Installed Ubuntu 12.04.01 with Windows XP but lost access to Windows XP

Posted by Bob D on Ask Ubuntu See other posts from Ask Ubuntu or by Bob D
Published on 2012-10-07T20:39:01Z Indexed on 2012/10/07 21:54 UTC
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The First time I tried to install Ubuntu the installer installed it on my D drive. This resulted in only booting to Windows XP with no access to Ubuntu. I had to download a disk partitioning program to undo all of this. A tip from the Internet said to create a partition on the C drive for Ubuntu, so I did along with a Swap Partition. I did this manually because the installer on the CD would not do so and would not let me do so from within the installer program.

With the fresh partitions created for Ubuntu I let the installer do its thing. The computer rebooted and came up in Ubuntu. I then installed WINE and all was well. Then I shut the computer down for the night.

The next day I turned on the computer and it booted directly into Ubuntu. I can see the Windows partition and all the files but it will not allow me to switch to the Windows XP OS. Does not even give me a choice to do so. I have reinstalled Ubuntu several times and each time is the same, I cannot access Windows XP anymore.

Right now I am in a fresh install with only whatever the installer installed. How do I fix this?! I have tried the hold the shift key to see if something called GRUB shows up, but no. I tried shifting the order of boot in GRUB but that did not work either. I tried using EasyBCD but that will not run.

One symptom I do not understand, my monitor will post a graphic when the computer reboots that the cable is disconnected, this is normal. Then when the computer gets to the actual boot process it will display the splash screens etc and it did this for Windows XP as well. But now something new has popped up, while booting Ubuntu after where it probably should be showing me a menu to pick what OS I want to boot, the monitor posts "Input Unsupported" until Ubuntu loads. I have never seen it post this before, maybe a clue to someone.

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