How to fix a Fedora Core GRUB loader after installing Windows

[AljoshaNL]

Hello,

Why?
If you just installed Windows on a system with already Fedora Core on it you probably will find that your bootloader is gone, the system just directly boots into Windows. This is because the Windows installer overwrites your MBR (master boot record).

How?
1) First you have to get into a 'linux rescue session'. Usually this can be done by inserting your first Fedora CD and typing into the splash screen

linux rescue

.

2a) After a while Anaconda will run and will report it will mount the system under

/mnt/sysimage

(or another dir, usually it is sysimage, write it down if you are going to forget it).

2b) I suggest to write this down.

3) When you reach the console get into runlevel 3

/sbin/init 3

or try

telinit 3

4) Then you have to chroot /mnt/sysimage or /mnt/<whatever you wrote down in step 2a>

chroot /mnt/sysimage

5) Now you have to reïnstall GRUB

grub-install /dev/hda*

6) If you haven´t got any errors reboot your system by

reboot

Thanks to Trickster who gave me some important details!

*Or wathever you wrote down
*2 This is the disk (not the partition!) where you have linux installed

[Schotty]

[quote author=AljoshaNL link=board=1;threadid=10719;start=0#msg96214 date=1127590577]

/dev/sysimage

(or another dir, usually it is sysimage, write it down if you are going to forget it).

[/quote]

That should be /mnt/sysimage.

Otherwise this appears to be rather accurate.

[trickster]

Did it work for you?

[AljoshaNL]

Yes, it did work. Seems like the fedora partitition is auto-mounted when you choose rescue.
Thanks for the correction!

[Schotty]

No problem. This is my only life now ...