Windows Xp and Linux

[grantmoore3d 0]

Ok, I know there are lots of webpages on this subject, but I just want to make sure of things first before I get doing it. Cause Im fairly new at doing dual booting.

 

What I want to do is install windows xp on one partition and linux on the other partition. I have downloaded both mandrake 9.0 and red hat 8.0, and I want to install either one on the second partition cause I want to try linux out and see what it's like. I am going to do a clean install of both OS's, so what steps should I do to make a dual boot of both XP and linux. Plus give your opinion which version of linux would be easier to do this with, as I don't care which one I am going to use, though I would be leaning a little towards mandrake. Thanks in advance......

 

By the way (I am very new at linux eg: I have seen someone use it for about 10 mins about 4 years ago } so be nice

[clutch 1]

IIRC, it would be better to install Linux first, and get it setup the way you like it. Then install Windows XP and let it create a new boot menu option for you. That should work for you, and be a little easier to digest when setting it up.

 

As for the OS choice, I would recommend RH8 as there seems to be some issues with Mandrake and its USB support (along with other things).

[Admiral LSD 0]

Like all dual boot scenarios, its always advisable to install the "dumbest" OS first and in almost all cases, that would be Windows. In other words, install XP first and then install Linux. Provided you pay attention during the install of your Linux distro, it's relatively safe and you don't have to worry about Windows nuking your MBR and having to reinstall GRUB/LILO post-install.

[grantmoore3d 0]

Ok thanks for the responses, Ill probably go with RH8 if mandrake is having problems with USB stuff. As for the dual booting, I have read that Windows XP should be installed first just like you have said. My final question is when installing XP can I use NTFS file system or do I have to use FAT32 to be able to install Linux on the second partition, or will it matter.

 

Also, if I can use NTFS, I am guessing that Linux will be unable to read any of the files on that partition, am I correct?

[clutch 1]

NTFS can be read by Linux, although I am not sure how well it works (only used it on a boot floppy once) in regular use. There is write support for NTFS as well, but it's still listed as "experimental". With respect to dual booting, I always put on NT-based OSs last regardless of the other OS since it always seemed to work (Win9x, OS/2, Linux), but to each his own.

[mksoccer 0]

For the record, when you're installing for a dual boot system like this, you need to make sure you DO NOT use Red Hat's default GRUB boot loader. Here's what happens...

 

You install Windows XP, it writes info to the MBR (Master Boot Record)

You install Linux using GRUB, it overwrites the MBR with new info

You try to boot up XP, and get the BSOD.

 

I speak from experience, use LILO, and you'll be much happier.

 

Install Windows XP (Linux can read NTFS, but can read AND write FAT32), install Red Hat, and make sure you create the boot diskettes. When you're done, your computer will still boot into Windows (that's what the boot diskettes are for). Boot with the diskettes, and when you get into linux, put in a fresh diskette, mount it, and type "dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/mnt/floppy/bootsect.lin bs=512 count=1". The hda2 means the first hard drive, second partition, so change that to suit your configuration. When it's done copying the file, reboot into XP and copy bootsect.lin off the floppy to your root directory (C:\). Edit boot.ini to include "C:\bootsect.lin="Linux"" and you're set!

[Avalanche 0]

I don't know if that's a standard result. Just today, I installed RedHat 8.0 and let it install GRUB to the MBR, and I've had WinXP installed for months. I have total and free access to both XP and RH8.0. So far I must say I'm really liking the new version of RedHat, not really a lick of trouble with it on my system.

 

I just hope nVidia puts out an 8.0 tested video kernel soon, I'd like to try some OpenGL in Linux, but I'm not willing to try my luck by compiling the kernel for RH7.3. I do know some people have had luck with it, but it seems risky to me.

[punkisdead 0]

I concur, always install windows before any other OS, the Windows boot loader sucks.

 

I myself prefer GRUB, and have never had any problems nor heard of anyone not being able to boot to XP after installing GRUB to the MBR...

 

BTW why would you have to recompile your kernel just to enable OpenGL support????? You have a GeForce, correct?

[Avalanche 0]

No, not the system kernel, but according to nvidia.com you need to install the nvidia kernel, and then install the nvidia unified driver set. Currently there is no kernel for RedHat 8.0, only as high as 7.3. It's certainly possible that because RH8 is so new, it already has the nvidia kernel installed and ready for the drivers, but I've been reading a bunch of stuff where people are having problems with the current nvidia drivers in RH8, so I'm gonna wait for nvidia to get off their duffs and release an RH8 kernel.

[punkisdead 0]

I just built the drivers from the source on their site and played UT2003. Everything seemed to run flawlessly....

 

People are probably having problems with the drivers that Red Hat provides because I beleive they aren't capable of doing 3d acceleration very well.

 

It's just a few very simple steps to build from source, just download the latest .tar.gz from nvidia's site.

 

tar -zxvf NVIDIA-kernel(whatever version).tar.gz

tar -zxvf NVIDIA-GLX(whatever version).tar.gz

 

then su to root and do the following

 

cd NVIDIA-kernel(version)

make

make install

 

cd ..

cd NVIDIA-GLX(version)

make

make install

 

then change the following lines in the /etc/X11/XF86Config(or XF86Config-4 I can't remember off the top of my head which one RedHat uses).....

