i have suse 10.0 installed, and i want things to stay that way. at the same time, i want to install windows xp. (please don't get into the "why do you need windows?" stuff. don't worry, i'm loyal to linux, but i need it--or rather my girlfriend does--from time to time. thanks!)

basically, i get to the point in the windows installation where it shows me the partitions that are already installed. i have 3 partitions of roughly 4.8 Gigs each. (i think 2 are for linux, and one is a swap partition.) regardless, it won't allow me to even try to install windows on those partitions as windows installation basically claims it doesn't recognize those partitions, though it calls them the C, F, and G drives.

that's fine with me, because i still have one more available partition with about 24 Gigs, which windows calls "unknown." i specifically didn't use the whole drive when originally installing linux. windows installation claims it needs about 1.2 Gigs, but when i try to install on that drive, windows says it cannot create any more partitions.


so, i am pretty much confused as to how to solve this. ideally,here's what i want from most important to least important:
1) i won't have to blast any of the linux partitions.
2) i will be able to install windows and have a way to choose at boot time between windows and linux.
3) i will be able to install windows in as small a partition as possible (my 2.5 gigs or something), and then will be able to allocate the rest of the 24 gigs to a shared windows/linux partition (if such a thing exists?). alternatively, i will be able to re-allocate that remaining 21.5 gigs back to being usable by linux. (i really don't need a lot of space for windows, though i appreciate any tips on any swap space i should allocate for windows.)


for what it's worth, i have a p4 with hyperthreading and suse 10.0 linux, if that matters.

I believe that Windows needs to be installed on the first partition of the hard drive.

Any help as to how to do that...or anything else...would be greatly appreciated.

You have a hard drive that look like this, right?
partition 1 - /
partition 2 - swap
partition 3 - I don't know
free space - want to install windows.

You will need to install Windows on partition 1. Then install linux on partition 2 and 3. and make the free space as a shared drive (make it FAT32). If you installed Linux on the first partition, then you are going to have to re-install(that is the easiest).

Just put the Windows CD in and boot to it. When you come to the partitioning part delete all the partitions. Then create on partition for the Windows install(make it NTFS). Then install Windows. Then install Linux and format a / partition, a swap partition (you anly need 500mb to 1 gig), then make the extra space the shared drive (format it FAT32).

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but if i do that...won't i lose everything on linux, since i'll be losing the root partition?

and i don't know exactly what the partitions look like or where to look...tips as to how to look? thanks!

...to be clear, i don't want to lose my current linux installation as its finally set up the way i like it.

It will delete Linux. If you do not want this, you might want to google for moving root partition.

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Another alternative is to just find another small hard disk to install windows onto and open up the rest of the other hard disk to be shared by both. This should be able to be done seamlessly without endangering your linux install if you are mindful of how windows setup has no regard for what you might actually want on the mbr or you primary disk.
if you need specifics just post or google for all the unfortunate people who lost grub to windows setup. Show your allegiance by not risking your linux install.

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Windows needs to be on the first partition, since it doesn't like to share the way Linux does. The Windows boot records are kinda twitchy.

I'd suggest getting another hard drive of equal/greater size. Perform the Windows load, then load Linux, and backup/restore your data from one drive to the other, using whatever backup software you're currently using. This way, your original drive will be intact, so if you run into a problem, you can just switch it back.

Otherwise, your only option is to back up your Linux system as you normally do, and wipe the drive and reload.

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5 years later, saw this old post. Excellent responses across the board. (Marking them subsequently Helpful and switching this to Solved.)

A belated Thanks.