Problematic dual boot

[tom bell]

On 03/17/2009 kubuntu-users-request at lists.ubuntu.com scribbled:
> Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:52:16 +0000
> From: Lisi Reisz <lisi.reisz at gmail.com>
> Subject: Problematic dual boot
> To: Kubuntu Help and User Discussions <kubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
> Message-ID: <200903172352.16635.lisi.reisz at gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;  charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Good evening all!
> Sorry - the bad penny has turned up again....  ;-) 
> 
> The dual boot is XP/Kubuntu Hardy Heron.  One runs perfectly, the other has a 
> very persistent virus that can, surprise, surprise, disable virus scanners.  
> I don't need to tell you which is which.
> 
> The owner has given me complete carte blanche.  "Do whatever you think needs 
> doing."  A bit nerve-wracking.  ;-) 
> 
> As I said, his Kubuntu is running beautifully and has been thro' several 
> upgrades and a year or two.
> 
> XP has been left alone to sulk.  But now there is a must-have 
> Windows-or-Mac-only application.
> 
> I have tried to repair XP.  I have tried to rid it of viruses.  But no luck so 
> far, and I am running out of time.  (I have a deadline.)  So I need to start 
> looking at other options.
> 
> His system is:  AMD Athlon 64 3500+; FoxconnK8m89OM2MB-RS2H motherboard; 1 
> stick of 512MB RAM.  
> 
> I am looking at reinstalling XP, while trying to leave Kubuntu alone, which 
> could mess up the MBR; or telling him that he needs more RAM and using 
> Virtual Box.  
> 
> As a long term solution the second seems to me to be the better, but it would 
> mean missing his deadline and returning the box and having it back again 
> and - and more seriously - I have never actually installed VB, and cannot do 
> what I would normally do in this situation and install it on my own box first 
> because my box is not up to it.  
> 
> What would you lot advise?  Or what would you do in my shoes?  If installing 
> XP with the Kubuntu partition as it is now would indeed, as I suspect, muck 
> up the MBR so that Kubuntu became inaccessible, how easy would that be to 
> fix?  And how would I fix it?  And am I right in thinking that, with more 
> memory his system would be powerful enough for VB.  The maximum RAM his board 
> can handle is apparently 2 GB.
> 
> As a last resort I have permission to reinstall the lot if I deem it 
> necessary, but am reluctant to do so when Kubuntu is running so well and when 
> he will inevitably have tweaked it in many small ways over time.
> 
> TIA
> Lisi
> 
In situations where someone loses their ability to dual boot because
Windoze takes back the MBR, I recommend Super GRUB.  You can download an
ISO at : http://forjamari.linex.org/frs/?group_id=61
It has many features and is free, of course.
Good luck!

Tom Bell
-- 
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” - Juvenal, Roman poet, circa late 1st
and late 2nd centuries.