 

change the video driver from "nv" to "nvidia"

under the modules section comment out "dri" by placing a # in front of it

 

also comment out the section labeled "dri" at the very end of the file.

 

restart X by pressing Ctrl-Alt and Backspace, and voila you should see the Nvidia splash screen....

 

open up a terminal and run glxgears ( a nifty tool for checking if GLX works right) and the FPS should be in the thousands somewhere...

[Avalanche 0]

I don't want to thread jack this, so I'm starting a new thread, look for the x-server thread in this forum.

 

Thanks.

[redhatbyrd 0]

First, I would like to apologize for this very long post about to launch.

 

Here is what is assumed: The audience for this document has very little Linux experience, but a spark of interest has been raised to the point the user would like to dual-boot. The user is familiar with FDISK program. The user has the ability to install Windows XP from scratch. The user is going to use the SAME hard drive with 2 partitions, one for each operating system. The user has downloaded or better yet, has purchased Red Hat 8.0. (somebody needs to pay for all that development time.) If anyone needs explicit instructions on how to fdisk using a win98 boot disk just e-mail me and I'll help all I can. I have taken a 4GB hard drive and set up a dual-booting system with WindowsXP and Red Hat 8.0 from scratch. I describe in detail what I did to my system focusing on the Step-by-Step part of Linux.

 

Again, sorry for the extremely long post, but I hope it may help

someone someday. Experience is the BEST teacher, but that framed

piece of paper from an accredited university has helped many get

better jobs than I have.

 

 

HOW TO CREATE A DUAL-BOOTING SYSTEM - WINXP & RH 8.0 - A NEWBIE GUIDE

 

**!!Back up all important data before doing any of the below steps!!**

 

Step A. Boot up the target machine with a Win98 boot disk that has the FDISK program on it. Run FDISK and partition the hard drive in a way that you are going to be using the hard disk. If you are going to use it more for WINXP, then leave the larger portion for WINXP on the

PRIMARY partition. I suggest the complete install of ALL packages of RH 8.0 at the newbie level so you will need at least 6GB for unpartitioned space for Linux. The complete install for RH 8.0 is 4.6GB. Do not add any extended partitions using FDISK. Only add a primary partition that will be used for WINXP. This will make the auto partition program for linux install work much easier and smoother. Depending on your version of WINXP, you may or may not have to format the hard drive. My version of WINXP is not bootable, so I have to format my hard drive, put a copy of mscdex.exe on C: and then install the cdrom drivers from my cdrom install floppy. Reboot. Then launch smartdrv.exe from the floppy (to make the WinXP setup files install faster) and change in to the directory of the WINXP cd and then change directory to the \I386 folder on the WINXP cd and type WINNT to launch the WINXP install program. To complete Step A, your machine should be booting into WINXP with no problems and rebooting like a champ. Make sure that your motherboard bios is set to boot off of the CDROM first.

 

Step B. Insert your Red Hat 8.0 cd1 and boot the system. The TEST MEDIA SCREE - A screen will open and ask if you want to TEST media or SKIP. Press the tab key and then return/enter key or space bar to choose SKIP.

 

(If you have a mouse, then you will get the graphical installation version, if a mouse is not detected, then you will get the Text mode installation.)

 

Step C. The first Red Hat 8.0 screen. Using the mouse, press the

NEXT button at the bottom right.

 

Step D. The Installation Language page - English is already

highlighted. Just press NEXT.

 

Step E. The Keyboard for installation page - US keyboard is

highlighted, just press NEXT button.

 

Step F. The Mouse Configuration page - choose your mouse

configuration option, then press NEXT button.

 

Step G. Installation Type Page - Choose CUSTOM near the bottom for

newbie users. Press the NEXT button.

 

Step H. Disk Partitioning Setup page - Select Automatically Partition

and then press NEXT button.

 

Step I. Automatic Partition Page - Select Remove all Linux partition on this system. (even if there were never any Linux partitions before now) and press the NEXT button. (Linux will find the unpartitioned space left on the hard drive and install itself to that space)

 

Step J. POP-UP WARNING: "you have selected to remove all linux

partitions and ALL DATA on them on the following drives: /dev/hda

ARE YOU SURE? Choose YES.

 

Step K. Review auto partitions page - my 2063MB available for use was partitioned to 314MB for swap, 102MB for boot and 1647MB for ROOT. Press NEXT button on this page. A linux newbie should not try to change anything on that page until they feel more comfortable with Linux.

 

Step L. Boot Loader Configuration Page - This is the page that allows you to choose the default boot operating system. You should see a box and inside the box should be 2 lines with one having a check marked in front of it:

| | DOS /dev/hda1 |x| Red Hat Linux /dev/hda3.

For this example, I'm gonna want to boot into Red Hat Linux which will give me the option for Linux Kernel 2.4.14 or DOS machine boot, i.e. WinXP. Press the NEXT button.

