AUTO".

There is a tool to fix that bug - an howto is given in the link in the above posting.
Maybe, the LBA-fix is enough 4 u. ;-)

Windows always writes the MBR if you install it. If you install windows after linux, you can boot from your suse CD/DVD and choose "repair existing installation" and fix the grub.
It will write the MBR with the correct settings. That will work fine in most cases.

Greetz

Pete