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Questions tagged [bootloader]

A bootloader is a small program that gets executed at startup time. The bootloader loads data and other startup process into RAM where they can be executed.

Since RAM is a stateless memory, most computers have no way of executing programs from memory when they are first started. The bootloader's job is to take data from storage devices (such as hard drives or flash memory) and load that into RAM where it can be processed.

Ubuntu ships with the GRUB2 bootloader by default, although others can be installed.

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Uninstall GRUB and use Windows bootloader

I have Windows 8 pre-installed, and then I installed GRUB with Ubuntu. Ubuntu is not my thing, so now I want to remove it along with GRUB. From what I have learned, with UEFI, GRUB does not overwrite the windows bootloader in the EFI partition and…
mrolive
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How do I re-run boot loader?

Running sudo apt-get -f install said that The link /vmlinuz.old is a damaged link and: you may need to re-run your boot loader[grub] Here's the full output: user@chrubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency…
TevinYoungz
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Where to install bootloader when installing Ubuntu as secondary OS?

I'm trying to install Ubuntu as secondary OS on my laptop. I have Windows 8 already installed on my laptop. Now, I know how to run Ubuntu from USB drive, I created addition partition and formatted it to EXT4. So I'm ready to install. Now, 'Device…
HelpNeeder
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What exactly is GRUB?

Can anyone explain me with fairly simple words and not too technical concepts what exactly is GRUB, what is its primary usage and how to use it efficiently for a dual boot Windows/Ubuntu installation? I have already read a couple of resources but I…
Nikos Grigoriadis
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Where is the bootloader stored - in ROM, RAM, or elsewhere?

According to the wikipedia entry, a bootloader is a small program stored in ROM(a part of the main memory(RAM), isn't it??) which can only be read and not erased. I am a little puzzled here. Does this mean that every RAM we buy has a bootloader…
xczzhh
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Install on Second Hard Drive with startup boot option?

In theory, what I want to do is very simple, but I've done some google research and read some posts on this site and I'm still confused. I want to keep win7 on my primary C:\ drive, and install Ubuntu (12.10) on a secondary drive (that I have yet…
Arammil
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How do I find out which boot loader I have?

I know Grub is the one installed by default when installing Ubuntu but I am faced with an embedded system running 9.10 Desktop Edition. Following are the contents of lsb-release file ubuntu@ubuntu-desktop:/boot$ cat…
binW
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In a dual boot system, how does the BIOS choose which bootloader to run?

I have a dual boot of Windows and Ubuntu. When I switch on the machine, the BIOS does POST and after that the bootloader starts. I want to understand how the BIOS chooses which bootloader to run. I want to know the process going on between the BIOS…
Prashant Singh
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Dual-Booting OS X or macOS with Linux without rEFInd

I think the title quite sums up the content of this post. I'd like to dual-boot a macbook pro 13' without having to use a third party boot loader. All the tutorials I've found use rEFIt o rEFInd to successfully boot Linux when it's been installed,…
user600806
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Bootloader install failed

The situation where I am stuck: The issue is that I am trying to install Ubuntu 15.10 as my primary OS. I had windows 10 and tried to use both OS in dual boot but got stuck at some point. So my easiest option was to take backup and entirely delete…
user464758
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How to set Windows bootloader as default bootloader?

I have a Win 7/11.10 dual boot system with Grub 2 as the default bootloader. However, I want to make Windows bootloader the default bootloader (grub 'dos' like interface scrares the hell out of my sister) so when I start the PC I will have the…
Mysterio
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Pros and cons of installing Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager

I'm trying to dual boot Ubuntu alongside Windows on my laptop. I already know how to install it. A tutorial that I watched recommended selecting the Something else option of the Installation type screen of the Ubuntu installer rather than installing…
user3818576
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Does the UEFI partition either "MUST" or "SHOULD" be first for some reason? If so why?

In a non-English Ubuntu-it.org wiki page it's stated that the UEFI partition MUST be always placed at the start of the disk. This is not the case in the English Ubuntu Community Help Wiki page. So does the UEFI partition either "MUST" or "SHOULD"…
kos
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Failed to install bootloader

I am trying to install Ubuntu 12.04 by creating a USB Boot Disk. I am using a 500 GB External Hard-drive ("Elements"). I get through the first part of using the start-up disk creator. I select Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" as the ISO, and my…
Isaac
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Where is the boot loader installed?

Where is the boot loader, such as Grub, installed generally? When I install 12.04 along side Windows on different partitions of my disk, I encountered a choice for "Device for boot loader installation". If I understand it correctly, it is to…
Tim
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