Linux: installation: how to solve the problem: autochk program not found-------skipping autochk

Today I help my girlfriend to install the 2nd operating system since she is always bothered by virus under Windows xp. So I decide to help her to install Mandriva 2007 which is the easy-going distribution in the Linux world for a beginner. I ever installed double systems many times and have some ideas how to avoid tricky things like problems caused by partitions.

Now I will briefly describe the entire steps for other people's reference. First, in windows, I learned partitions by PartitionMagic and try to release a space for Linux installation. This is pretty simple, but I would strongly recommend to backup the table before you may do unrecovered and dangerous things. Okay, thus a space has been built for Linux with the format ex3. And then restart. Insert Mandriva DVD installtion disk to start install as usual. Make sure to pay more attention on partition part! You could use existing partition which just was released from Windows by PartitionMargic or you use 'custom mode' (note: even use this mode, you have to build a free space before doing that since Linux can destroy your data). Okay, thus we have a new system! But a tricky problem is comming as transfering to Windows! The problem is: when I try to start Windows XP, after flashing Windows startup bar, I was given a blue screen with words: program autochk.exe not found ===== skipping authochk and then restart to new loop. Calm down and try to search internet for useful stuff. This can be solved. At last, I think I find the answer. The source is from the partition of Windows has been hidden. What you do is just to unhidden it! The method here is a bit different from the useful message below (I got the basic idea from it).

1. In the terminal of Linux, type as a rooter:
fdisk -l /dev/hda
(thus you are given a partition table, you should see the windows partition as hidden, please copy the table for backup in case of making mistakes), then run:
fdisk /dev/hda
type t to enter a mode to change ID from 17 to 7. Then done! I don't have too much time to write it down. Please refer to Chinese version from other body.
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WinXP下安装Linux9.0实战
摘自 精彩奇讯 开化党 2005-04-28 13:07
http://www.sun126.com/bbs/ccb/index.cgi
暑 假正是我们这些计算机迷学习实战经验的最好时机，所以我选择了一只想要学习的RedHatLinux9.0作为这个暑假的学习重点。但是在安装Linux 的过程中，我先后遇到了很多棘手的问题，我翻阅了一些相关书籍，上网查找资料，经过了一整天的努力，终于实现了WinXP和Linux的双系统。而且最重 要的是，对以前的WinXP系统没有什么影响。现在，我就将我安装过程中总结出来的经验分享给大家。

我的硬盘是 40G的，分为CDEF四个分区，WinXP就安装在C盘里面。我的D盘为8G，正好可以安装Linux。于是我将D盘的资料移动到F盘里面，并用分区工 具PartitionMagic8.0把D盘改成主分区。由于Linux需要一个相当于内存的两倍大小的swap分区，而且越*近硬盘前面的主面就越好， 因此我用分区工具在刚才删除掉的D盘的空闲空间的前面部分分出一个256M的LinuxSwap分区(因为我的内存为128M)。然后将剩余的空闲空间格 式化成Linux可以用的ext3文件系统。这样，分区准备工作就完成了。

接着，我就开始用 RedHatLinux9.0的安装盘安装Linux，在分区的时候，选择手动分区，这是只要将以前分好的ext3挂在"/"目录就可以继续安装了。安装 的时候要记住管理员的密码，特别注意的是管理员的账号是root，而不是我们平常Windows里面的Administrator或者Admin。至于多 系统引导，我采用的是简单的GRUB。由于Linux9.0采用了简体中文图形安装界面，安装过程还是比较简单的。

安装 完以后就能顺利进入Linux操作系统了。但是，这时候我发现位于硬盘第一个分区(hda1)的WinXP不能启动了，启动过程中会出现autochk program not found-------skipping autochk的字样，然后就自动重启，而且总是重复这样的现象，就连安全模式都进不去。

在查阅相关资料以后，发现应该 是第一个分区被隐藏掉了(Hidden)。于是，我用root账户进入了Linux，修改/boot/grub目录里面的grub.conf文件，在 Title WindowsXP下面加上了一句Unhide (hd0,0)。可是重新启动以后还是出现不能启动的问题。在经过多次尝试后，我打算换一种方法。

于是我想到了 Linux安装盘中的救援模式(Linux Rescue Mode)，我把第一张安装盘放到光驱里面，从光盘启动，键入linux rescue后回车，进入了救援模式。用fdisk -l /dev/hda命令发现hda1的System为(Hidden)HPFS/NTFS，只要把这个改成HPFS/NTFS就可以了。用fdisk /dev/hda命令开启fdisk模式。用t命令选择hda1后输入7然后回车(7在这里就是代表的HPFS/NTFS，而以前的(Hidden) HPFS/NTFS的ID为17)。紧接着，输入w保存当前硬盘分区信息，再输入exit就可以退出救援模式了。同时，系统也重新启动(记得这时候将安装 盘拿出来，或者在Bios设置里面把第一项Boot改为硬盘启动)。而且我已经能够进入WinXP了。

可是，我发现这时候的WinXP只有4种颜色，而且在桌面设置里面只有800*600一种分辨率，不过，这只是小问题，只要将显卡的驱动程序重新安装一遍就可以了。

至此，可以说是大功告成，在没有影响到以前的WinXP的情况下，我安装上了Linux操作系统。希望我的这些经验能够给将要安装学习Linux的朋友们一些帮助。也希望有越来越多的人加入到学习Linux的行列中来。