Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Dual boot issues.

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Dual boot issues.

    Hello everyone,

    I have an issue that has had me scratching my head and searching for a fix for a couple of weeks to no avail, so I am hoping that we can solve it here.

    I have a Dell Latitude D800, w/ 1 GB RAM and a new 100GB hard drive.

    Before I changed my hard drive had been successfully running Kubuntu 6.10 since it hit the streets, dual booting with Windows XP. (This is a work and personal machine.)

    At the time I installed my new hard drive, I also upgraded the McAfee Viruscan, and was forced to update the EPO Agent we use at the office. (I promise I am getting to the issue, just wanting to put in the background.)

    Here is the problem, when I flatten my machine and reinstall Windows XP on HDA1, 48GB, I will then use the remainder of the drive for Linux (tried both primary and logical drives). I am able to boot into both Windows and Linux just perfectly until I connect to the network at the office for the first time, and then any time I boot into Windows after that. Once I do this, upon reboot I go into a reboot cycle, and the GRUB message flashes by so quick I can't get the error message. I can do one of two things at this point, boot into a Live CD and reset GRUB, or boot onto the XP CD and repair the MBR.

    I've tried uninstalling the EPO Agent, setting McAfee not to scan the Boot Sector, but once I log into the office network the MBR gets hammered, unless it is the Windows loader. It is the 8.5i Enterprise version.

    The reason that I focused in on McAfee as the issue is that I am able to boot into both OS's until I log into the office network at which time we do a forced EPO Agent installation for reporting and distribution of the virus sigs, but to be honest I am not sure that this is the issue. I looked for limitations on GRUB and the location of the boot files, but did not find anything that indicated that the 48GB primary partition was too big.

    I have contacted McAfee and they stated that they did not have any issues that they knew of, but then I've never known them to be up front about issues with their products.

    I hope that I have given enough info to get some ideas as to what to look at. If I did not give enough info, please let me know.

    Thanks in advance for all of your help.

    #2
    Re: Dual boot issues.

    Well, sounds like fun ....

    Well I googled for "epo agent and found a lot of interesting stuff, most of which I don't know if they apply to your issue.

    As far as I can see epo is just:
    The ePO Agent is an add-on for McAfee VirusScan. It allows your computer to download updates from the IT department's server rather than directly from Network Associates. This helps allieviate any extra traffic to the internet.
    So I doubt that that is the culprit.

    I believe your "my mbr gets hammered unless....issue" is due to your inhouse anti-virus policy.
    Did you have a chat with your IT admin? Maybe he/she can help if he/she knows that there is not a win loader on your mbr.

    This is obviously just a guess but I hope it points you to a solution.

    Cheers
    Fintan
    HP Pavilion dv6 core i7 (Main)
    4 GB Ram
    Kubuntu 18.10

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Dual boot issues.

      Thanks for the reply Fintan.

      I am the IT guy at my company. I don't necessarily think that the EPO agent is at fault specifically, but it is the start of the chain. I can boot both OS's perfectly until I have the EPO agent installed. Once I do that, even after removing the EPO agent, any time I boot into Windows it hoses the MBR.

      I have a feeling that it is a case of a company that is trying to protect us from ourselves, and doesn't want to admit it.

      I'll keep looking, but again thanks for the info and pointer.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Dual boot issues.

        Would this machine be trying to network boot??Just a guess.
        ~$sudo make me a sandwich

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Dual boot issues.

          Thanks for the reply eriefisher, and sorry it took so long to get back.

          No I am not trying to network boot. I just want to dual boot.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Dual boot issues.

            Originally posted by wmcneely
            once I log into the office network the MBR gets hammered
            Have you tried to relocate GRUB to an external (!) medium, e.g. a floppy or a USB stick, to hide it from the "hammer"?

            --

            GRUB Manual

            Comment

            Working...
            X