Xenialpup won't boot with Windows 7 -- is it time to give up

[bigpup]

Why can't I find info on "Missing MBR-helper"?

Google search results.
https://www.google.com/search?q=missing ... 20&bih=894

There is a chance you have a corrupted mbr on sda.
Windows 7 made a mbr.
EasyBCD's boot loader probably made an mbr.
Grub4dos config made an mbr.

Usually I would use Windows recover to let it rewrite the mbr for Windows.
Get Windows booting OK with it's boot loader.

/sda_mbr.bak>/dev/sda' gets Windows 7 booting flawlessly again.

That seems to be what that did.
Got Windows mbr back and working correctly.

Try Grub4dos config again using default settings.

[hamoudoudou]

sda1 windows 7 is only a very tiny partition
Even GRub4Dos can make confusion by asking where to install it
Sda without sda number
sdb1
Open your ISOs sda2 sda3 or outside (USB, SD card, external HDD)

[bigpup]

sda1 windows 7 is only a very tiny partition

Old boot files from EasyBCD bootloader and now Grub4dos boot loader files, could be using up all the space on that small partition.
Maybe not enough room for both

[Sailor Enceladus]

Why can't I find info on "Missing MBR-helper"?

Sorry if I didn't catch it before, but this problem happens when you try to boot Windows 7... or Puppy? Or does it not let you see the grub4dos boot menu at all? This error is using EasyBCD or grub4dos?

[hamoudoudou]

that will not help, but grub4dos in tahrpup and xenialpup can mislead anyone, it show 500gb available for Sda... But sda1 is only 100MB less what is already occupied..
some puppies versions badly recognize partitions, that is true !
rcrsn51 answers here.

[foxpup]

Why can't I find info on "Missing MBR-helper"?

Sorry if I didn't catch it before, but this problem happens when you try to boot Windows 7... or Puppy? Or does it not let you see the grub4dos boot menu at all? This error is using EasyBCD or grub4dos?

Strongbow, I tried to ask this before. From previous answer I understand it is "EasyBCD".
My guess: mbr is still from windows. It searches for 'bootmgr' or 'ntldr' or something like that. This looks into BCD where EasyBCD made an entry for Puppy, which does not work.
My suggestion: copy bootmgr or ntldr somewhere, look for grldr (I think it is also already there because strongbow already tried to install with a puppy installer) and rename grldr to bootmgr/ntldr.
What will happen then: The mbr looks for bootmgr/ntldr, finds it and starts it. Because this is in fact grldr it will look for menu.lst, not BCD and display it. One possible problem: can grub4dos boot windows7? Let's see.
BTW sda1 100M is not small, in fact it is very large for a boot installation.

[mikeslr]

One possible problem: can grub4dos boot windows7? Let's see.
BTW sda1 100M is not small, in fact it is very large for a boot installation.

Mine does. Of course, I put grub4dos on a USB-Key to avoid having grub4dos mess with Window 7 bootloader. Grub4dos created a menu.lst on the USB-Key with a listing for Windows and I can use it to boot into Windows 7.

About 100M being large for a boot loader: On my computer it is 350M. However, roughly 340M of that are files enabling you to choose which language you want Windows 7 to use.

On any given partition there can only be one bootloader. But you can chain-load a bootloader on another partition in the setup of the bootloader the computer will use. [I think that would be the bootloader on the first partition of the drive having boot priority. But there may be ways to change that. And, I am guessing].

After screwing up my wife's Windows 7 by installing Grub4dos, I installed one of the Ubuntu Linuxes --which she doesn't use-- because it automatically installed grub2 and grub2 installation to the hard-drive automatically creating a usable listing for Windows. The problem isn't that grub4dos can't boot Window 7 [it can't boot Windows 8 or above if the computer uses the UEFI mechanism] but that it apparently doesn't correctly overwrite the default bootloader which came with the Windows 7 install. Grub2 does. Again, I'm guessing. But that would explain why the installation of Grub2 to the hard-drive enabled booting Windows 7 while the installation of Grub4dos to the hard-drive didn't even though Grub4dos on a USB-Key (given boot priority) can.

mikesLr

P.S. The advice I gave here was based on that experience. http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 807#983807, That was several years ago. Her computer is a Toshiba. Since then, newer versions of Ubuntu will boot to desktop but --in the absence of certain boot codes-- will either lack sound, mishandle graphics or --most annoying-- not respond to the keyboard. Which is why I asked for the make and model of your computer [you still haven't answered] and suggested to try Xenialpup from a USB-Key.

