Hi; I have to run fixmbr on my WindowsXP harddisk (sda). I assume this use of fixmbr will blow away my grub. So after running fixmbr I will go to my Fedora rescue disk and do: grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/sdb That is; I want grub stage1 on the mbr of sda while I want stage2 on sdb /boot. I am looking for confirmation that this is a correct strategy and the proper use of the grub-install command. Problem: I have posted this problem for over a week on the Fedora list. Most answers are re-typed quotes from the man and info grub and grub-install. But I can get no assurances that grub will place stage1 on the sda mbr, and stage2 on sdb /boot without confusion. Here is why I say that. When I first boot I get the Fedora grub splash screen/menu twice -- besides that everything else boots normally. First let me say, grub and I spent quite a bit of time together a couple of years ago, so I am generally comfortable using it and don't believe my problems are as a result of being a grub newbie. My system is dual boot with WindowsXP installed on hard drive /dev/sda (hd0) and Fedora installed on a second hard drive /dev/sdb (hd1). In case it matters (it shouldn't) I have a ext3 partition on sda for Linux backup and a FAT32 partition on sdb for Windows backup. About four weeks ago my commercial boot loader was blown away by the WindowsXP sp3 download and install. Fine and good: that didn't surprise me. I just installed grub. During a first attempt at a grub install I had an ooops! So I just re-installed grub and everything seemed fine. Because it was an oops and not a confusion, I didn't pay attention to the mistake, so now a month later I have forgotten exactly what I did wrong. Besides I thought I had recovered. About a week ago (I don't re-boot very often), I noticed the Fedora grub splash screen appear for 1/2 second or less, pause for a second, and then a new splash screen appeared and everything progressed fine from there. This occurs definitely during the grub stage of bootup. I didn't do anything then because I was going to fresh install Fedora 9 with a new grub on the weekend. Which I have done. But the double splash screen still appears. Analysis: I believe that I have two grub stage 2 on my system; one in sdb /boot/grub and another in sda -- somewhere. Proposed solution: 1) Run 'fixmbr' from my Windows CD; which I expect will blow away my grub stage 1 2) Re-install grub from my Fedora 9 disc1 rescue mode. Questions: 1) I have looked at the Fedora rescue mode; as there is no 'firstaid' file which was promised would appear in Fedora 9. I will grub-install from the rescue command line or the grub install from the grub command line. 2) As a double check could someone tell me if I have the correct command to put stage1 in the mbr of hd0 and tell grub that stage2 is in sdb /boot '# grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/hda' I just would like to have reassurance that grub interprets the above command as meaning what I want i.e that it can find /boot on the second disc -- not create or find an extraneous stage 2 on /dev/sda I asked here as a double check because what I am planning will wipe out my boot loader for both of my systems temporarily and I wanted to make sure that I can be up and running as smoothly as possible. I have taken the time to outline fully my problem and proposed solution so that you can give me any additional comments or solutions. I am hoping that the 'fixmbr' command will not only restore the mbr but also eliminate the extra stage2 -- if that really is the problem. How can I check the existence of an extra stage2 somewhere on my sda? -- Regards Bill; Fedora 9, Gnome 2.22.2 Evo.2.22.2, Emacs 22.2.1