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Grub installation for linux

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i have installed windows after the linux but while booting its not giving the options to select any one of the os.
and my second question is what is the difference between FAT32 and NTFS

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by maelgwyn

Windows has overwritten your LILO (Linux Loader).

You will need a recovery disc to boot into the Linux partition, then you will need to run the loader in (and do not quote me here, it is OS dependant) /etc/grub (or /etc/lilo) to reinstate the loader. But you will also need to put the NTFS partition into the GRUB configuration.

FAT32 and NTFS are different file systems. NTFS (NT File System) is more advanced and concequently only available in NT or XP (with different versions and types are available). FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32 bits) is more antique, being a more advanced version in the FAT systems. If you are using XP and you dont need access to either Linux or Win9x (or maybe NT) use NTFS because of the stability and speed it offers. Fat32 is only really good for reverse capabilities.

If I need to elaborate or you need more help, email me on maelgwny@zoidwars.zzn.com

Maelgwyn

by rindi1

fat32 is a filesystem for windows9x and doesn't support much in security. ntfs is a filesystem for windows based on nt (winnt, win2000, winxp etc.) and has strong security features. It is also journaling, which means you can recover from crashes up to a certain extend.

Those Filesystems don't have anything to do your Grub bootloader, though. when you Install Windows it overwrites the master boot record of your harddisk and therefore you won't be able to use grub, except if you reinstall it. To do that you need to boot a linux CD Rom and then you can install grub. There is a good description on how to do that on http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/index.xml

by pbtj

you will need a boot disk to get into your linux and then the command to re-install grub is: grub-install /dev/hda

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