FC4 and XP on one hard drive

[clenchman86 0]

Hi,

 

I am wondering how to install Fedora Core 4 on the same hard drive as Windows XP. I need to reinstall XP anyway, so repartitioning will not be a problem.

 

1. When I partition and format before reinstalling XP, should I set aside partitions for FC4?

 

2. What should I do at the boot loader stage of installation?

 

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 desktop with one 80GB hard drive. Will this cause any problems?

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Cheers,

Adam

[BSchindler 0]

You should not have any problems with the Dell.

 

It is pretty simple to dual-boot the system. First, install XP and create a partition of say 40 GB. Perform the complete install and verify that it works.

 

Next, install FC4. The installation will detect the XP system and tell you that it can install GRUB (the OS loader) to enable your booting both XP and FC4. Take that option. Proceed with the FC4 installation.

 

Now, when you start or restart your system, you will be prompted to choose which OS to start. Viola, dual booting.

 

HTH

[jarves 0]

you should remember that it is important to install windows xp first or else if you install fc4 first and then xp, what happens is that windows xp will not recognize your fc4.

[danleff 0]

Take care. Why do you need to re-install Windows?

 

Are you installing Windows from a full version of the Windows cd, or from the Dell recovery cd set?

[clenchman86 0]

I'm using the installation CD that came with my computer.

[danleff 0]

Not to confuse this thread, if you have only the Dell recovery disks, then the whole system will be wiped and the recovery disks will automatically install Windows. Realize that the recovery disks not only wipe the system, but creates a hidden recovery partition on the beginning of the drive that Dell uses for a variety of reasons.

 

If you are going to re-install and have a full version of XP on hand provided by Dell, Windows will find the key code and proceed.

 

If you have a full version of XP not related to Dell, you will need to have the key code to install Windows. The key should be on the XP disk cover/sleeve.

 

In any case, Windows should be the first OS installed, to prevent any problems with the Fedora installation and to assure that Fedora adds Windows to the dual boot list during it's installation.

 

This is why I asked why you needed to re-install Windows. Is there a problem with the current Windows installation?

 

If you elect to just install Linux, make sure that you defrag the Windows partition first. This will assure that any files that may reside at the end of the partition will be moved back, avoiding any loss of files when Fedora takes space from the XP partition to make a Linux partition for the Fedora installation.

 

You can either have Fedora take free space for it's installation, or use a partitioning software to make a Linux partition ahead of time, then point Fedora to that created partition. If you choose to make a partition ahead of time, make sure that it is either a fat32 or Linux partition.

 

Do you have any partitioning software to use for this purpose?

 

 

 

 

[Rooy 0]

Hi all,

This's my 1st time on linux so dont mind if I ask some dumb ques . After wandering around I decided to go w/ FC4 on my 80GB SATA drive. The drive is partitioned into 3 FAT32 volumes, 19.5/28.4/28.3 named G,H,I (due to a previous 2-drive config). All of them contain ccritical data so i'd not like to format any of them (since there's not enoug space left to backup). The questions are:

- Is blank space REALLY required in installing linux (say FC4)

- does the partitions names affect anything?

- Is there chance of missing data from corrupted installing?

- btw will my "ADMtek AN983 10/100 PCI Adapter" be recognized ok? (i cant go online w/out it)

Thank you all.

[danleff 0]

It looks like you know how to partition your drive, so we will proceed as such...

 

Quote:

- Is blank space REALLY required in installing linux (say FC4)

 

Any installation requires a game plan. You need to have some space available on the hard drive, whether it be space that you borrow from your Windows drives, or unformatted space. You need to have the space available by either making some empty space available, or allowing Fedora to borrow it from the hard drive. It usually takes space from the last partition, if you allow an automatic partitioning scheme with the Fedora installation.

 

You can also pick the "expert mode" when you reach the partitioning section of the installation and resize to make room. You probably want at least 5 gig of space, depending on what you want to do. About 2.5 for the OS and as much as you want for storage.

 

Quote:

- does the partitions names affect anything?

 

No..this is only a Windows issue. Fedora will see the fat32 partitions, no matter what designation they are in Windows.

 

Quote:

- Is there chance of missing data from corrupted installing?

 

Yes, this is why you need to defrag your Windows volumes before attempting an install. Of course, this is a good idea if you resize your partitions yourself, to make sure that data is moved away from the end of each Windows fat32 partition and the data is not lost during the resize.

 

Quote:

- btw will my "ADMtek AN983 10/100 PCI Adapter" be recognized ok? (i cant go online w/out it)

Thank you all.

 

It should. There is little data on this card on the web, but some have reported no problems with this card. If it does not, you can easily buy an inexpensive card for about $10-15 USD that will work fine, either a Linksys or Realtek card.

 

Remember, when you do the installation, make sure that when you get to the hardware configuration screen to set up the network. You need to know if your ISP uses static or dynamic proticol. If you are using cable (broadband) then make sure that you assign auto DHCP at this stage.