Windows strikes again, to the point that it gets impossible to reinstall Kubuntu

[mbohets]

Last week my daughter asked me to help when her W10 PC did not restart anymore after an update.
It was a dual boot system, W10 on an SSD, and I installed Kubuntu as backup OS on a HD windows regularly crashes and gets infected because she clicks on everything that moves,
--> she could Kubuntu when windows crashed once more.
I also use this Kubuntu system to restore her W10 system with clonezilla.

When starting the PC it reports that there is no boot device.
So I start it with a Kubuntu USB stick in order to restore the W10 partition and grub.

To my surprise, clonzilla says it is unable to restore the image because it cannot create the partition.
Then I try to re install Kubuntu ont the HD.
At the end of the installation process, the installer reports it cannot install grub on the SSD.

So I guess the only option is to completely wipe the partition table of the ssd and start all over again.

[Qqmike]

Unless, maybe, Boot-Repair can get GRUB re-installed correctly,

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

[oshunluvr]

Computers, like Air Conditioners, don't work well with Windows open...

[oshunluvr]

http://askubuntu.com/questions/65501...ir-doesnt-help

[mbohets]

No luck with boot repair either, it also says it cannot install grub anymore.
I guess the W upgrade borked up the partitions really well.

[mbohets]

Computers, like Air Conditioners, don't work well with Windows open...

Ha, that's a really good one, I must remember that :-)

I allready tried some of the solutions given in your link (chroot, and some others...) but no luck with them either.
Unfortunately, in spite of the many problems she has with windows, she wants to keep using it (she is kind of a gamer)
So I guess it is time to download a windows install medium and try that.
... and afterwards using clonezilla or dd (what would be best here ?) to make a clone image of the entire ssd instead of only the windows partition.

[dibl]

Like hard disk drives, SSDs can die. I lost one a few weeks back -- it had 49,300+ hours on it, and suddenly disappeared. Go into the BIOS on that computer and see if the SSD even exists anymore. If not, you're done with it. If it does, then you may well have to make a new partition table on it and start over with it.

[mbohets]

Thx for the reply.

The SSD is still alive (SDA).
I put a new GPT partition table on it and installed Kubuntu on the other disk (SDB)
Then I restored the clonezilla image on the SSD, but W10 still does not boot while Kubuntu remains ok :-)

When I tried to mount the NTFS partitions on the SSD, Kubuntu tells me it cannot mount them because windows is hybernated.
When I boot windows, i get a black screen, and an error message complaining about a keyworde "hidden_" that is not supported.

--> I now burned a W10 DVD and I am installing it as we speak.
I hope it can retrieve the licence key somewhere, because the sticker with the W7 key has become unreadable
I read somewhere that W10 puts the key somewhere in the bios, so fingers crossed.
If not, my daughter will probably have to go for some kind of crack and go from a legitimate licenced windows version to an illegal version :-(((

[notabug]

Whether or not the motherboard has been changed seems to be the main deciding factor if a computer will activate after subsequent installs. You should be good to go. You will need to reinstall the grub menu afterwards if that is the boot menu you use.

[soundchaser59]

Computers, like Air Conditioners, don't work well with Windows open...

Nice.....me like....