well here goes..
i have finally finished installing ubuntu 7.1
i am getting used to the interface , learnt how to configure the internet and other settings ,
installed my restricted drivers for the ATI graphic card and now i am all set to update fixes n patches online , when i realize that ubuntu lets u do a distribution upgrade online itself without having to burn a iso. for the newbies it means one can upgrade from one OS to the next version online itself without having to format the partition or use a CD/DVD. so i thought lets give it a try and began upgrading the distribution , from gutsy gibbon to hardy heron.
GNU/Linux system (ubuntu distro) 8.04 (code named hardy heron) was the distribution i was upgrading to, it showed me 2 hours remaining and it also warned me that i cannot cancel upgrade once the download finishes. i thought id give it some time and went down to meet some friends.
A few hours later when i got back home i see that the machine is switched off , my mom had switched off the pc as she thought i had forgotten to switch off before going down.
I couldn't believe it , everything was going so well , vista was set , ubuntu was upgrading, all my settings were perfect , all my updates were perfect , i had wasted so much of my internet bandwidth into downloading for the update and here mom comes and takes it all away , my Linux wasn't booting anymore :(
i couldn't seriously get in terms with it , this is how one must feel when one breaks up with someone one really cares about , the pain..the frustration..
i was in denial for half the day , later i composed my self and began debugging.
after a lot of research on the internet and talking to this one chinese guy in the #ubuntu channel at mIRC server quakenet.org , i finally managed to fineshed updating and was able to boot into ubuntu , but the problem was the manual editing of the automatic process screwed it up and two versions of the kernal was installed..2.4 n 2.6. But atleast getting it to work without having to install again was a great self esteem boost. So i thot now at least i learn't something , but little did i know that it was just the beginning of my worries..

i installed a fresh copy of ubuntu 8.04 hardy heron using a live cd ..and i clicked on enter to reboot after the installation was complete only to realise that my grub loader (GRUB is an aplication that helps make a boot menu for linux and vista to dual boot)m wasnt working.
i was irrtated beyond words...now i coudn't boot into vista nor ubuntu..man what a mess..

its like some one above was really bored and thought mebbe he could fuck around with me a bit ..just for funzies..
its like after u breaks up...and the girl just goes on to marry ur best friend..
i was not going to give up though ,, my options were :
1) clean format whole system and install both OSes again
2) clean format ubuntu , fix mbr of vista to make vista boot and then reinstall ubuntu
3) boot into the ubuntu live on cd and figure out a way to edit the grub conf file and fix the booting issue

i obviously chose the 3rd option..and so it began..
i know this is becoming a frickin long blog..but hell what can i do..
life is becoming a series of challenges and riddles in the Linux world i think..
i booted into the ubuntu live on cd and connected to the internet to lookout for help and it turns out there are many more idiots like me around the world who have done the same thing and got stuck in no man's land..i was delighted ..there was plenty of support on how to fix grub and voila...i was in..

both ubuntu and vista booted perfectly well once i edited the menu.lst file in the boot/grub folder ..and now i have finally finished with all the problems at least for now..
who knows whats in store for me next...

highlights of using ubuntu till now has been the following for me

1)stupid thing but i really like it..shows me time , date n temperature of whichever city i want on the desktop
2)i like the way the boot menu can be fixed and altered ..very flexible unlike windows
3) no need to mount my hard drives every time unlike some other distribution
4) internet connectivity is automatic for my dsl pppoe connection unlike in vista
5) it starts in 12 seconds n shuts in 6 seconds..pretty impressive
6) this is one of the most important highlight..no need to install any anti virus program :D
7) keyboard shortcuts option is amazing and i love working more on the keyboard

overall been a very hectic week with so much troubleshooting..
signing off
cheers