[Grml] Re: save important data with grml

[Mark]

> Hi!
> I wanted to Install Windows on a computer where debian was already
> installed.
> after istalling (no error messages), I didn't see any boot manager, just
> "NTLDR is missing"*
> I installed windows again. I saw my partitions, but then the same
> error happened again. I tried to install debian. I didn't see my
> partitions(!)

This question asks nothing specific about grml (or even Debian) so try
asking

    http://www.linuxquestions.org
    http://www.linux-tips.net

or similar.  Grml is for sysadmins.  But here is my advice.

Windows has a well known bug/problem/feature -- it does not like to be
installed in second place.  You have a bootloader problem and maybe a
corrupted partition table.  You can backup a partition table with

    dd if=/dev/mydisk of=./mybackuptable.dd bs=512 count=1

and restore it with

    dd if=./mybackuptable.dd of=/dev/mydisk bs=512 count=1

where the file mybackuptable.dd goes someplace permanent.  But know what
you're doing.

See dual-boot comments at
http://os.newsforge.com/os/06/02/22/2221258.shtml for another clean
dual-boot method.  The USB solution leaves Windows hard drives totally
unmodified and still gives a nice boot menu.

Or, you can install Windows to a QEMU image instead.  Then it does not
compete with Linux over the bootloader.  This solution is also very
clean.

On a partitioned IDE drive you need to install Windows first.  Backup
the Windows bootloader for safety.  (Use a Linux live CD with dd
command.)  Fallback to default Windows if something goes wrong.

Then install Linux to another partition and boot.  Add a stanza to
lilo.conf to add the Windows boot partition to your boot menu.  Execute
lilo -v to make the new stanza take effect.

    M