I really need help with this, here it goes. I partitioned my drive and installed linux Redhat 7.2, the other partiton contains XP. During the installation i choose to set up LILO cause i heard that was the best way. I (thought at least) set XP the default boot. the installation went well. Problem. i start my computer hoping to come to a screen with LILO asking me which system i want to boot, but all i get is a black screen with a blinking underscore. Big problem, i try to boot into xp with my install cd, nope, won't work, i try a ms-dos boot floppy. still i get blinking underscore. however i can get into linux withe the boot disk i made. But linux is the only i can get into. I need help. Should i detelete LILO? if so how? or change the MBR, if so how? i'm stuck i can't do anything but use my boot disk into linux. please help. thanks to anyone who can help at all. - Phil

HI, I am not sure but maybe lilo was not installed properly. I think you should try reinstalling lilo once again. Since u can get into linux via the boot disk you should not have a problem. Below is a para tht tells u how to do it from the link http://octoped.net/linux/lilo-cfg.html Go to the link for more info. [ Recovering a Lost LILO If you reinstall DOS or Windows after installing LILO, you may find that the LILO: boot prompt no longer appears. This might also occur if certain disk utilities or anti-virus utilities attempt to "repair" your master boot record. (Some anti-virus programs will see LILO as a virus!) To fix this, you just need to reinstall LILO. That means you have to boot into Linux some other way, either using Loadlin or a Linux boot floppy. (See Choosing a Boot Loader). At the Linux command prompt just type /sbin/lilo as described under Applying Changes. When you reboot, LILO will be back where it belongs ] Hope it works. Ranjit

Thanks anyway Ranjit, but i messed up my computer real bad. I'm not even sure if i have dos or xp. I'm not sure much about anythign now. All i know is that i can boot into linux with the boot disk, but if i try anything than that i get a blinking underscore. I think i'm just going to buy a new hard drive. Thansk for you help though, nice to know you cared enough to try to help, i really appreciate that. If you're ever in Orlando, i'll buy you a round. Thanks agian - Phil

Try Ranish partition manager on the floppy It will give you all information about the state of your partitions and also allow you to delete mbr. All the best