 

Step M. Network configuration Page - press the edit button to change your Network card from DHCP to static ip and enter in your information if you have a static ip address. Input hostname, gateway, and DNS server addresses. Press the NEXT button.

 

Step N. Firewall configuration Page - I choose HIGH and only trust ETH0 and www.

 

Step O. Additional Language Support Page - Press NEXT button.

 

Step P. Time Zone Selection Page - Press NEXT button.

 

Step Q. Account configuration page - Root password has to be entered. I suggest the minimum of 8 characters, lower and upper case, numbers and symbols. The same exact password will have to be entered again. You should write this down somewhere until you can remember the password. When the passwords match, the message "ROOT password accepted" will be seen. Next press the ADD button to add the user account that will be using the linux box. It is not safe to use ROOT account unless you are installing software or other functions which require root level access. Fill out the POP-UP window with the new user information. Remember that passwords and everything else in Linux is case-sensative. Press OK. Press the NEXT button.

 

Step R. Authentication Configuration page - Press NEXT button.

 

Step S. Package group selection Page - IF your hard drive is large enough to accomodate 4.6 GB to dedicate to the LINUX os, then scroll all the way to the bottom and just check the box next to EVERYTHING! (I do this so that I don't have to deal with all of the dependency problems that arise when you try to install other software packages later on in Linux life. Plus you can experiment with what is available) Press the NEXT button.

 

Step T. About to Install Page - Press the NEXT button.

 

Step U. Boot Disk Creation page - Check yes or no and then Press the

NEXT button. (if you press yes, follow instructions. The way I wrote this whitepaper on dual-booting is for those that don't want to use a boot disk to boot. **Hint: good idea to have a boot disk so that you can troubleshoot if need to**)

 

Step V. Graphical interface (x) Configuration page - choose video

card, video card ram amount, and screen size, and press NEXT button.

 

Step W. Monitor Configuration page - Here you can watch the packages

being installed or you can go get a snack while you wait to be

prompted to change to the next CD. After changing out the cds and all

files have been installed, Press the NEXT button.

 

Step X. Customize Graphical Configuration page - STRONGLY suggest that

you hit the TEST SETTING button before continuing past this point.

Here you can also choose if you want your linux to boot up to a login TEXT prompt or a graphical prompt. If you are just going to surf the web, go for graphical. If you are going to install software and things like that, go with TEXT mode. You can troubleshoot from text mode and you can easily start the graphical mode or GUI mode by typing in startx after you log in at the text prompt. ONce your video settings have been tested and they work, press the NEXT button.

 

Step Y. Congratulations PAGE - remove floppy discs. and press the EXIT button. The cd in the cdrom drive should be ejected automatically and your machine should reboot.

 

Step Z. Now you can choose to boot to Linux 2.4.14 or DOS. If you want windows XP, just choose DOS. Enjoy your new adventures with Linux.

[noroom 0]

ok, what if...

 

i installed XP, and then Linux. Using LILO everything worked fine.

 

then i had some trouble with XP and had to reinstall it. now XP has overwritten the linux bootloader, and now i only get XP.

 

the problem is that... i dont have a boot diskette

 

how can i create one now???

[Genesis 0]

just get a debian net install cd or so ... there are iso images that are less than 30 mb in size ... with one of those discs you could fix your system ... and don't say you dunno anyone with an internet connection fast enough to download 30 mb

 

see your other post about the boot loader, i really hope i described the most important things correctly there.

[GhostSong 0]

Tip : If XP are present in the 1st partition and the 2nd contains other

 

OS'es ( cause in XP there's only prompt and not the old school dos ) try with a boot cd of windows 98 to :

Boot from CD in the prompt and not to setup the win9x and write

 

: fdisk /mbr ( mbr=master boot record ) which sometimes saved my a*s

 

So after that no multiconfig boot options etc exists no more but only the one from the 1st OS you've installed at the 1st place...

 

PS.Try Mandrake 9.0 my opinion.

 

Cheers

[rdsii640 0]

this kind of isn't what you were asking but what works for me is to put a second hard drive in your sytem and load linux on it. when i did this i even let grub write to the master boot record

i then made a fat32 partions on my windows drive large enough to suit my needs and put all the files on it i want to get at from linux. so what i ended up with was two os's in their own seperate space and a common partion bewteen them it worked quite well.

and I'm a real newbie when it comes to linux. hard drives are pretty cheap now as well. just thought I would put my 2 cents in

 

Ron

[PenguinBiker 0]

i have two hard drives in my box the original purpose being useing a dual boot with linux and xp i would sujest that you force yourself to do as many things as possible on linux. i did this and after a few months i dropped xp completly i now use the 2nd hd for storage (divx movies, MP3s backups ect.) if you can force youself to move as far away from windows as possible the better off you will be.

[Maillion 0]

Punkisdead wrote:

 

Quote:

I myself prefer GRUB, and have never had any problems nor heard of anyone not being able to boot to XP after installing GRUB to the MBR...

 

You have now. I have had trouble with GrUB and Win98, Win2000, and XP. I have only had a problem with LiLo once, but a Linux reinstall fixed it.