GRUB issues

Hello,

I am new to Zorin and Linux. Windows 7 service time is coming to an end, so I have decided to move on to Linux, since I don't do much gaming anymore and most programs I use now are opensource and run on Linux anyway. I have been struggling with installation for a while, but finally managed to get it working (somehow the image from the website downloads badly, but the one from sourcefoge is fine).
The problem is that after the automatic installation, something got screwed up with windows 7 and I can not get it to start via grub. If I use the BIOS to select the boot drive, windows starts normally.
My system has 3 HDD and 1 SSD drives. The SSD drive is where windows and their system reserved partition are (which got unhidden after Zorin installation), then two 1 TB drives are striped (RAID0) and the additional drive serves as important file backup. Now the Linux system got installed in a 100 GB unallocated space I had in the Striped drive. I do not know what configuration the system installed itself in, since I used the automatic installation option.
The Grub shows boot options for Zorin and 2 Windows 7 (I only have one thought) on SDD1 and SDD2. The SDD1 boots into windows recovery and SDD2 eventually boots into grub>_ command line.
I have a feeling that something got mixed up during the installation due to my unusual disk setup (which is that way because it's too much work to undo the RAID0 at this point...). Could anyone help me sort it out? I have very limited previous experience with either Linux or GRUB and any internet answers I have managed to find do not really match my situation.

Thank you for your time and support

Have you tried the command <sudo update-grub> ?

Hi, My advice to you is to boot into Windows and make a Windows Repair Disc. Boot off of that and repair your bootloader - is the Windows 7 install a standard mbr or did it get installed with EFI? Once you have booted with the Windows Repair Disc choose the option to repair the install. When you get to the options window, choose the command prompt option. Select the drive that has the Windows 7 on it, navigate to C:\ and in the command prompt enter:

Bootrec.exe /FixBoot

[Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... tup-issues]

Once you have your windows boot sorted, run disk manager or boot Zorin in live mode and run GParted. Once you can see where Zorin has got installed to, delete it and resize your existing partiitions as to how they were before. I think you have to manually run 'trim' if installing to an SSD. As you have a raid array I don't feel capable of answering that. Basically if you have any other spare drives, disconnect your raid array and your Windoiws drive and install to a third drive. I always use the 'something else' then make a primary partition of 30 Gb for '/' formatted to Ext4, create an extended partition after the primary one holdinig '/' and then at the end of the extended/logical drive add swap area = to double the amount you have in physical RAM. All the space left before swap area I would format to Ext4 and mark as '/home' for your data and any windows apps should you feel the urge to install WINE v4.

Hello,
thak you for the tips. Using windows recovery yielded no results as it can not find a windows installation. Since it has taken a long time to get this post approved, since then I have managed to get around grub to boot windows and deleted the whole linux partition... I will try to install it manually and see if I get better results. Do I need to also make a boot partition? I read some guides and there are some that say I should make 512 mb boot partition in FAT32 format... I did install the Linux on the RAID array, so it did work. Just the boot got screwed up. If I install this manually, do I need to also manually configure the GRUB thing (A link to a tested guide would be appreciated) ? I saw a guide on this forum for dual-booting without grub (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14769 3rd post down). Will this work?

I did plan to get a separate physical drive for the linux, but unfortunately my PSU is at it's limit, so until I get that sorted it has to go on one of the existing drives.

I'm on a day trip so will advise you later.

OK, Let's look at a typical Windows 10 install. This usually creates 3 or 4 partitions. At the start there is a 'system' partition of about 100 Mb, then C drive, then another 'system restore' folder at the end. If a manufactured Windows 10 machine there may also be a hidden 'factory restore' partition. Before doing anything else I would recommend backing up your entire drive should things go 'belly up' - usually caused by M$

Now if you have 4 Primary partitions, you are going to have to make the hard decision of which hidden partition you are going to delete - you may need to if your Disk Management in Windows reports you have 4 healthy Primary partitions - one of them has got to go! Once you have only 3 primary partitions on the system you are safe to proceed - point to note - it does not matter how many hard drives you have the SYSTEM can only ever have 4 Primary partitions! So, now you have to boot into Windows 10 and using it's Disk Management software allow it to shrink C:\ drive. Once that has done, run chkdsk on next reboot to ensure all is well. Then, having disabled fast boot in the BIOS, disabling Windows Boot Manager in the BIOS and enabling legacy boot for the USB device or DVD if you have burned to DVD (only ever use imgburn from https://ninite.com!) boot into Live mode of Zorin and launch GParted to prepare the free space that is to the right of C:\ drive. First make a 2 Gb '/boot' partition, formatted to Ext4. Immediately after the /boot partition, create the 'root' partition '/' for the Zorin file system - you can make this as small as 30 Gb but no less or you may want to go up to 50 Gb. After this create a logical/extended partition - at the end of the extended/logical partition create your swap area (double your physical RAM). All the space that is left in front of 'swap area'/'linux-swap' label as '/home' and format to Ext4.

Next click on the 'install to HD' icon on the desktop. Choose the 'something else' item when it comes to the question as to how you want to install - the partition editor will run once more - redo what you already did in GParted - i.e., don't resize just mark them as stated and format once more - choose the '/boot' partition as the place where you will put GRUB - this is indicated on the strip window below the main window of GParted. Now continue with installation of Zorn.

Next, return your BIOS settings to normal for Windows 10 reboot and then go to neosmart technologies website and download EasyBCD - install this and it automatically backs up your boot sector - provided the Windows 10 install uses mbr - if it is GPT it is more complex. Suggest you follow this guide:

https://linoxide.com/distros/install-ub ... indows-10/

I will try this as soon as I have a day off. I use windows 7 though, so that is 2 partitions...