Have we any 'sample' menu.lst files for higher than XP?

R

RonCam

Active Member
I'm using neogrub for a triple boot with Windows 2000 Pro, Windows 7 and Linux Mint 17. I'm searching for an example file-format to follow, but I'm not sure if what I see on this site is applicable to my OS version.

I'm seeing examples, tutorials, on this site and elsewhere -- for Windows XP. Didn't Microsoft change the boot-method in their newer operating systems, those above 5.1, regarding 'NTLDR'?

Although -- I see my Windows 7 does have a directory in the root, named \NTLDR. And, to further confuse me, I don't see a directory, \bootmgr.

So I am confused. For those using non-legacy windows systems, should we still be using the example menu.lst files as given on this site? I think -- however, the example might be correct for my Windows 2000 partition -- so my question doesn't concern my legacy operating system, only the current one.

My question:
Should \bootmgr be substituted for \ntldr or should the files be used, as written? Will this result in proper operation?

Sorry if there's a menu.lst example somewhere on this site, for the newer Windows versions. I searched, but couldn't find anything -- the forum's search function for the term 'Windows 7' stripped-off the '7' and so it was looking for only 'Windows' -- not surprised there were so many extraneous 'hits' :openmouth: I couldn't make sense of it!
 
As EasyBCD uses the Windows menu as the primary one, you actually won't be featuring neither NTLDR nor BOOTMGR in your menu.lst at all. The Windows bootloader will be the first to start and will start no matter what if you're doing things the NeoSmart way; so your menu.lst will solely contain references to other, non-Windows installations that you wish to load.
 
mqudsi said:
... your menu.lst will solely contain references to other, non-Windows installations that you wish to load.
Click to expand...
:smile: Thanks for the fast reply!

Perhaps I should explain the source of my confusion, and that is, the 'Sample Multi-Entry NeoGrub File', as posted here on the site, does contain a reference to the installed MS Windows operating system. Please see the section that follows the bold-faced 'title Windows XP', below.

I was interested in following this pattern, because (correct me if I'm wrong) it opens the possibility of changing the default operating system by modifying the NeoGrub menu.lst script, through means other than EasyBCD. For example, if I'm in Linux at the time, and I want to make a change to the default for the next boot, I believe I'd be unable to do it through the EasyBCD application. This is because I've read in a number of places that it's only possible to run EasyBCD, and therefore use it to change boot priority, while one is 'in' Windows -- and never possible to run it, while one is 'in' Linux.

So, if I have, for example, Linux Mint set as the default boot, and I'm working in that OS, and then wish to make the next boot default to Windows 7 ... how could I do it, if menu.lst contains no entry, for Windows 7? Or am I totally overlooking some other obvious solution?

Sample Multi-Entry NeoGrub menu.lst script (showing reference to a Windows OS),
copied from under the heading, Installing and Configuring NeoGrub:
...
default 0
#Pick the task [edit: 'task' in this context means 'operating system'?] to be run if the user doesn't pick one within the time limit.​
timeout 10
#Give the user 10 seconds to choose a task.
#We use the "title" keyword to indicate a new entry in the menu.​

title Windows XP
#This is our first entry - it's number 0​
find --set-root /NTLDR #Search for NTLDR on all partitions. Once found, use that partition as root.
makeactive
#Make this the active partition​
chainloader /NTLDR #Run NTLDR, the Windows XP bootloader
#If we're using a menu, we don't need to use the `boot` command - it's automatically implied.​

#This is our second entry​
title Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon
root (hd1,2)
#Load Ubuntu from the 2nd harddrive's 3rd partition.
# [edit: I have no questions about the entry to start a GNU/Linux install -- this part is clear to me.]
#End Ubuntu entry​

#That's it!
 
That's an example of chainloading Windows XP from the NeoGrub menu after bootmgr. No point, really, since EasyBCD has much more reliable methods of booting into Windows XP from the top-level menu with the new EasyLDR functionality in version 2.2 (or maybe earlier).

You can't reconfigure the default boot from a non-Windows OS with EasyBCD, that is correct.
Adding Windows Vista/7/8 to menu.lst won't change anything because the way it works is BOOTMGR runs first and gives you the option of Windows or NeoGrub/Linux. Adding Windows to menu.lst will add Windows to the "NeoGrub/Linux" option. So you'll only change the default for the second (NeoGrub) menu, not the first BOOTMGR menu. That, and when you add BOOTMGR to menu.lst you'll actually accomplish nothing - selecting it will take you back to the BOOTMGR menu prompting you to choose between Windows and NeoGrub Linux once more.
 
Thanks for saving me from spending (more) time on trying to do it this way, and only winding-up with :blush: an 'endless loop'!
There must be some way of doing what I want, but thanks to your explanation, it won't be this way, and now I can see why..

So ... it's back to the drawing board ... :grinning:
 
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