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I am currently using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and I want to dual boot it with Windows 7. Let me explain what did I do:

  1. There was only Ubuntu 12.04 on and I get it's image with clonezilla. Ubuntu was installed on sda which is 128 GB SSD and there was a 1TB harddisk for another purposes.
  2. I desperatly try to install Windows 7 alongside ubuntu but I can't managed it. Windows 7 could not recognize my hard drives.
  3. So I searched and changed my bios settigs to IDE from RAID.
  4. I accomplished to install Win7 on sdb1.
  5. Now I have a running Win7 but there is no sign of SSD on windows. (I know there won't be any ubuntu at boot because mbr writing over grub.)
  6. After installation I tried to re-install grub but I failed.
  7. I used a software named "boot-repair" but that failed too.
  8. I switched my BIOS settings to RAID from IDE and now win7 is not booting.
  9. I tried to use repair tool in windows 7 installation disk which is another fail.
  10. Switched back to RAID and installed brand new ubuntu on sda.
  11. Used clonezilla to restore my first ubuntu back on sda.
  12. Tried to use "boot-repair" but failed again.

Current situation:

In BIOS in storage device options my settings is RAID. I have ubuntu installed on my sda. I have win7 installed on my sdb1. My boot is grub and it only shows ubuntu.

And here is an information about my disks situation which is created with "boot-repair"

http://paste.ubuntu.com/5665110/

My question and desire is simple. I want to dual boot these two systems. If I can add win7 which is in sdb1 at the moment into grub2 my problem will be solved. You can answer it here or I am willing to read any guide you can link to me. But I must say I read a lot of guides none helped. Bootloader could be grub or mbr doesn't matter. I can format all the harddisks there is no important information on both ssd and hdd (which I tried but I failed that too.). I have an external 1tb usb harddrive (if it can help any).

Thank you for your time to read my problem. =)

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2 Answers 2

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This answer is rather late, but it may help someone else.

I suspect the problem is due to you having the RAID enabled at the time of the install. With most fake RAID controllers (almost certainly the sort that you have on your board) the RAID BIOS routines will create a special on-disk format. If the disk is then connected with the RAID switched off, then the regular system will not be able to read anything that is on that disk.

Check if with RAID OFF either disk will boot. If not, the way to proceed is to ensure that RAID is off in your BIOS, then wipe each disk and re-install the OS you want to each of the two drives (if one disk boots then it does not need to be reinstalled).

Check that each disk will boot as the sole (and usually first) disk in the system.

Then ensure that you are booting from the first disk with Ubuntu installed. You can then add the Win disk as the second drive and add its stanza to Ubuntu grub, either manually or using boot-repair.

The only time you need to have RAID on is with multiple hard drives of the same size for striping or for data redundancy. NEVER turn it on with two disks of different sizes or types (unless you know exactly why you are doing so, of course!). And as a last point, if you do need RAID, most people will find that Linux software RAID is better than all fake-RAID (and often hardware RAID that costs less than $350 and does not have dedicated memory)...

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Try os-prober and update-grub, if you haven't already.

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  • While this question may be correct, When you supply an answer, please could you try and offer a reason why, and the method for using your answer and where to get the programmes from.
    – Simon
    Sep 7, 2013 at 15:13
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    @SimplySimon These are commands present on any Ubuntu system, except one where GRUB has been completely uninstalled (quite uncommon). With that said, and while this is an answer, you're right that more explanation would help a lot. Sep 7, 2013 at 15:48

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