Dual Boot Linux & WinXP

[Creedyou]

I'm trying to set up Linux and WinXP on separate hard drives. The FAQ said to put Linux and Win on same IDE cable, but can I put them on different cables and use NT bootloader?

 

[Lonyo]

You should be able to put them on different cables. And if it all fails, you could always try LILO or there is som eother OS choosing thing I can;t remember the name of I think.
You can always reinstall and move the HDD's if it goes horribly wrong.

Partition Magic 8 has a boot loader, and there may be others that can be used rather than the Windows or Linux default ones. Just give it a bash

 

[Creedyou]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
And if it all fails, you could always try LILO or there is som eother OS choosing thing I can;t remember the name of I think.
You can always reinstall and move the HDD's if it goes horribly wrong.

I am trying to avoid opening my case and moving the drives. How do I use LILO...do I install it on the primary cable hard drive? If I do that, will I be able to boot to XP?

 

[Matt84]

This can be abit complicated but if you follow this guide it can be very easy.

Installing Linux alongside Windows XP using the NTLoader

If you follow these basic steps then you end up booting your system using the NT Loader with an option of XP and an option for Linux. If you select Linux then you will invoke LiLo or Grub whatever bootloader you chose and you can boot Linux from there.

If you need more help than that is available on the guide then just ask.

 

[iam29a]

The only problem I can see, here, is that the poster neglected to state exactly his hard disk topology and which version of Linux he is wishing to duel-boot with XP.

My concern for this is that recently I had a bad experience when Mandrake 9.1 installed a bootloader withou prompting me. This meant I did not get a chance to tell it whether or not I wanted to use a bootloader, if I did which bootloader I wanted to use, where to place the boot loader, etc. The end result was quite harsh and led to a complete reinstallation of both OS's and a loss (4-days worth) of email because MD9.1 did not prompt before conducting the boot-loader installation activitity.

 

[Matt84]

U have to select "Expert install" these days to get to the bootloader options.

 

[ServerMechanic]

This is easy.

Here is what you do.

Load WinXP first. Then load whatever Linux OS next. It doesn't matter what HD they are on. If you load linux second, you will be able to use the linux boot loader (either Grub, or Lilo).

It is really very simple. If you ever want to just go back to Windows XP only, you simply run fdisk and delete the linux partitions, and then do an FDISK /MBR.

Why use NT bootloader? Linux ones are better

Done deal.

Let me know if I can help more, or if you got it figured out

Peace...

 

[Matt84]

Linux bootloaders give you more functionality I will give you that but the use of the NT bootloader is ideal if you use WinXP most of the time and linux just on the side. You are more likely to tinker with linux and stuff it up, which in the worst case scenario could take out the bootloader making booting up XP a pain in the ass. FDISK /MBR does not restore the NT loader, you have to run Windows XP in rescue mode to repair a damaged NT bootloader and that doesn't work every time. If you've got NT loader as your current boot loader and it is work, dont' fix what ain't broke! If you use the NT loader, once you delete your Linux partitions, Linux is gone for good. If you want to use Linux primarily then I would say yes, a linux boot loader would be good but until then using the NT loader to invoke the Linux loader is your best option.

 

[Creedyou]

omfg, what a moron I am. I was following the FAQ exactly except for one step. I didn't copy the file containing the linux boot sector properly to my floppy disk. Thanks for all the help. More question now that I'm booting into Linux okay. Why are there 3 OS entries in LILO...1) name of this is the kernal version number 2) "linux compiled" 3) "NT". I understand 3) but why 2 entries for Linux?

 

[Matt84]

The NT option might allow you to start XP from teh Linux Loader.
There should be only one linux option - that is all I ahve under Red Hat 9
If ytou have mandrake then you might have a linux and a linux-failsafe.

What distro are u using

 

[GoHAnSoN]

ya, i do this too, the merit of this is that each hdd can boot idependently.
each with it's native bootloader. enjoy

 

[ServerMechanic]

FDISK /MBR does fix the restore the MBR, you still have to go in and set the XP partition active !

You can use FIXMBR if you want via recovery console, but you don't need to.

Peace