Installing LAMP Stack on Windows XP, Vista and 7

February 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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If you write PHP and are anything like me, you want to test your code before making it live to the world on your own LAMP stack. I have installed linux on separate computers, installed LAMP stacks on windows, created development environments on my live web servers and yet none of these are all that great to work with. Enter Virtualbox.

If you are reading this article and have already been working with virtualization technology for your own LAMP stack, I applaud you and to keep reading as I found a super easy way to set one up without a lot of configuration.

There is a version of Ubuntu linux call Lubuntu (Light Ubuntu). There is a distribution for minimal install called mini.iso from http://lubuntu.net/. When installing, the minimal distribution gives you options similar to the Ubuntu server distribution such as LAMP, SSH, DNS, MAIL, etc… This is a really easy way to install a LAMP stack.

I currently have Virtualbox https://www.virtualbox.org setup in a Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Kubuntu 11.10 environment. Virtualbox has been running well on all of these platforms.

So basically, if you want a LAMP stack that you have 100% control of on all platforms, install Virtualbox and create a new virtual machine with the minimal install distro of Lubuntu.

Resource Links:

Lubuntu | Light Ubuntu for faster computing
Oracle Virtualbox
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Filed Under: Windows Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Looking for Writers and Tech Experts: Submit Your Content for Backlink

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Tech Blog SnapshotWe are growing our blog and are looking for more original content. If you are an expert in Windows, Linux, Unix, Web Development (UI/UX/IA), Web Frameworks, Javascript Libraries, PHP, Internet Marketing, or anything else related to IT and have original content to share, please contact me by commenting on this post. I can read your comments without making them public, please provide me with contact information and we can talk about setting you up with an account.

In return for relevant, original content contributions I will provide a backlink to your site, blog, etc… from this domain name ntechcomm.com. My domain name (ntechcomm.com) has been active since 2003 and has a lot of link juice value to add to any blog or site.

 

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How to Boot Windows From GRUB Rescue Prompt

February 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

Hiren's Boot CD ScreenshotI recently had an experience with a corrupt dual boot setup of Kubuntu 11.10 which led to me finding a solution for reinstalling Kubuntu 11.10 in a dual boot environment. If you are curious, read about it here: How to Reinstall Kubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot on Dual Boot System.

This is a temporary solution for bypassing the GRUB Rescue prompt to an uncorrupted installation of Windows where the Windows MBR (Master Boot Record) is intact, but Grub is setup as your primary boot loader. To load windows, you need:

1. Working computer with a blank CD.
2. CD IMAGE burning software. You can’t use regular CD burning software for this task, you must be able to burn images so they will load on boot. Great software that runs on Windows and is FREE is ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
3. Image of Hiren’s Boot CD: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

Hiren’s Boot CD will download in a zip file, which will need to be extracted. Burn the .iso image from the extracted folder for your live CD. In my case, the file was: “Hiren’s.BootCD.15.1.iso”.

Once you have completed burning your Boot CD image, restart your computer and boot to Hiren’s Boot CD

The first option on the list:
“Boot From Hard Drive (Windows Vista/7/2008 or Xp)”
or scroll down two pages and select:
“Boot Windows XP (NTLDR) from Hard Drive”
or if you are running Vista/Windows 7, select:
“Boot Windows Vista/7 (BOOTMGR) from Hard Drive”

If none of the three options above work for you, you can scroll up to page two and attempt to boot (I have not tested these options, but maybe worth a try):
“Boot HDD 1 MBR”
“Boot HDD 2 MBR”
“Boot HDD 3 MBR”

If you are unable to boot to Windows with any of these methods, your Windows MBR (Master Boot Record) could be corrupt or missing.

As always, if anyone has any suggestions, feedback or advice, please comment. If this post has helped you out, please spread the word by posting a backlink from your site or blog. You can also share on facebook, linkedin, or any other social networking/bookmarking site.

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How to Reinstall Kubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot on Dual Boot System

February 6, 2012 By 1 Comment

It has been awhile since my last tech post, but I have been tweaking around and have some great new content. I am writing this article because of a problem I encountered when attempting to install a LAMP stack on my Kubuntu 11.10 system with tasksel.

In installed, started, and began looking at the options for installing a LAMP stack in tasksel. I checkmarked the LAMP stack box and found myself distracted by the other options that had been selected for installation – mainly system components. So like a complete Noob, I unchecked them… Well long story short, this flagged crucial components to be uninstalled!! AHHH!!!

I quickly did a hard shutdown (held finger on power button until power off). Well my shutdown was too late and I had made the system, the Kubuntu installation almost inoperable. I have been scraping the internet for a reinstallation/quick fix solution to a corrupted Ubuntu/Kubuntu installation and have not been able to find anything concrete.

So, the journey begins…

PART 1: WIPE THE PARTITION FOR LINUX WITH GPARTED

To use gParted, you need to create a live boot CD. So you need:

1. CD Burner with blank CD
2. Image burning software – I use imgburn – open source and free to download: http://www.imgburn.com/.
3. gParted Image: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Boot to your gParted Live CD and look at your partitions.

Everyone has a different setup and if anyone has a better solution to my process, please comment or send me some article content to correct this. All changes are at your own risk, you should backup all of your data before making any partition changes or anything that will create changes to your system – you have been warned!

My partitions were setup as:
/dev/sda1 – Dell Recovery Partition
/dev/sda2 – Windows Vista System
/dev/sda3 – Kubuntu Installation
–Linux Swap
–Operating system

First I erased “–Operating system”, next “–Linux Swap”, and finally “/dev/sda3″

My /dev/sda3 partition had 90GB of space, now showing up as unassigned/unrecognized, etc.

I formatted the unformatted space to match my windows vista installation as NTFS.

Once formatted I was able to resize my /dev/sda2 – Windows Vista System back to what it was before I setup the dual boot system (the full drive). I saved, and rebooted.

PART 2: REINSTALL KUBUNTU

Because I erased GRUB – the main bootloader and my Kubuntu linux installation, I received a “Grub Rescue>” prompt upon reboot. At this point, I could not boot into windows without using a different method: How to Boot Windows from Grub Rescue Prompt.

I booted off of the Kubuntu LIVE CD which I originally used to perform my dual boot setup, selected “Install Kubuntu”, ran through the first couple of usual motions and resized my drive  for Kubuntu to my previous settings. At this point, the NTFS Windows portion of the drive was unrecognizable (it fixed itself). Before the end of the re-installation, I noticed the GRUB2 setup looking for “other operating systems”. Once the installation had completed I restarted, removed the LIVE CD and rebooted.

My first reboot after installation was a great success, the GRUB bootloader came up and I was able to boot into both Windows and Kubuntu 11.10 – Viola, the problem had been fixed.

I wrote this article to document my eight hours of trial and error. Please, if anyone has a better method for solving this problem I encourage you to comment. Also, if this article helped you out, please link to it from your blog, share it on facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc…

 

 

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