how to reset active partition?

8

8fingers

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
293
ok, while trying to set up a Linux install on a borrowed Toshiba A10-S157 laptop, i set a blank partition (formatted in Ext3) to active partition through PartitionMagic. When I rebooted... (yes, I know most of you are laughing at me) it says "no operating system found." yeah, well, duh! something in PartitionMagic indicated that setting a Linux partion to active would consequently prompt me to install Linux. Well... it didn't. And now I can't boot to windows either. i'm leaving for greece in 36 hours... and i was hoping to have this laptop dual-booting fedora and XP by the time i leave!! fedora is really only so i can do some WEP cracking IF (and only if...) it's the only way to get online while i'm gone. bad boy, i know...

Cliff Notes
using XP Pro.
Trying to install Fedora
set empty partition to "active"
how do i reset "c" partition to active??

if you need more info, i'll be watching this thread, thanks everyone
 
the later it gets, the more tempted i am to go ahead and wipe the HD and start all over. but i really, really don't wanna do that since it will take time to reinstall all the programs and get the settings configured...

please obi-wan kenobi, you are my only hope...
 
if you started messing w partition majic you might need to fix the master boot record. The computer looks to the active partition for the boot sector but you just switched the active partition which has no OS or boot loader present. Leave the active boot sector as your original partion. You dont need to designate a partition as active just to install an OS, if you already have an OS loaded. First switch the active partition back and then you might have to boot to the repair console and do a "fixmbr"
 
this happens all the time, even without Part Magic

I'm not a Linux guy, but all answers I've seen involve using the rescue system
http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux/redhat72-install-HOWTO.html

and you gotta read up on LILO and GRUB before you play with dual boot systems
http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialRecoveryAndBootDisk.html

however, trying to fix things with a deadline is not a good prescription for success

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/96509133/m/6800900035/r/5310900035#5310900035
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/96509133/m/1610985904/r/2980936014#2980936014
 
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