Xp/red Hat 9 Dual Boot

[shn]

Originally posted by Risknothin@1 February 2004 - 21:16
thanks for your advice  but still where should i put linux?

on the same hd as windows or on a different hard drive?

edit

also can i get my movies and music from widows?

Put linux on a seperate partition and if possible a seperate harddrive. I dont duel boot linux, iI have it on seperate boxes so the choice is really up to you where you want to put it.

Mandrake will automatically install an ntfs kernel module that can mount and read most of your ntfs windows files at boot. But currently write support for ntfs is unavailable as it should be that way people wont complain about accidently deleting or messing up their windows files.

For ntfs suport for redhat youll need to install the correct kernel module for your version and mount the partition manually to be able to see your files on windows partition. The module is available here. http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/ However, I dont recommend that for a new user to linux since mandrake will do it for you.

[Xero Grid]

I had dual booted XP and Red Hat at one point. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what I should do whenn the easiest answer was staring me in the face.

I had tried different partitioning (I only had one hard drive at the time) and boot manager software, but that always caused me trouble.

The easiest way for me was to use the XP installation disk to create an NTFS partition and leave the rest unpartitioned, and install. Then use the Red Hat disks, which have an option to take care of the partitioning for you, and install. I used the Grub Loader (during the Red Hat installation), which didn't take much to config.

Since you have more than one drive, it should be a snap.

-- Xero Grid --

[ObiWan]

do you have a linux boot disk?

if so use the HD boot to boot windows and the linux one to boot linux - no need to use grub or lilo

[shn]

Originally posted by ObiWan@2 February 2004 - 14:14
do you have a linux boot disk?

if so use the HD boot to boot windows and the linux one to boot linux - no need to use grub or lilo

Wise Choice

[ObiWan]

also you will need to run the fix mbr command from the XP cd (recovery console) to allow you to boot into windows

[Risknothin]

so your saying install linux and then when i restart run the fixmbr then use the boot disk to start linux and just start windows normally? this will work better then using the linux boot options?

[shn]

Originally posted by Risknothin@2 February 2004 - 16:03
so your saying install linux and then when i restart run the fixmbr then use the boot disk to start linux and just start windows normally? this will work better then using the linux boot options?

You dont have to do a fixmbr unless your bootloader needs fixing. Such as the case if you install linux with a bootloader it will overwrite your windows bootloader but it will still allow you to boot into windows or linux at the grub or lilo selection screen. But if for some reason you uninstall or delete linux then you will have to fix your mbr because it would have deleted the linux bootloader as well, thus leaving you with nothing to boot your system.

However, if during installation you tell linux not to install a bootloader at all, all you have to do is create a boot disk at the end of installation when it ask you to and your boot loader will not be touched at all,. Just make sure you hold on to the boot disk floppy and dont lose it because you will need it to boot your kernel everytime.