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I had two OS in laptop windows vista and linux mint and when I used to start my computer I used to get different option for os like linux mint, linux mint memory check, windows vista etc.. but because of virus windows vista got crashed so I formatted disk drive C: which were containing windows vista and reinstalled fresh copy of vista.. but now when I start my computer vista start automatically, bootloader does not give those previous options to run windows os or linux os..

Is there a way to configure bootloader to get options like I used to get before formatting ?

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I have not used Linux mint before. What bootloader were you using, LILO or GRUB? – linuxuser27 Sep 1 '10 at 5:53
@Sandy: This is not a question to be asked on StackOverflow, since it is not related to programming. Please go to SuperUser.com and ask the folks there. (Or maybe wait a little longer, until this question is transferred there by the system ;-) – Treb Sep 1 '10 at 6:34
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migrated from stackoverflow.com Sep 4 '10 at 3:03

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2 Answers

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Don't worry, your Linux partition is very safe. Everything is as it was earlier. It is only not able to boot up because Windows has wiped out the bootloader.

Go here if you were using GRUB: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/reinstall-ubuntu-grub-bootloader-after-windows-wipes-it-out/

I cannot find anything else about another bootloader online. Most people seem to be using GRUB.

And after you get everything back running, you may want to consider using the clutter free and easy to use Windows bootloader to easily boot into one of the two operating systems. See my blog post at: http://right-now-in-tech.blogspot.com/2010/08/use-windows-bootloader-to-boot-windows.html Note - the post was written considering Ubuntu, and not Mint. Things will be a bit different.

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However, since Mint is based off Ubuntu, its probably not THAT different. – Ryan Gooler Sep 4 '10 at 4:31
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+1 for using the Windows bootloader. Much more sane in my opinion. – Sasha Chedygov Sep 4 '10 at 6:34
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up vote 1 down vote

When you installed Vista, you overwrote the bootloader, which is GRUB. If you only formatted the Vista partition, you can recover that partition, otherwise you will have to re-install Linux Mint as well.

To recover:

  • Boot Linux Mint via a live/install CD
  • In the boot menu, there should be a recovery/repair option
  • This should help you through restoring your boot loader.

If that does not work, you can do it manually, but that can be a bit more effort.

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