[foxpup]

After screwing up my wife's Windows 7 by installing Grub4dos, I installed one of the Ubuntu Linuxes --which she doesn't use-- because it automatically installed grub2 and grub2 installation to the hard-drive automatically creating a usable listing for Windows. The problem isn't that grub4dos can't boot Window 7 [it can't boot Windows 8 or above if the computer uses the UEFI mechanism] but that it apparently doesn't correctly overwrite the default bootloader which came with the Windows 7 install. Grub2 does. Again, I'm guessing. But that would explain why the installation of Grub2 to the hard-drive enabled booting Windows 7 while the installation of Grub4dos to the hard-drive didn't even though Grub4dos on a USB-Key (given boot priority) can.

Hello Mike.
I find this interesting.

My machine has windows10, so uefi.
I did the same as you did, but with fedora instead. But in fact I do not use the grub2 from fedora anymore. Good thing about it was that it added fedora grub2 to the BCD, so in case of emergency it is always available in the uefiBIOS.

I am not sure your explanation for the failure to boot windows7 with grub4dos from hdd is correct.
But I think I never installed MBR on a HDD from grub4dos, except once, but the HDD was blank, so no MBR installed yet and no windows. I always keep the MBR from windows. I first try to add grub4dos (grldr) to the configuration file of the windows bootloader (which is ntldr or bootmgr). Or I trick the working MBR into going straight to grldr by renaming it to the windows bootloader's name. That is my suggestion to Strongbow.

In uefi I now prefer to install refind. It's painless, non intrusive and takes 2 seconds. Next to it I place a grub2 binary, which refind finds. I can also add it to the configuration file of refind. So I do not need to install grub2, I just need a grub2 binary, already compiled. I have tried several and now my favorite is the one from slackware. Fatdog and Slacko do it the same way, and the other Puppy's followed their lead, i suppose. It is almost like grub4dos: I do a frugal install just copying some files and then add an entry to the grub.cfg where the syntax is very similar to that of grub4dos' menu.lst.
The installation of refind does not persist in the uefiBIOS, so sometimes I loose it. In fact I loose it if I start the laptop with an usb inserted. So that is where the persistence in uefiBIOS of fedora comes in handy. I can chainload refind from fedora's grub2! I could add refind to the BCD, but I prefer not to mess with that thing myself, maybe later.
All this is on the "small" sda1 and there is room for lots more.

[strongbow]

Just wanted to say a big THANKS to everyone for your comments. I think this discussion has run its course and consider it 'closed'.
Thanks again to everyone.

[glene77is]

Srongbow, Sorry to see wanting to leave it "as is".

Obviously, you are a sharp tech.
I think you are mixing various systems,
as if anything "Linux" will mate with anything "Linux".

I stay inside one Linux system ... one at a time.

My advice, basically is this :
(0) I leave the Master Boot Record as original.
(1) I rename "/ntldr" to "/wxldr"
(2) I rename "/grldr" to "/ntldr"
(3) I provided a "/menu.lst" with standard grub code
to Seek in the standard manner for grub4dos menu.lst code :

title HDB {6 pup-Xenial-708-File Ubuntu_16.08 HP } ===
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /MARK-HDB
kernel /pup_Xenial_708/vmlinuz psubdir=pup_Xenial_708 pmode=13 pmedia=usbflash pfix=fsck pfix=nocopy
initrd /pup_Xenial_708/initrd.gz

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If you can follow that basic logic, then you can solve all your problems.
My method is outlined on my website
http://www.GeoCities.WS/glene77is
on the front page,
under the label "Linux and M$-XP Multi-Booting"

I hope that helps.
A sharp tech can figure it out ... many juniors have.

There are several guru techs on this forum
... they are exceedingly knowledgeable and patient.
Follow BigPup's advice, without adding anything to the methods !

I did not intend to provide a complete tutorial here.
The above are the basic ideas which have worked for many years.