Win XP and Linux: is it possible????
 

Hello guys!

I'm in war with my pc trying to install WinXP and Slack 9.1, together... It's impossible!

I've read everything (that I found) about and tried to do everthing, but after all, I'm still crying.

My strategy was:
- partition my hd in 4, with the 1º for win (NTFS), the 2º for comom use (Fat 32), the 3º for linux and the 4º for linux swap;
- then I install my Linux, on it's partition (almost good, now trying to install mouse);
- then I install WinXP on the 1º partition, whitch will be setted ANYWAY as the activate partition, so the Win take control of everything, boot talking;
- the using cfdisk, or diskpartition, I set the 3º partition as the activate partition again, so LINO will command;
- I run liloconfig and add WinXP to my boot list (till now, perfect!)
- I power on, and am asked whose os to boot: if I choose Linux, every's ok. If I choose Win XP, it start booting then comes a message saying the
the system can't boot because /system/config isn't good (something like this) and to run installation again;
- then everything repeats, in loop!

Should I kick winXP and try win98?
Someone ever did XP and Linu?

Thanks all!

You don't need to set the third (Linux) partition as active. Leave the first (WinXP) partition as active - if you change it, Windows will complain and possibly not boot at all.

If you now have only the NT bootloader (as installed by XP) on the master boot record so you can't boot Linux, use a rescue or install disk (CD or floppy) to boot to Linux and install the bootloader on the mbr.


An alternative is to use the NT bootloader to boot the Linux bootloader (heh!): Install Lilo to the Linux root partition (your third partition). Just set boot= and root= to point to that very partition (/dev/hda3 or whatever) and rerun Lilo.
Then copy the Lilo bootblock from the Linux root partition using dd: dd if=/dev/hda3 count=1 bs=512 of=~/bootsect.slack (this of course assumes your Linux root partition where you installed Lilo is /dev/hda3, if not - change the command to the appropriate device).
This will leave a little 512 byte file in root's home directory. Copy that file over to the shared partition and boot into Windows. Move the bootsect.slack file from the shared partition to the root of the C: drive so the location is C:\bootsect.slack. Simply edit C:\boot.ini and add the following line:Reboot and you can now choose Linux from the NT bootloader! :)

Håkan

I should add that every time you make changes to Lilo you need to copy over the file again, otherwise Linux will probably not boot at all! So every time you upgrade your kernel, rerun the dd command and copy the file to C:\bootsect.slack.


Håkan

I think yor problem maybe caused by installing linux first. Xp Should be installed first .
make sure you dont format the xp partition when installing linux.
Regards Sharkee

yes it is possible. i´m writing this message from a pc with xp and suse, so don´t worry. don´t kick xp, as it comes along with lots of drivers. so you don´t have to look for drivers when you previously installed 98.
98 is fine, but if xp works, i would use it.

but i heard there´s another prob. *g*
i strongly recommend you to install xp or any other win-version you want to combine with slackware FIRST and afterwards install linux.
use the first partition on your hd for windows, as it must use the first cylinders of the drive.

i would think about providing common space: your distro should support acces onto ntfs-drives, at least suse 8.2 does on my machine. if you are not sure that slack 9.1 supports ntfs access, install xp as a fat-filesystem (i.e., partitioning as fat). then you should be able to access xp folders.
when you got it running: if you want to ensure common access, just save it onto the win-partition.

cheers,

bavarian

I'm currently running Windows XP and Slackware 9.1 - worked first time!

I did it in a different manner as I have 2 seperate drives - Windows XP on the first 120Gb drive and Linux on my second 40Gb drive.

Windows XP was already installed, but when I installed Slackware 9.1 I partitioned the drive into 4 (root, swap, /usr/ and /home/) and I actually installed LILO to the MBR of the Windows drive - now when I boot, I boot into LILO which gives me the option of what OS I want to boot into. Again this can be fine-tuned with liloconf , but it hasn't failed me yet!

