Damaged Boot Disk for Linux

[nag]

I have Redhat Linux 6.2 installed on free space along with Win98 & 2k with LILO installed on 1'st Sector of boot partition.I used boot floppy disk to boot into linux.But now floppy has got damaged and I couldn't boot into Linux.Is there any way to boot into linux without installing again.
Thanks.

[nag]

Can I use VMWare for this?

[voogru]

I have a boot disk for Mandrake 7.1 I dont know if this could help you but if you want Ill gladly put them on my webpage for you you so you can get it just email me.

-voogru

[linux_guru]

Sorry NAG, but if your boot floppy, there is no way access your Linux installation. Your only option is to re-install.

[M_Six]

nag,
Absolutely. VMware works great with Linux. Be aware, though, that VMware only runs on WindowsNT or Windows 2000. I have an NT workstation with RedHat 6.1 and Mandrake 7.2. I just pick whichever OS I want and boot it up.

M_Six

[CMonster]

I hope you didn't reinstall yet!

You might be able to do a rescue from your install CD or...

If LILO is on the Linux partition you can install a boot loader like BootMagic (older versions have 8GB drive limitation) or System Commander in the master boot record (mbr) and use it to toggle between OSs. You can also get the free version of BeOS -install it in Windows, boot into BeOS, find and run "bootman," install the BeOS boot loader in the MBR and use it to toggle between OSs. Once in Linux you can create another boot disk if you like.

Another thing you can do (next time or later) is to copy a program from the Linux CD called loadlin.exe to your Windows (e.g C http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif drive, then from Linux you must copy your actual kernel image (call it "vmlinuz") onto drive C: - now you can boot into Linux from DOS mode (unless you are running ME) using the following method at the command prompt:

C:\>loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3 and it should boot to Linux. Note that hda*3,4,5,6... should refer to your actual Linux partition.

Hope this helps.

[Jaz406]

Linux boot disks can be created from windows using the dosutils file. You should be able to set your BIOS to boot from the Red hat cd. Then go in and create a replacement boot floppy! Also a word of warning about VMMARE. Performance is dependant on memory. VMWARE needs a lot of memory to run. I believe that it performs best with at least 128 megs of memory. It's a good program but you must have a lot of memory to emulate windows on Linux.

[nag]

Thanks all.
I will try various options and come back.