On 01/07/2015 02:56 AM, Richard wrote:
Oh boy, I think I have done it now! Have been using suse for some time, since at least 6.x so far as I can remember. While I have sometimes had issues with install/upgrades I have usually been able to fix them with some book time. Now since Win 8.1 is involved, I am in more trouble.
New laptop with 8.1, installed 13.2, clean install from downloaded DVD. Ran checksum and option to check disk before installing. At the end of the install I had a very crippled 13.2, not usable really, and worse, a BSOD replacing the Win 8.1. Could not re-boot into either. Win note finally said call the manufacturer. I did. Rep said probably a bad hard drive, return to replace the laptop. I was not so sure, felt I had smotched something during install, but kept quiet anyway. Exchanged. Being stalwart or stupid, take your pick, (either a long-standing characteristic of those of us non-gurus who venture into linux-land anyway), after insuring a working 8.1, I made recovery disks (had not known about those the first time), and tried again. More unhappiness: got 13.2 installed and working, with some effort, and at the completion read the release notes which appeared. Uh-oh: one talked about issues with 8.1 and a lot of explanation I did not follow, especially what to do about it, which mostly included hope and prayer. Neither worked, and again I had a non-working windows. No matter, I said, I have recovery disks this time. Well, apparently I did not. I had a disk, but it did not recover. Same messages as before, recovery media invalid, missing files, whatever, and contact manufacturer.
I am loathe to do that since I am now pretty certain I have done something bad. Can anyone lead me by the nose thru this? My suse is working, including email. I copied files from the win partitions to make a disk with install files, I think. In any case an additional disk for recovery suggested by windows as probably not really necessary, but nice. Likely needed now.
I would really like to get my win back. After all, I paid for it. Also need for a couple of specific programs that must run on win. I am really nervous about playing too much, especially around the MBR or whatever is being used now, and disabling my linux usage. Back about suse 8.x and 9.x I was more active, followed changes and all. Since then I have become much more a "user" simply using the system effectively but needing little more working knowledge than my wife has (she still searches for some letters on the keyboard, can't understand why they are not laid out alphabetically to make them easier to find).
Thanks for any guidance. If some intrepid soul would be willing to hold my hand in this, I am willing to take it off list as this may be of little interest to most.
Richard
Very short to the point: You can install Windows 8.1 even if you don't have the system disk, _IF_ you have recorded the installation key. If you don't have the install key, I'm pretty sure you're out of luck, unless you can talk the dealer into giving you a disk with the proper key. Assuming you have the installation key, you can download a full install disk from Microsoft. Just Google around for it, download it, and burn it with a program that can burn an iso. (Do an md5sum on it first, to make sure you have a complete system. I think I remember that MS provided the md5sum. If not, you'll have to take it on faith.) Install Windows 8.1 from the disk you burned on your Linux system. Now, I only know how to work without UEFI, so what you do from here will depend. If you don't have UEFI, or can turn it off, just start your system from a live Suse disk, and reinstall the boot system-- probably some version of grub. That should allow you to start Windows or Linux from an opening menu. An alternative: If you can find instructions somewhere, you can use Windows to set up a dual-boot arrangement. I don't know how to do that. Windows will expect that the other system will be some other edition of Windows, but in your case it will be Linux. I don't know if that's a problem or not. Hope this helps. --doug -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org