First install XP, Linux dose the rest.
I had XP and Mandrake
and Xp and RedHat
3 partitions,FAT32-for Winblows,EX2 for lnx , and lnx swap
it worked just fine...

Bdw why NTFS and FAT32?

And sugg. use 98,same thing but much easier...

hi morrolan, would u mind walk this slackware newbie through how you got xp and slackware works together?

i have a similiar setup as you do, i got 2 hd, first i have xp on it. second one i installed slack 9.1 when it asked me how do i wanna install my lilo i choosed the first option: simple

then later on it ask me where do i wanna install my lilo, 3) choices, superblock, floopy disk, or mbr (unsafe)

i choosed superblock. now when i restart computer, i can only boot xp. (which make sense, cause mbr only recorded xp as my loader)

i guess my next step is to use a boot disk or what not to load slack, would u mind share your /etc/lilo.conf plz? i'd like to see how yours setup.

p.s: did u install lilo in mbr or in superblock?
pps: now i understand why people use 1 month slack = people use 1 year redhat/mdk, you really gotta know what u doing heh :)

Install to MBR !!!!

Yes, well, maybe...
For NT4 installing into the MBR will lead to absolute disaster.
Win2000 likewise.

Having been bitten, and having the scars, I *NEVER* install a *nix bootloader into the MBR if a NT derivative is already installed.
I've seen people do it for XP, so I know it works.
But I wouldn't trust Redmont as far as I could kick them, so I install into the boot partition and use the NTLOADER to do the initial select.
Call my chicken, but it always works.
And BTW, Grub is a better option than LILO in this situation IMHO.

Sure I will share the contents of my lilo.conf when I get home later tonight.

I actually installed it in the MBR of the first drive, therefore overwriting the windows bootloader. When I was on Debian I had it set up to use a bootdisk because I didn't want to risk not being able to boot into either :)

All shall become apparent in about 3 hours when I get home and post my lilo.conf with explanations.

OK, here goes with my lilo.conf file:


Ok, I'll explain a little more as follows:


this specifies where LILO is installed and where to boot from (This is the MBR of my windows drive) - this will most probably be hda for you as it is still the master boot record on the 1st HDD


this is where you can define the welcome note - irrevant for boot purposes but can be used to simplify the menu screen


time in 10th/sec before booting into default OS (first in the list:


OK like I said, I'd installed XP first, so originally it was the only bootable drive. "other" just simply points to the Windows partition (I assume). "label" is freetext as long as you don't use spaces and try to avoid symbols. Table (again I assume) is the boot/partition table of that drive <<could someone clarify this please?>>.



OK, "image" shouldn't change I don't think unless you are using a custom kernel of somekind, root is exactly what it says -I assume this will be hda3 for you judging that you will use hda1 for Windows and hda2 as a common drive. Again "label" is freetext.


When I installed LILO I chose "simple" and it then asked me where I wanted to install it too - I chose the MBR because I wanted to use LILO as my OS chooser. It automatically found my Windows partition (it called it "DOS").

Don't forget to simply run "lilo" as root, and it will then give you the message that (hopefully) everything is OK. Reboot and cross your fingers, and you should end up with with a red square with "DOS" and "Linux" or whatever you assigned for the "label" on each bootable partition.

As for FAT32 mounting at boot, you'll have to ask someone else I'm afraid cos i'm having trouble with my own at the moment!


Hope I helped.

I have a 70 GB HD and I want to know if I can run SuSE and WinXP on it at the same time. I tried Slackware and it worked but after a while it messed up my computer I don't know why. I kept getting this PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA BSOD and three technicians came and even replaced the mother board and HD but nothing. They gave up and gave me a new computer. HP Insurance :)


XPediTioN

"Well maybee... if running NT..."

The post my friend, is entitled Win XP and Linux" Read it before you slate me....

I was trying to help, and it's allways worked for me.

Just my 2 cents...

Install XP first, then Linux and follow the instructions posted by hw-tph. I have used this method for a very long time without failure. Just remember to update the /bootsect.lnx file after every kernel compile or Lilo change.