[ale] error booting XP after dual boot install of Ubuntu 7.10

[Robert Reese]

Hi Brian,

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
On 4/11/2008 at 1:52 PM Brian Pitts wrote:

>Robert Reese wrote:
>> 
>> Windows doesn't spontaneously write to the MBR.  What happens is that a system check is performed and damage is deemed to have occurred.  The Windows self-repair system is initiated and it attempts to fix the installation.  Part of that self-diagnostic analysis is to check the MBR, which is why it seems to happen without warning even if a system has been fine for days, weeks, or even months before.
>
>Is this a part of CHKDSK or something else? I can't find anything in the 
>documentation [0] that suggests it will adjust the MBR. Can you point me 
>to any documentation about the "Windows self-repair system"?
>
>[0] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314835/EN-US/#/

I'm not sure where you'll find the documentation for this, actually.  I gave up my MSDN subscription many, many years ago, and seeing as the MS KB is historically highly variable in the quality of its information despite making marked improvement over the last couple of years, I don't necessarily consider the KB a primary source of information.  As for your search for information, I've never bothered to find out the mechanism behind it; I didn't care. :c/

What I can tell you of what I know is from experience.  A lot of experience.  The issue here is that there isn't much investigation on this matter.  If it works, no one bothers with it, and if it doesn't work *that's* what gets the attention.  It seems the only attention it gets is from multi-boot scenarios when Windows decides it needs to fix the boot loader.  Again, however, when that happens the focus turns toward fixing it so the multi-boot is back.  ;c)   BTW, here's a great, albeit short, page of information that may be of interest to all concerned:
http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/multiboot_os.asp
<http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/multiboot_os.asp>


If you truly want the technical information, here are some terms to search that will help you in that endeavor:

Volume Boot Record (VBR)
Windows File Protection  (WFP)
System File Checker  (SFC)

http://www.backupencyclopedia.com/glossary/w/w.html
<http://www.backupencyclopedia.com/glossary/w/w.html>

http://www.backupencyclopedia.com/glossary/v/v.html
<http://www.backupencyclopedia.com/glossary/v/v.html>

Cheers,
Robert~

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