Recovering Linux installation after Windows install

Most people make the mistake of installing Windows after Linux. Offcourse one of the main reason is that due to myriad issues in windows, users often have to re-install windows. Not so the case with Linux. However after windows is installed it overrides the boot-loader and your Linux is hidden. Many people resort to re-install Linux in such a situation.

Worry not, the following steps will show you how to recover your boot-loader and be able to access Linux once again.

First up, download the Linux Live CD, burn it on the CD or follow the instructions at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows to create a bootable USB.

Boot your computer from the USB. Once in the Live version, open a terminal

Issue the Following Command

sudo fdisk -l 

Check the partition where Linux is installed. It would be the one where the Type "Linux" is written. Then issue the command

sudo mount /dev/sdaXX /mnt

where XX in the sda is the number where you found the word Linux in the fdisk command.

In the above example it would be 7

At this point your Linux installation is mounted at the location /mnt.

Now we need to install the Grub bootloader.

sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda to install grub.  

This will install grub.

Reboot your system. Remove the USB/CD. The system will boot directly into Linux.

After your linux is booted, open the terminal and issue the command

sudo update-grub 

Restart your system. You will now see the Grub Menu on system startup.