Bootloader for Windows lost

Hi everyone
I tried to install ubuntu 13.04 x86 on my 16 GB flash drive using the pendrive program. When i restarted my laptop and selected boot from usb drive i then selected install ubuntu on my dva2 using ext4 and "/" on mount. After finishing the process i restarted my laptop and i was keep booting in ubuntu os without even asking me if i wanted to boot in windows. I then removed usb from laptop and the only os that exists is ubuntu. The only thing i noticed is that in the partitioning menu earlier where i selected the 16 GB flash drive, it also said Windows 8 loader next to it something that was a bit strange since my windows was installed on my 240 Gb ssd. I enter in ubuntu without usb and i can see all my files from windows desktop. Is there any possible way to recover my windows???
College is opening next week and i could really use some help..
Thanks a lot!

I enter in ubuntu without usb and i can see all my files from windows desktop.

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Do you mean you can boot into Ubuntu on your HD. From there you can see your windows 8 partition?

If so, try installing boot repair in ubuntu, run it and it should be able to add windows to the boot menu.


Open Terminal and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair

run it by typing

boot-repair

Check the menu is not hidden

I mean that there is no choice for entering windows. I can only boot in ubuntu without even having the usb in my laptop and on my files i can see all my windows files.
Thanks for the response btw. I installed the boot repair but if i choose repair file systems will that recover my windows bootloader?

I wish I knew what dva2 was, but I don't..could you explain?

When dealing with Ubuntu, and the various ways it can be installed, I always seem to need information verifying the system's current configuration. If you could get a picture of your drive's partitions, it might be helpful. If you use the build-in Ubuntu screenshot utility, make sure and change the name of the file to something simple.

But for now, when you look at the Boot Device menu, what options do you show for booting? Are there just hard drive choices or might there be something called "Windows Boot Manager"?

antros48 said:

I installed the boot repair but if i choose repair file systems will that recover my windows bootloader?

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If you select repair filesystems, then it will look to see if any of your filesystems are damaged and try to repair them.

Just run it and select what it suggests. You could be dithering about for months at this rate.

Just a couple of observations and questions.

[DEL]Your System partition is formatted as Fat32, which would make me think Windows 8 had been installed as UEFI. This is why I asked if you had a "Windows Boot Manager" in the Boot Device menu you can bring up when you boot. You did make reference to a "Windows 8 Loader" but did not give specifics as to whether it was related to an Ubuntu Boot menu. [/DEL]

I have no experience with the Boot Repair utility, but SIW2 has a lot more experience with such things. I do notice, however, on the Advanced options, there is a selection to "Repair Windows Boot files" and "Create Bootinfo summary", and both sound interesting.

Since I have limited experience with such situations, I will sometimes try to recreate the circumstances to see if I can find a process to resolve the issue. Knowing for sure if you had a UEFI install would help.

It might also be a good idea to backup your Windows install as much as you can. SIW2 might be able to explain how to create an image backup of your Windows 8 partition you could save to an external drive. Once you had that, you could always replace the system. If you can't get it working, letting us know your acceptable options for a final outcome would be helpful. For instance, are you willing to remove the Ubuntu install from your system and just go back to Windows 8?

Edit: Looks like I will have to rethink your configuration. The one I just did shows some major differences. For instance, the 102 MB partition which you would normally think was a Windows system partition, is formatted as FAT, not Fat32. The Windows 8 OS partition is marked as active, so the boot files for Ubuntu and Windows are now there. I will have to start over and set it up as a legacy install to match your configuration.

I just finished recreating your configuration. Windows 8 was still bootable if chosen from the red boot screen showing Windows 8 Loader as the last entry.

If yours is not working that way, since the old System Partition has been reformatted, possibly the Windows boot files were removed and not yet replaced.

Let us know if you have a way to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment with a flash drive set up as an install or recovery, or some other install media. If you do not, you might try downloading the Windows 8.1 .iso and putting it on a bootable flash drive. Replacing the boot files is easy, if you are in the Recovery Environment.

Good to hear :thumb:

PC's are like women, sometimes they just are so hard to understand

.. but we can't help but luv 'em