HELP! - installing Ubuntu to USB stick "trashes" hard drive
Richard Owlett
rowlett at pcnetinc.com
Fri Oct 14 15:59:33 UTC 2011
That's a lot milder subject line than I was considering
yesterday.
I downloaded the Ubuntu 10.10 iso {back when it was latest}
and burned a CD.
I had been referred to Ubuntu as it was reportedly "new user
friendly" and that the applications I wished to use were
available in its or Debian's repositories.
Although it would run on both my machines (a desktop and a
laptop), the initial experience was anything but pleasant.
It was bloated with applications I would not use and lacked
those I would use routinely. The *critical* deficiencies
were ability (as delivered) to connect to the internet via
dial-up (USROBOTIC USB modem) and apparently no simple way
have on a USB stick. The laptop, though lacking a working
CD, can be taken to local library and connect to internet
via WiFi hotspot. *BUT* I would need to be able to boot from
a USB stick.
Many here "just go for it the repositories will take care of
every thing" [LOL]
So with Live CD and 8GB USB stick in hand, I sat down at my
desktop.
Brought up Ubuntu and with trepidation clicked Install.
Trepidation, my credo being *ABSOLUTELY NO UNTRIED OS ON
HARD-DRIVE* as I've
have had past bad experiences ;/
With further fear and trembling, I chose use whole disk.
I breathed a PREMATURE sigh of relief when it asked "Which
drive?".
Chose the USB stick and it chugged along copying files.
When complete, quit the Live session and rebooted.
When my BIOS gave me the option to boot from an alternate
device, I chose the USB stick. All _appeared_ well.
I found I'd been sucker punched on the next reboot :<
The BIOS driven screen comes up.
I let it time out, vainly innocently expecting Windows to
come up.
I get a simple menu the first several items are Ubuntu
specific.
The last option is Windows which I had explicitly
"chosen" by *NOT*
choosing an alternate boot device.
*EVEN WORSE* if the USB stick is not there, I get an
error message
and a "grub rescue" CLI prompt.
How do I rescue my system from Ubuntu which seems to be as
monomaniacal as Microsoft ever thought of being?
[There's a reason I was trying to escape M$ ;]
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