hi, my laptop didn’t come with a vista dvd, and i’m trying to get back the vista boot loader because GRUB isn’t working correctly with it. Could some one help me do something like fdisk /mbr except in vista?
You might try EasyBCD:
Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies
Without the Vista DVD you can’t get to the recovery console to run the commands you need to fix the MBR. At least I haven’t found a way.
i’ve tried that, but I keep getting an error that it’s not a standard mbr because SUSE installed GRUB.
ok, so i found a place to get a windows vista recovery disc with access to command prompt. what command would I use to only restore vista’s default boot loader without damaging any of my data (i don’t have anywhere to back up to)?
Insert the Vista installation disk and proceed to the final screen where you have the option to Repair Your Computer. Select Repair but do not opt for the automatic repair plus restart. Instead select Next and then select the Command Prompt. Enter bootrec.exe /FixMbr in the console and follow that with the command exit. Then select to reboot.
I tried that but all that left me with was an unbootable system. I was forced to re-install GRUB from the suse dvd.
In a command window do this:
fdisk -l
Is there an asterisk beside the Vista boot partition? Or more than one asterisk? Vista’s bootrec re-writes the IPL to the MBR, generic code which will look for the first active primary partition. It’s possible the bootable flag was unset, set on a non-Windows partition, or more than one partition has had its flag set - in any of these cases, Vista won’t boot. If this is the problem and you want to return boot control to Vista, boot Vista from openSUSE’s grub and in Disk Management set the Vista partition to “active”; that sets the boot flag. (In that case, you will need to use EasyBCD or an equiv to boot openSUSE, and you will need to install grub to the openSUSE partition boot sector.)
Would I type the fdisk command with the vista cd in? it’s not recognized from command prompt right now. And where would I look for said asterisk(s)? And how do I install GRUB to the SUSE partition (they’re both on the same hard disk)
Oh sweet! setting the partition to active seems to have done the trick (almost). The only thing that still won’t work is sleeping… It’ll turn off the screen, but for some reason it won’t enter power saving mode. Maybe I should have highlighted that power management is the part of vista that isn’t working so well with GRUB earlier…
Great that you got the boot working. 
Re power management, aka hibernation or suspend to ram or suspend to disk, is a topic unto itself. What is possible varies from one machine to the next because it is implemented in the bios which in turn passes “maps” to the OS to use. Unfortunately, this is done very poorly by manufacturers; there is a standard but it is a nightmare and rarely if ever fully adhered to. Even Vista can have trouble in this area, unless pre-installed with the machine (in which case the manufacturer tweaks the bios specifically for Vista and only Vista; not even XP may work). On the OS side, there are different programs and tools for setting this up. Sorry, but I’m useless in this area.
Let me suggest you search the forums first, and if you don’t find what you need, create a new thread with a title specific to that problem. You’ll get faster/better help that way.
Good luck.