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I have Ubuntu dual booting Windows 7 and after repairing GRUB and a few Windows Updates, now Windows 7 just goes to blue screen upon loading from GRUB then restarts. Is there any way to fix this?

I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 32bit.

EDIT: For something I can't get them to cooperate with each other. I've reinstalled GRUB so many times it hurts, and every time I do, I can't run Win 7 from the GRUB loader - it loads to logo then restarts.. And when I run bootrec.exe /fixmbr, bootrec.exe /fixboot and bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd I can load Windows but then GRUB goes away...

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  • BSoD...OUCH! Do you have your Windows 7 recovery disk? OR a recovery partition?
    – Ringtail
    Mar 7, 2012 at 16:20
  • Its not a BSoD its just BS - It shows up after I load it using GRUB loader. Mar 8, 2012 at 8:17
  • Duplicate askubuntu.com/questions/112198/…
    – Ringtail
    Mar 12, 2012 at 23:55
  • @BlueXrider then help answer one of the two of them and I'll close up both cases. Mar 13, 2012 at 1:25
  • @AlexPoulos Since you have an accepted answer here, does that mean the other question is a duplicate of this?
    – jrg
    Mar 13, 2012 at 11:45

4 Answers 4

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+50

I was posting this as a comment but it's too lengthy to fit, so I'm posting this as an answer. I really don't know if this will do the job, as it's usually used for Windows boot problems and not because of a BSOD.

But since you just can't boot into Windows at all without getting the BSOD, this might be worth a try. (I found these instructions years ago, and don't remember where I got them or whom to credit.) After running this, if it works and you can boot into Windows again, you'll need to boot Ubuntu from a live CD and reinstall Grub.

How to repair and reboot to Windows 7:

  1. Insert the Windows 7 System Repair DVD or Installation DVD and reboot.

  2. Select the correct keyboard input method and click "Next".

    Note: If you are using the Windows7 Install DVD then at the 'Install Now' prompt (Do not pick the Install Now option) instead choose the 'Repair your computer' option located in the lower left of the dispay.

  3. The System Repair tool will search for a valid operating system and will report that "Windows found problems with your computer's startup options. Do you want to apply repairs and restart your computer?"

  4. Click "Repair and restart" and reboot again to the Windows 7 System Repair environment.

  5. Click "Next" at the keyboard selection prompt and when the "System Recovery Options" screen appears verify that the "Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows" is selected. Note that on your Dual Boot system there now should be only one operating system listed. Click the "Next" button.

  6. Now from the menu list select the "Command Prompt" option.

  7. At the DOS prompt type the following three commands:

    bootrec.exe  /fixmbr
    bootrec.exe  /fixboot (may return an 'Element not found' message)
    bootrec.exe  /RebuildBcd
    
  8. Close the command prompt window and click the "Startup Repair" option.

  9. The repair process may take some time, so wait until the process completes at which point you will see two messages "Windows cannot repair this computer automatically" and "Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically".

    These messages are the result of the radical changes made by removing the other drive. Ignore the Send/Dont send options.

  10. Close this message window by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the Send/Dont send window. Next click on the "View advanced options for system recovery and support" option and from the main menu once again click "Startup Repair".

    This time the repair process may only that a few seconds and when prompted "Startup Repair could not detect a problem", click "Finish" and run the "Startup Repair" option one more time, click "Finish", and then remove the System Repair DVD and click "Restart". Reboot the computer.

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  • right, but will this affect my primary boot? I need GRUB in order to run my Ubuntu partition - I primarily run Ubuntu. Mar 11, 2012 at 9:44
  • Yeah, if you do this it will destroy Grub, but Grub is easily reinstalled from an Ubuntu LiveCD; the way to do it has been posted in AskUbuntu, I'll see if I can find it for you.
    – Kelley
    Mar 12, 2012 at 13:57
  • Yeah, if you do this it will destroy Grub, but Grub is easily reinstalled from an Ubuntu LiveCD. Go to this page: help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20GRUB2 Scroll down to the "Reinstalling GRUB2" section and then to the subsection "Copy LiveCD Files."
    – Kelley
    Mar 12, 2012 at 14:04
  • For something I can't get them to cooperate with each other. I've reinstalled GRUB so many times it hurts, and every time I do, I can't run Win 7 from the GRUB loader - it loads to logo then restarts.. And when I run bootrec.exe /fixmbr, bootrec.exe /fixboot and bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd I can load Windows but then GRUB goes away... Mar 13, 2012 at 1:24
  • You might be able to install Grub on the Ubuntu partition and have the Windows bootloader decide whether to boot into Windows or into Ubuntu. I know it's possible, but I've never done it. Check out this article: linuxbsdos.com/2012/03/10/…
    – Kelley
    Mar 13, 2012 at 2:55
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We would need to know the BSOD error code. Sounds like the Windows BootMGR's config is trashed.

When you try to boot into Windows, hit Shift+F8. If the loader is fine this will pop up the recovery menu with options like safe mode, safe mode with networking, etc.

You can try safe mode, if that fails try disable Automatic restart and look into the error online.

You could also check grub to see what it's options are for Windows boot record (Maybe set to wrong partition/etc)

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  • Ill re-install then look into this more. I had to reinstall GRUB using bootrepair so, maybe that trashed Windows' boot. Im not sure. I reinstalled GRUB because I needed it to boot up my main partition. Mar 9, 2012 at 5:14
  • I would Google the steps to repair Bootmgr in that case. Your Windows install is likely fine but Grub cannot boot to it. If you reinstall windows it will just overwrite it and vise versa. You need to add the Bootmgr in grub again to get back in. :)
    – Meddy
    Mar 10, 2012 at 6:58
  • how would I go about adding the bootmgr in grub? I used Boot-repair to fix it, but I dont know if that means that its repaired the bootmanager Mar 11, 2012 at 2:12
  • Boot-repair is usually quite safe; I've never heard of it trashing the Windows boot. The usual cause, I think, is when a Windows partition is moved (not just resized), which can mess with the Windows Master Boot Record (MBR). You also ran some Windows updates, and perhaps one of them trashed something. I don't suppose you have a Windows System Repair disk, do you?
    – Kelley
    Mar 11, 2012 at 3:18
  • @Kelley I did run some updates, so my question is how would I get this to load with the GRUB menu properly? would the System Repair disk do anything to the GRUB? Mar 11, 2012 at 3:31
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You could use the windows bootloader to dual boot both windows and ubuntu using EasyBCD. From your description of the problem, it looks like that should fix it.

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Do you see any Windows branding before the BSoD? I don't think someone will be able to answer you confidently, rather; suggest things it could be.

The fact that you're getting a BSoD leads me to think that you've changed something more to do with the hard drive than boot order/loaders. Did you move this storage drive from one computer to another? Did you have another drive connected that isn't any more (i.e. Win7's boot sector)?

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  • none of those, I've tested my hard drive mate, I've been able to run Ubuntu fine, its just the Windows 7 after I repair GRUB. Mar 11, 2012 at 2:13

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