Dual Boot Win 7/Ubuntu

I recently received a new laptop. I've installed Ubuntu alongside the Win 7 OS, but I've run into a slight problem.
The master boot sector is the Windows partition, and on boot up GRUB2 (which is supposed to be the boot manager) doesn't want to even recognize that ubuntu is installed.

What I have tried is this: http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1576128.html
and This: http://askubuntu.com/questions/24479/no-grub-after-installing-ubuntu-10-10-beside-windows-7-straight-to-windows/24486#24486

And what I ended up doing was accidentally sudo installing GRUB over the windows boot file. Wasn't I supposed to do that? Well, when I restarted it gave me a command line GRUB which wouldn't recognize EITHER of the operating systems.

I had to load up a Win7 install disk to do a command line repair on the boot file. That fixed it, thanksfully.

So I'm left with an ubuntu partition I can't access. It's a 40gb partition leaving me with 200gb for Win 7. So since it's a pretty sizable partition I really WANT to use it, but not sure what's going on.

The Laptop is an HP Probook 6360b, and since it's pretty brand new I /could/ do a clean install of the OS and that could get it to play nice with linux for sure. But that's a complete last resort, as there are a few things on here that came pre installed that I want to keep, that I don't have keys for *because* they were pre installed. I could always "acquire" them... but I'd like to keep as legit as possible on this laptop (I have the legit Win7 pro code though, so thankfully no issues there)

S7 Vision67 wrote:I have the legit Win7 pro code

rofls who buys anything legit anymore

wins7 pro
fraps
sony vegas
photoshop cs5
tv series /movies =)

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Vision67 wrote:I have the legit Win7 pro code

rofls who buys anything legit anymore

wins7 pro
fraps
sony vegas
photoshop cs5
tv series /movies =)

Well, when you get a BRAND NEW LAPTOP FOR FREE...

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Vision67 wrote:I have the legit Win7 pro code

rofls who buys anything legit anymore

wins7 pro
fraps
sony vegas
photoshop cs5
tv series /movies =)

Come on Josh, you know we don't promote piracy, especially on the public sections of the forum.

How did you install Ububtu?

S7 Glock wrote:How did you install Ububtu?

Live install off my USB. All messing around with GRUB I've been doing from the terminal from the live boot.

I cannot access the Ubuntu install that is actually ON my HDD. It's there, but without GRUB working, I cannot access it. I can probably wipe it from windows utility though if need be.

All other messing around with the drives can be done through the Live USB. (And yes, I've already tried reinstalling Ubuntu using the Live USB to see if that fixes it. It did not.)

Wow, sounds really strange, I've got my laptop running dual boot win 7/Ubuntu and I used the windows instal on the ubuntu web site and had no issues. If it is a brand new laptop, I would reset it back to factory settings and try the windows installer... either way I think the best bet is to reformat your HD and reinstall Windows and start over.

S7 Epic wrote:

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Vision67 wrote:I have the legit Win7 pro code

rofls who buys anything legit anymore

wins7 pro
fraps
sony vegas
photoshop cs5
tv series /movies =)

Come on Josh, you know we don't promote piracy, especially on the public sections of the forum.

If you read the post never said it was !
i just do not have to pay for them i have complete Hard copy's of all program's listed i just know how to milk my PC warranty also giveaways of all kinds and how to sell out my youtube account to get free programs =)

a lot TV show's like walking dead are able to watch online from AMC
movies i use a buddys account on ps3 to watch his netflix

S7 Glock wrote:Wow, sounds really strange, I've got my laptop running dual boot win 7/Ubuntu and I used the windows instal on the ubuntu web site and had no issues. If it is a brand new laptop, I would reset it back to factory settings and try the windows installer... either way I think the best bet is to reformat your HD and reinstall Windows and start over.

This is what I'm going to do now.
After taking a look around and trying to do certain things, I've come to the conclusion that I just don't like the OEM install. Sure it can be useful for people who use factory defaults and just /use/ their computer regularly, but not having full control (i.e. knowing from a clean install onward that everything on there I put there myself) kind of irks me. Since it's OEM I didn't get an install disk, and since I'm impatient to wait for a new one, I'll just acquire a boot disk and use my legit key. It has the suffix "Windows 7 Pro OA" And the net says that OA stands for Online Activation. Here's hoping I don't run into any troubles with it.

Thanks for the advice anyways.

Ninja Edit: Since I'll be going forward with the Ubuntu install anyway, what programs can y'all recommend to get me started? I know LibreOffice and Gimp, but that's it. Suggestions for System Utilities/Tools/Basic Comp Sci student stuff would be appreciated.

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Epic wrote:

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Vision67 wrote:I have the legit Win7 pro code

rofls who buys anything legit anymore

wins7 pro
fraps
sony vegas
photoshop cs5
tv series /movies =)

Come on Josh, you know we don't promote piracy, especially on the public sections of the forum.

If you read the post never said it was !
i just do not have to pay for them i have complete Hard copy's of all program's listed i just know how to milk my PC warranty also giveaways of all kinds and how to sell out my youtube account to get free programs =)

a lot TV show's like walking dead are able to watch online from AMC
movies i use a buddys account on ps3 to watch his netflix

Yeah, because that is totally what you were alluding to...

Should be last note here:
Just got off the phone with HP. Getting sent a 32 bit install disc for free, should be here by thursday.

I'm getting the same install right now from the net, and it should be a completely clean version (so, without any keygen or bootloader) which should enable me to try this myself within a couple hours.

Thanks for all your help mates.

Could have been worse I suppose. I could have had a giant Alienware laptop-seized paperweight

--------

but anyways joe it would suck if you have to whip your hdd

S7 Sticky wrote:
but anyways joe it would suck if you have to whip your hdd

Eh, that's the beauty of it. I just received this laptop Friday. Sure, I spent a few hours updating and configuring thinking I was going to settle in. But all that is small time compared to the many years I intend to use this baby.

Gotta be happy with what you're settlin' down with. Advice that goes for a LOT of things in life.

S7 Vision67 wrote:

S7 Sticky wrote:
but anyways joe it would suck if you have to whip your hdd

Eh, that's the beauty of it. I just received this laptop Friday. Sure, I spent a few hours updating and configuring thinking I was going to settle in. But all that is small time compared to the many years I intend to use this baby.

Gotta be happy with what you're settlin' down with. Advice that goes for a LOT of things in life.

true plus installing and patching wow is a b1tch (i started playing it )

S7 Sticky wrote:

S7 Vision67 wrote:

S7 Sticky wrote:
but anyways joe it would suck if you have to whip your hdd

Eh, that's the beauty of it. I just received this laptop Friday. Sure, I spent a few hours updating and configuring thinking I was going to settle in. But all that is small time compared to the many years I intend to use this baby.

Gotta be happy with what you're settlin' down with. Advice that goes for a LOT of things in life.

true plus installing and patching wow is a b1tch (i started playing it )

PFFFFFTT

Dude, you NEVER install games and stuff on your boot partition. If something happens you only have to deal with the BOOT PARTITION. Screw trying to patch all my games up again, F THAT. Holy hell I could not imagine having to sit through 4 hours of wow patching (I don't play it anymore, but I can't afford a subscription nor do I have the time if I could).

i just hit update and walked away!

Okay, so off a tip, I installed EasyBCD to handle the bootloader instead of GRUB.

It... at least gives me an option of which to boot from, but I'm not sure how to have it locate the linux boot.

Here is what I know. Windows boots from /dev/sda3, linux is installed on /dev/sda5 (grub included). How can I bridge this gap?