[TriLUG] Boot Loaders and the like

[Jon Carnes]

As Jim Ray points out, if you simply want to remove the RH Boot options
and get a clean Windows boot, you can install over your current Boot
Loader (LILO) with Windows MBR.

Get a windows bootable disk (MS-DOS) and copy fdisk.exe onto the disk,
boot using the disk and run fdisk /mbr.  If that doesn't work then
you'll have to boot to Linux (command line will d0) and use the dd
command to blank out the Boot area of the disk.

Microsoft's Boot loader is poorly written and simply refuses to work if
it finds some spare bits turned on near the end of the unused section of
the boot area on the disk (even though it doesn't use that area...). 
You know, if it's going to check that area, then is should friggin'
format the whole section when it installs.

Good Luck -Jon
On Thu, 2003-01-02 at 01:40, Bryan Burroughs wrote:
> Folks,
>     I've installed RedHat 8.0 on a system and I would like to remove it, mostly cause it's got a problem with a video card I installed, and I'd like to put it in its own box, for a much more safe "tinkerable" environment.  I have a few problems though, one of which I doubt is a big problem.
> 
> 1)  I can't get into a GUI because of the video problem, so I have to do everything from command line.  This cripples me pretty badly, since i am still totally new.
> 2)  I'm using LILO as the boot loader, since i'm in league with the M$ devil for my main needs.  I'm not *quite* sure which hard drive the boot loader is on, but I assume its on the same one as my windows installation, since trying to boot from the linux hard drive gives me an "OS not found" error during booting.
> 3)  I don't really know how to "uninstall" RedHat anyway.  I suppose I could just pop in the RH CD and see if it has an uninstall option, but I don't recall if it did.  That, and the fact that there are two RH installations listed in LILO, one of them apparently being the original and the other a backup (probably saving the pre-video crash environment).
> 
> Help would be greatly appreciated.  I think it's time for me to go find a manual or something and have a good... read...  any suggestions?  Oh, and if it ends in "for Dummies," I think i'd pass on that.  Thx in advance.
> 
>         The Burro
> 
> -- 
> "It's a one dog town, and he's old and mean..."
> 	-- Garth Brooks
> 
> 
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