idyllhands

Anyone tried doing a Linux/XP dual boot machine?
I haven't used Linux before, but would like to try it out. I have an extra HDD now (after getting a new one) and would like to set it up to boot Linux (as a secondary OS)
Is this possible/have you tried it before?
I would appreciate any feedback, as I have very little Linux experience
Thanks!

imsati

Very possible, very easy. I'm on my way out to see a client, but if no one else posts up by the time I get back later tonight, I can walk you through it.

What Distribution of Linux would you like to use?

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amosf

Ah, yeah... It's quite a common thing to do.

Easy way is to install XP first, then add linux, especially easy if it's on a new drive. Most linux distros will set up the dual boot automatically.

The only think you have to watch is that you install linux on the new drive or partition and don't format your XP drive.

I'm running several XP/linux dual and mult boot boxes here with distros like mandriva, suse, pclinuxOS and slackware.

And it's very important to always name your windows boot option as lv426

(that's a joke btw)

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idyllhands

I'm glad you told me it's a joke, because I am a total noob and don't know what that means and prob would've done it lol

I hear that Ubuntu is easy for starting on Linux. I have 64bit system, if that matters. What would you recommend I use for learning purposes? I prefer a distro that A) is easy to get working but B) not so easy that I don't learn anything from it, if that makes sense.

munkyeetr

Ubuntu is great for learning Linux. Everything pretty much works in 7.10 as it should.

If you have a spare drive that you don't mind using just for Linux I would suggest you do the following, it's a little different type of dual boot, but it leaves less fiddling around to remove the dual boot if you decide to later:

1) Download Ubuntu (or whatever distro you want to try) and burn it to a CD.
2) Turn off your machine and completely unplug the drive that contains you Windows XP installation.
3) Make sure the drive you want to use for Linux is plugged in.
4) Boot to the Live CD and click on the Install icon on the Desktop.
5) Follow through the installation, and when it comes to partitioning, just let Ubuntu use the whole drive.
6) When finished, turn your machine off again, and plug the drive that contains your Windows installation in again.
7) Now when you reboot, press whatever key will bring up your boot menu (it's F11 on my machine) and choose the drive you want to boot from.

This keeps the Grub bootloader from handling your Windows installation also. And if you decide later to get rid of Ubuntu, you can just format the Linux drive with GParted or something and you won't have to mess around with the Master Boot Record on your Windows Drive. All very clean.

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