Strange Grub Error Message on dual boot Dell laptop

[J]

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 19:32, NoOp <glgxg at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>> I have a dual boot laptop with Vista (only for iThingies) and Ubuntu.  Vista
>> had a security upgrade and after it finished I got the following error
>> message when restarting the machine.
>>
>> Grub Loading
>> Ho :) Not Found ?YL
>> Aborted Press ??*1?
>> Any key to exit.
>>
>> The smiley face is more like a little emoticon type symbol.
>> The * is more like a little star emoticon.
>>
>> I do not know squat about grub and really do not want to mess with it so I
>> installed Ubuntu again.  Well, Vista uses the slow upgrade method and it
>> took three Ubuntu installs before Vista was finished.  I turned off all
>> updates in Vista since the only thing I use is iTunes and never even open a
>> browser.  Problem solved.
>>
>> However, the last time I used iTunes and rebooted I get the same error
>> message.  So I installed the new Ubuntu Beta 2 figuring it was as good as
>> time as any to see how it works on the Dell laptop.  Works great, btw. I
>> googled around and could not find anything with this type of error message
>> and did a post to this list the first time it happened but got no real
>> response.  I have learned that if you do not format the Ubuntu partition it
>> basically just install the system and leaves everything else where it was.
>> I have gotten rather good a installing my whole Ubuntu setup in pretty good
>> time from start to finish.
>>
>> Any suggestions, hints or places to look for answers.  Thanks.
>
> 1. It sounds to me like your grub isn't installed properly. Seems that
> iTunes may be writing crap to your grub.
> 2. You needn't reinstall Ubuntu for this.
> 3. Yes, when you install without formating, the install files overwrite
> whatever you previously had in place. This is how I reinstall-inplace
> when I wish to test and/or clean out an old install but keep all the
> /home & /opt data.
>
> Have a look at:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2
> [assuming you are using grub2 as you did a new lucid install]
> *Read the entire page* & then look at the section:
> Reinstalling from LiveCD
>  - SIMPLEST - Copy GRUB 2 Files from the LiveCD
>
> I'd recommend that you either reinstall your grub2, or at least "Refresh
> the GRUB 2 menu with sudo update-grub".

Do you have any sort of backup software or system restore stuff
running automatically in Vista?  Even stuff that came pre-installed
like Dell's local backup software, or what have you?

I have an Alienware (sold by Dell now) that came pre-loaded with
Dell's "local backup" software, which is/was supposed to back the
Windows stuff up on the local hard disk and restore what it decides
are problems.

(There was a previous thread on this same issue, or at least one very
similar to it a few weeks ago)

So what was happening was that I'd install Ubuntu, run happy, and be
able to boot and reboot and reboot AS LONG AS I didn't boot into
windows.  As soon as I booted Windows (Win 7 in my case) the Dell
software would run, it would screw up the grub data, and I'd no longer
be able to boot the system.  Happened EVERY time I booted Windows.

So, I finally fixed grub via the live CD, rebooted into Windows, and
just deleted the hell out of all that pre-installed crap I never used
anyway...  problem solved, as the Windows software no longer exists,
and thus can no longer overwrite parts of grub (this was mainly an
issue with Grub 2, and it sounds like maybe you did an update, ended
updating to grub2, and then your problems started.

Here's a link on the Ubuntu forums that may help:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1449431

You can also google  for "Dell backup corrupts grub" and get a few
useful hits...

If it turns out this is your problem, we can tell you how to fix grub
without re-installing the whole OS every time... it's not hard, but
can be a bit confusing if you've never rescued a system before ;-)

Cheers,

Jeff