Dual booting with Vista "Migration Assistant" and "Advanced Boot Loader"

Hello
If there is a windows bootloader installed in case of usage of dual windows os then the name of the bootloader should be present in the name field and carrying on with the installation without any manipulation is advisable

secondly I too have 4 partitions but my fstab looks like this:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda3
UUID=a8164668-1817-47ae-8d01-0451d67492b6 / reiserfs notail 0 1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=DCE3-8449 /media/sda1 vfat defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=1929-15EF /media/sda5 vfat defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/sda6
UUID=3041-BEEF /media/sda6 vfat defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/sda7
UUID=A0B6-7CA6 /media/sda7 vfat defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
# /dev/sda8
UUID=266a594b-a422-4f8c-92e6-9f0661016f8e none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec 0 0

I.E sda8 is my swap partition.. But why?

Its because I have formatted my drive (D E and F) as an extended partition (and I have partitioned it further as 3 drives of some space i.e one extended partition and in that 3 partitions D E and F) so ubuntu also does the same..

There should be no problems with your installation and carry on the installation mate

If There is any problem dont worry, The community is there to help you out..

Hope the info helps

Bhavani Shankar.

No I dont have two Microsoft OS, only one is present, i.e Vista. So is threre a Windows boot loader?
Shouldn't the migration assistant (Final stage installation summary) show that it has detected another OS? Other wise how can I continue installation with peace of mind?

Hello nevin..

So, there is no windows bootloader in your case.. You can continue with the installation as while grub is installing it detects the other os installed.. you can continue your installation.. Migration assistant is used to import your Windows settings to Ubuntu..

So go ahead with peace of mind and if any problem occurs the community is there to help you out..

Bhavani Shankar.

Hello Bhavani,

Could you visit this link.?
http://forums.myspace.com/t/3785953.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread&PageIndex=1&SortOrder=0

This is exactly what I'm facing during installation.
According to that article Vista may not boot unless I manupulate some values in "Advanced", which I'm unable to understand.

Or Is there some kind of bugs, please see the below site also..
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/migration-assistant/+bug/102094

Yeah, due to inconsistencies between the Migration Assistant and Vista, Migration Assistant wont' pick up that Vista is there. Just proceed with the install. Vista will be there in the end, never fear..

Bhavani Shankar.

Don't let the term "Migration Assistant" fool you. The migration assistant is a tool to migrate your settings, bookmarks, backgrounds etc. from Windows to Ubuntu. Unfortunately this doen't work half the time, but that has nothing to do with the bootloader. So you can ignore this issue.
Regarding your partitions: If you have made space on your hardrive at the end, then everything should be alright. The Installer says it will format partitions 3 and 5, so I presume that partitions 1 and 2 are your windows drives C: and D:. What the Installer does is installing grub, the linux bootloader onto the first harddrive, which in grub terminology is hd0. This means the first harddrive, not the first partition, which is perfectly normal.

So again, if the migration assistant doesn't detect your windows installation, don't worry, this has nothing to do with the boot process. Everything looks fine the way you described it.

On a side note: Things always *can* go wrong. So if you have these totally important pictures of your newborn baby, that thesis that you've been working on for the last month, which you cannot afford to lose: Back them up.

Hi Hendrick,

what is partition 5?
I've made only 3 partitions, C and D for windows and the remaining is the unformatted space, which is intended for ubuntu. This should be the third partition, isn't it?. And, even if it makes a swap partition, that should be partiton 4. So where is this partition 5 comming from?
i.e
partition #3 of SCSI3(0,0,0)(sda) as ext3
partition #5 od SCSI3(0,0,0)(sda) as swap

Ain't that confusing?

Hi Nevin,

You're right, it is confusing :-) But anyway, it is normal. The extra partition is the "swap" partition, which linux uses as an extended memory. It isn't really necessary, but very highly recommended, as it extends your memory considerably. The installer automatically makes such a partition, which is the default setting. Windows uses something similar, but instead uses a normal file as swap. But there are good reasons for using an extra partition for this, fragmentation being one.

As for the numbering issue, I need to go a little into technical details. An IDE harddrive can hold only 4 primary partitions (thats just part of the standard). The workaround to this is an extended partition. This acts as holding place for further partitions, which are called logical partitions. So your harddrive would be divided in three primary partitions holding C:, D: and linux, and a fourth extended partition, which itself holds the fifth partition, the swap. This is done that you should decide at a later point to make place for another partition, this can go into this extended partition. So, you have a forth partition, which you can think of as a "virtual" partition, holding further logical partitions.

Hope that clears things up a little,

Hendrick

Hi Hendrik,

Thank you for makin me understand the "techy part" of partitions.
So, shall I continue with the installation process? I hope that you've read the full thread including the link which I mentioned (in Bhavini Shankars Post).
THATS EXACTLY WHAT CONFUSES ME...

Dont worry as I said in my previous answers and hendrik also echoed my answers with a bit more detail.. Thanks mate for a wonderful expansion and explanation of the terms..:) Nevin, Dont get your head into those posts.. I am sure its confusing and even more for starters.. go ahead fearlessly.. If any problem occurs we are there to help you out in every possible way.. Linux/Ubuntu is meant to be learnt like that FEARLESSLY.... :)

Hello friends,

Recently I read about EasyBCD in ubuntu forums. Has anyone used that before?
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Ubuntu
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Linux
Will this reduce the mess with booting issues?

These links were present in the "External howtos" in "Dual Boot Ubuntu and Windows" in
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

No.. Seems great. Thanks for the info and try it out..

Hi friends,

Thank you all for all the support!
I installed ubuntu along with Vista and that too with out using the EasyBCD mentioned in the above links, but I made
a small modification, and I ant to know what had happened there, if you know......?

At the seventh step (prior to installation), I clicked on the advanced tab, and installed boot loader not on (hd0), but on (hd0,2), the third partiton where I installed ubuntu, thinkin I could modify it with the above application EasyBCD, but to my surprise, i got the choice to dual boot when I restarted?
So is (hd0),...a mess that I avoided??

Everyone having Vista, install GRUB boot loader NOT on the MBR of VISTA BUT ON THE PARTITION WHERE UBUBTU IS INSTALLED.
Vista automatically recognizes ubuntu installation, with GRUB boot loader.
Have fun!!
Regards..