Error mounting fstab

Question

I have read many questions and answers in this and other forums before asking. I watched videos on Youtube to learn how to deal with the fstab file too.

So forgive me for bringing back this doubt again.

When I start may computer, soon after I choose Linux in Grub, my screen turns black and Ubuntu does not start. When I push the reset button, I do the same thing again and, this time I receive this message:

An error occurred while mounting /etc/fstab

Press S to skip mounting or M for manual recovery

It happens every time. I have to reboot to start Ubuntu 12.04.

My /etc/fstab looks like this:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------
# Partitions description:
#   /dev/sda1 -> Created by Windows7 with boot informations
#   /dev/sda2 -> Windows 7
#   /dev/sda3 -> Linux
#   /dev/sda4 -> Drivers and some programs
#
#   /dev/sdb2 -> External HD
#
# -----------------------------------------------------------------
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# nodev,noexec,nosuid
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Entry for /dev/sda3 :
UUID=2679ab6c-2da8-48eb-8b7b-5f11833934cc / ext4 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1  
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Entry for /dev/sda4 :
UUID=29811C914EAB7D93 /media/drivers ntfs-3g defaults,nosuid,nodev,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Entry for /dev/sda1 :
UUID=7A8A5F338A5EEAE1 /media/System\040Reserved ntfs-3g defaults,nosuid,nodev,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Entry for /dev/sda2 :
UUID=749CCF049CCEBFBA /windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
#Entry for /dev/sdb2          
UUID=01CF9881FC472D80 /media/externalHD ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
#
# ------------------------------------------------------------------
#
UUID=12aed398-6f8b-44e6-abe4-c47fef0b751d none swap sw 0 0  
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

Answer 1

something strange happend when I tried to solve the problem:

I rebooted the machine againg and started using Windows 7. I then received a message and decided to try again in Ubuntu. I rebooted the pc.

The boot worked just fine.

I remember I installed MoutManager, but I did not change (I think) anything.

I also tryed to install the program Boot Rapair (I saw a video on Youtube), but the installation failed. I typed the following in this order:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install boot-repair-ubuntu

As I said, the installation failed. But now Ubuntu launches.

Now, when I open a Terminal and type:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

And I see this:

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
UUID=2679ab6c-2da8-48eb-8b7b-5f11833934cc / ext4 defaults,errors=remount-ro,relatime 0 1  
UUID=29811C914EAB7D93 /media/drivers ntfs-3g defaults,nosuid,nodev,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
UUID=7A8A5F338A5EEAE1 /media/System\040Reserved ntfs-3g defaults,nosuid,nodev,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
UUID=749CCF049CCEBFBA /windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
UUID=01CF9881FC472D80 /media/externalHD ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0  
UUID=12aed398-6f8b-44e6-abe4-c47fef0b751d none swap sw 0 0  
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

As you can see, this has none of my comments!!! And there are other differences!!!

The word defaults was not in the second line and relatime was the first option, not the last.

Does Ubuntu have any way of re-writing that file?