Lilo and Win 7 bootloader...

[Daniel]

I installed VL on a computer for a friend. This computer already had Win 7 on it (so I set up a dual-boot). After installation, VL boots up fine but Win 7 pops up an error message saying something about the bootloader and to fix it by using the windows installation disk or something. I think I remember reading something about compatibility issues between the Win 7 bootloader and linux bootloaders. This computer doesn't get used much so the situation is not critical but should I have done something different during the installation of VL to make the dual-boot work?

[newt]

Similarly, but different: I installed SOHO 6 B2 on a system with Windows 7 but used the Grub2 bootloader instead. It worked fine and Windows 7 does not complain about anything.  The only inconsistency is that Grub2 identifies the Windows installation as 'Vista' and not '7', which can be changed after-the-fact if wanted.

[toothandnail]

Microsoft changed the MBR when Vista was first released. While Grub sometimes works without problems, I've seen a number of instances where it does cause problems when combined with Vista.

As a result, I normally suggest people who want to multi-boot a Vista machine use EasyBCD. It allows the Windows boot loader to be modified and avoids any chance of upsetting the silly thing.

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

Not sure if they certify it for use with Windows 7, but I've used it with a lot of Vista installs without any problems at all.

Paul.

[retired1af]

Microsoft changed the MBR when Vista was first released. While Grub sometimes works without problems, I've seen a number of instances where it does cause problems when combined with Vista.

As a result, I normally suggest people who want to multi-boot a Vista machine use EasyBCD. It allows the Windows boot loader to be modified and avoids any chance of upsetting the silly thing.

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

Not sure if they certify it for use with Windows 7, but I've used it with a lot of Vista installs without any problems at all.

Paul.

I'll report back after this weekend as far as EasyBCD and Win 7. Once the external drive shows up later this week, I'll be installing VL on it and plan on using EasyBCD to get things set up. (Thanks for the link, by the way!)

[budulay]

I installed VL6.0 Light on a system with windows7 and Lilo was able to detect the windows instalation with no effort on my part.

[Daniel]

I installed VL6.0 Light on a system with windows7 and Lilo was able to detect the windows instalation with no effort on my part.

Yeah, that's what happened with me too, but was Win7 able to boot afterwards?

[retired1af]

When I first installed VL on the USB drive, I gave EasyBCD a try. I was able to boot into Windows 7, however it didn't like the USB drive for some reason. I finally installed LILO to the USB drive, changed the boot order on the notebook to USB drive first and internal hard drive second. When the USB drive is plugged in, the boot process is Linux. When it's unplugged, it goes straight to Windows.