So I've always used Ubuntu or another Linux distro. About 2 years ago, I built a PC for gaming and used Daz's loader to install Win7 x64 on my machine. Recently, that machine contracted a super virus and I ended up just clean installing Ubuntu bc the games I play work on Linux. However, I found some clients, like ESEA and CEVO, don't work on Linux, so I decided to add the Win 7 ISO I had as a separate partition, just for playing CSGO. I tried the way I did it two years ago and I get a BOOT LOAD error, so I'm assuming something is wrong with my ISO. I tried finding another ISO, but the only one I see here is saying that it will take 2 weeks to download. I remember this being so much easier when I first did it. I also really don't want to go and buy a copy of Windows just to be able to play a single game, since most of my daily activities on a computer are on Linux. Can someone help me get either Win7 or 8 working, since I seem to have become computer illiterate overnight?
you're going to have to be more specific when you say "BOOT LOAD" error. it may nothing to do with your iso at all... i'm going to tell you from much experience--it's easier to install windows 7 first, then install ubuntu afterwards. reason being is that the two bootloaders are utterly different from each other. if you install 7 now, you will have to grub rescue your existing ubuntu install, which can be an utter p.i.a. if you are not experienced. although some of the automated tools work most of the time, they are not guaranteed to work. it really depends on which bootloader you want use mainly, either windows' bootmgr or linux's grub2. i prefer the windows' bootmgr but that's just me. you'll probably wish to use the grub2 menu since you use linux as your main os if you want to use the grub2, to make things easier, format, clean install windows 7 as usual (minus the 100mb boot partition), then install ubuntu as usual and let it install grub2 to the mbr of the disk (/dev/sda) and when it finishes installing it will find the windows 7 install and add it to the menu automatically and you're done. if you want to continue with the way you have now and install windows 7, then you will need to download the grub boot repair iso (google search) first. then install windows 7 as usual, but after it is installed, make sure you have bootsect.exe in your path somewhere--i add it to all my windows installs as it is not there natively i don't think, but i know it is contained in the windows iso. then run "bootsect /nt60 X:" X being the partition of your hdd that windows is installed to. this will install the bootloader directly to the first sector of the system partition (not mbr) which should fix any boot issues you might have since windows installs the bootloader to the mbr at install and grub rescue will overwrite that. now run your grub rescue and let it automatically find and fix your boot issues. one you are back at the grub2 menu choose your linux install and boot to it. once loaded open terminal and run "sudo update-grub" and let it finish. now reboot and make sure windows is in the grub2 menu and choose it and boot it. if it fails, post the failure. also, for future reference, use fsarchiver (with qt4 frontend) to make linux system backups and you will never have to do a clean install again. you will have to fix grub when you restore the archives, but it is the best backup option for linux/ubuntu hands down. dejadupe is garbage. all the other backup solutions i've tried are even worse. fsarchiver is the way to go.