How To: Fix "NTLDR is missing"

Using the Windows Recovery Console

The Windows 2000 and Windows XP CDs supplied by Microsoft has a tool called the Recovery Console which can be used to repair errors that prevent Windows XP from starting using the command line. OEM versions of Windows XP, including computers that were supplied with Windows XP preinstalled, may not have this utility.

• Insert the Windows CD and start the computer.
• When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R.
• Type a number corresponding to the Windows installation you wish to repair (usually 1) and press Enter.
• When prompted, type the administrator password and press Enter.
• From the command prompt, copy NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the i386 folder of the CD to the root folder of the hard drive. In the example commands given below, C: is the hard drive and D: is the CD-ROM drive. You will need to change the drive letters if appropriate:
  COPY D:\I386\NTLDR C:\
  COPY D:\I386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
• Remove the Windows XP CD from the drive and restart the computer.

Ubuntu Linux Boot Menu

To change the amount of time the system displays the boot menu showing the list of OSs when  you switch on the system:

1. Open a terminal

2. $sudo gedit

3. Open /boot/grub/menu.lst

4. find the line with the following (in default mode)

timeout   3

5. 3 indicates 3 seconds. Change it to how many ever seconds you want. In case you want the system to wait until the user selects a choice, change the timeout value to -1.

Ubuntu Linux: How do I install .deb packages?

Q. I am a new Ubuntu Linux use. I need to install a package called package.deb. I know I can use Synaptic package management to install packages from CD or Internet. But I want to install this special .deb file. So how can I install package?

A. You need to use dpkg package manager from shell/command prompt. dpkg is a tool to install, build, remove and manage packages. dpkg itself is controlled entirely via command line parameters. For example -i use to install .deb file.

How do I install .deb file?

To install package called package.deb type the following command:
Go to directory where package.deb is kept. For example if it is in /tmp directory:

$ cd /tmp

Type the following command:

$ sudo dpkg -i package.deb

Remote Desktop in Linux

Change the following in the xdcmp section in gdm.conf:


Enable=true

Fom the following link:

http://www.coxiar.com/

Ubuntu 9.04 - XDMCP Access From Windows

All these months, I've been trying to figure out another way to connect to my Ubuntu 9.04 box without the usage of VNC. I stumbled across this option called "X Display Manager Control Protocol" (XDMCP) but didn't have any idea how to use it. Other guides online were outdated, and I can't seem to get it working with my linux box at all. Remote Desktop on Ubuntu required me to have a current user logged in, and whatever I did on Ubuntu can be seen clearly by those who pass by my monitor.

XDMCP allows me to connect to Ubuntu invisibly, without interrupting another user's usage of my desktop. It works like Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol, except that it allows multi-user access simultaneously.

I've compiled my own guide, which seems to work. Try it out, give me feedback!

Configuring your Ubuntu box (9.04)

1. From the Gnome Menu, select System > Administration > Login Window. You'll be prompted to enter your password.
2. Under the "Remote" tab, change the "Style" option box to "Same as Local". If you prefer performance, you might want to select "Plain with face browser"
3. After that, click on the "Configure XDMCP" button, and uncheck the "Honor Indirect Requests" checkbox.
4. Close both dialogs via the "Close" button, and restart Ubuntu.
5. Done!

Configuring your Windows Box

We will need XMing (an X Server for windows) to utilize XDMCP.

Note: For my installation, I tested it out with Windows Vista Service Pack 2. I'm not too sure if it works on Windows XP, give it a go!

1. Download the XMing installer from http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming
2. Run the installer, click "Next" all the way to accept the default settings. At the last screen, uncheck "Launch XMing". This is important!
   
3. Run "XLaunch" from XMing's Start Menu Program group, and follow the illustrations.

After you click finish, you should be faced with a screen like this:

This is perfectly normal, you have to wait awhile before Xming loads your desktop.

Voila! Your ubuntu box on Windows!

If you followed the guide through, you should be able to achieve the same results.

Samba Server

Samba setup:

To make the files accessible to all, set the following in smb.conf:

security = share
guest = nobody