Strange Grub Error Message on dual boot Dell laptop

[J]

On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 22:56, NoOp
<noIdidn'tfixanythingblameGMail'swebclientforbeingwhatitisbutstillbeingmoreconvenientfortrackingmultiplemailinglists>
wrote:
> On 04/23/2010 07:03 PM, J wrote:
>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 21:32, NoOp
>> <ohjesusihavetheonlyappropriatemailclientandyoushouldallusethesameoneidobecauseitandIamfarsuperior>
>>
>>
> wrote:
>>> On 04/23/2010 06:27 PM, J wrote:
>>>> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 19:32, NoOp <j
>>>> can'tfigureouthowtodisabletheiremailclientsothatitdoesn'tincludetheemailaddresshere>
>>>> wrote: ...
>>>>> 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?
>>>
>>> Well no... I don't. Or were you meaning to reply to Tab?
>>
>> Actually, I replied to ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com but happened to
>> tag my reply to your post.  Sorry, accidentally deleted the first
>> couple lines.  How about providing some useful info instead of just
>> being a tool and making snide comments about mail client software?
>> Especially since reinstalling grub is of no use if the grub data is
>> just going to be overwritten every time Tab boots into Windows...
>
> First of all thanks for fixing your email client :=) My comments were to
> ask you if you were replying to me. Obviously you weren't so you needed
> to fix both your client reply header *and* your client atribution.

I didn't fix anything, unfortunately.  Before I get into that, I
wanted to say sorry, dude...  I've had a rough couple of days, and was
already in a foul mood and
> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 19:32, NoOp <j can'tfigureouthowtodisabletheiremailclientsothatitdoesn'tincludetheemailaddresshere>

just set me off.  You didn't really deserve the harshness, and I
apologize for being an asshat about it...

That being said, nothing I can do about how the quote line is
displayed (that I know of) using GMail's web client.  I use GMail
because they just make keeping up with mailing lists far easier, plus
I don't have to run all the mail through my own server, or worry about
filtering and maintaining a large repository of mail locally.  I
actually DO wish they would provide a plugin or add-on that allows
custom quote strings, but for now, there's nothing that I could find
like that.  FWIW, I get mail from over 100 mailing lists, and if I
were POPing that I'd have a mail archive that is well over the ~7GB of
space Google lets me have.
>
> I thought that I provided "useful info" in the reply to Tab. I think
> that the place to start is to: 1) ensure that grub is installed
> properly, and 2) update grub. If you don't find that useful, then sorry
> about that.
>
>>
>> Tab said:
>>> Vista had a security upgrade and after it finished I got the
>>> following error message when restarting the machine.
>>
>> As I have JUST gone through with this same thing happening after a
>> "Security Update" I have a pretty good feeling that just
>> reinstalling grub is NOT going to help here.  How do I know this?
>> Because I reinstalled grub several times before I was able to figure
>> out what was going on in Windows that was corrupting or overwriting
>> grub data. He can re-install grub until the cows come home, but until
>> he fixes whatever it is in his Vista install that's overwriting the
>> grub data at boot time, he's going to KEEP reinstalling grub after
>> every time he boots into windows.
>>
>
> Well let's see... you may be right, but your first "useful info" stated
> that you were using Win7 and:
>
> <quote>
>  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.
> </quote>
>
> That's helpful...
>
> Look, I also have a multiboot: Win7, 8.04, 9.10, 10.04 (no Vista) and I
> also have iTunes on that Win7 partition. I've not experienced any issues
> like the OP, or what you are stating. So, my *best guess/advise* to Tab
> is to first ensure that his grub is installed properly and updated.
>  However, it's quite possible that the OP's issue are the same as yours
> & maybe the http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1449431 will
> resolve the issue (I hope so). That said; my post to you wasn't claiming
> those weren't valid. But you knew that of course... didn't you?

You're right...  and to get this back on track for the OP, Vista and
Win7 are "close enough" but in this case, I think it's more likely
that he's got a Dell, and Dell's pre-loaded backup software is known
to overwrite the areas that grub2 uses to store some of its data...

So for the OP, Tab, check that Dell pre-loaded software.  If you do
indeed have the same backup/recovery software that I had (and I
believe they throw on everything they sell), that is most likely
what's causing your grub issues, as that software writes some data
overtop of grub every time it starts (which means every time you boot
Windows).

And again, sorry NoOp, I really should have been a bit nicer about it.

Cheers,
Jeff