Hello everyone, I'm afraid of trying a dual boot but I must! The last time i tried to boot with an HP, it totally screwed up my MBR and i lost windows. I have alot of info on this computer and I don't want to loose it!
I have about 26 gigs left out of 160 gigs. How much space should I have for Linux?
Also is there an easy method to dual boot? I tried it with mandrake awhile ago with the HP they had a built in tool which totally screwed it i think. So i don't want to mess this one up! here are my computer specs:
Intel 3.4 with HT
256 GeForce 6800GT
Sound blaster Audigy
160 gig hd
with external DVD burner
internal CD burner

Thanks!

I am surely not an expert, but here is what has worked for me. In windows, there is a utility to partition your hard drive. First you should defrag the drive and check it for errors. Then add a new partition in the free space. I made mine fat32, but I don't think it matters probably ntfs would work just as well. My linux install is using less than 3 GB for the OS. Then install linux on the new partition. This has worked for me multiple times using the grub boot loader. As long as it sees your windows installation, you can tell it to install the boot loader on MBR and everything should just work. But to be sure, I would definitely back up the data first.

The only time I have had problems was when I installed linux first. Win XP killed the boot loader every time.

I would use a knoppix or other 'livecd' and backup as much important data (if you haven't recently) before i'd do ANYTHING else!

I'd also reconsider using mandy, unless it is pre 10.x, because i personally think it has gone down hill very fast after merging w/ mandiva or whatever that name is. (altho you may have messed up the grub or lilo when you worked on it).

normally linux will play very nicely when installing on a same hard disk as win.. and will even list windows as an option when booting.

btw 26 gigs is enuff for several linuxes

good luck.

Thanks for the reply, I do have Suse 9.2 Live Cd, how can i use that to back up data? Also yeah i don't like mandrake anymore, because they moved to mandriva, thats why i'm trying out SuSE 10.0 instead, becusae i like the chamelion as their logo guy haha. Also ssfrstlstnm u said there is a utility to pration my drive, what utility would that be? Also do you recommend i convert the partiion to fat32 isnteed of NTFS? I did hear about issues about putting Linux on an NTFS parition. Will this program you speak of, also convert to fat32 the partition i make? thanks again guys!

Do not put linux on an ntfs partition or fat32. While it might be possible it isn't worth the trouble that will definitely ensue.

Where to start with dual booting.
I'm assuming your whole drive is currently setup for windows.
Therefore: you need to defrag that drive and find a utility that can shrink the partition. Some installers will do this for you. Google to find which ones. I suggest Ubuntu. This will make your 160 gig partition approx 138 gigs (assuming your 23 gig free estimate is correct).
You see, hard drives are divided into partitions, you should google the subject if you are going to run linux. Understanding hard drive partition concepts isn't difficult and it is necessary to learning linux.
The installer will see the 23 gigs free and will:
1. make a new partition.
2. set the partition for Linux
3. format it for ext3 or ext2. There are other options and they are all debatable, but I suggest ext3. It's simple, stable, and should do fine for your needs.
From here you can follow the rest of the install.
Good luck and cheers.


FYI Just because your Master Boot Record gets hosed doesn't mean that windows is gone. It simply means that your pc doesn't have the instructions in the MBR for starting windows. Also, just because grub or lilo don't list windows as an option doesnt' mean windows is gone. It just means you didn't tell them to give you the option. Both grub and lilo can be configured to include your windows install. Again google is your friend, especially www.google.com/linux

cheers.

I didn't mean to put linux on the fat32 file system. What I meant was just to use windows to create the new partition (will have to be fat32 or ntfs cause that is all windows knows), and then use that partition to install linux on with a real file system (ie ext3 or reiserfs). I would suggest using windows to create the partition because it is easier and safer in my experience. I know there is a utility in win XP that can do this. Trying to shrink a partition from linux with parted has hosed a couple of windows installs in my experience.

mr. coffee, i think you better consider buying a second hard drive, to play it safe.

then you can 'practice' on that drive, and when you are sure you have it down, either copy over your 'important' data to win, or attempt the operation on your original drive.

there is NOTHING wrong with doing it this way.. it is a proper and safe way for anyone to MAKE sure that they don't corrupt a system that they want to preserve.

hard disk are dirt cheep new, and even cheeper used.

i'm not sure what is on the suse live cd, but i'm sure there are programs like qtparted and gparted for resizing and cfdsk for paritianing.

i would personally trust linux to resize/partitian an ntfs system.. as any process like this can be dangerous.

(i just don't trust bill gates or his products for obvious reasons).

again, good luck

Thanks halvy, you know what i think i'm going to go with that route, infact, i have a 40 gig harddrive upstairs in my old computer i built, and i never use it up there so i think i'm going to jack that sucka in this alienware system!
Now if i'm starting off with a new harddrive, any recommendations on what i should do with it before I put linux onto it? Also when i start up windoz, how do i know which OS will start up first? Will it still give me a b00t loader screen like GRUB or LILO?
I've never actually installed a system with 2 harddrives, i do recall i have to set some jumpers though, a master and slave right? I think i'm going to google on how to set up a computer with 2 harddrives.

I agree that buying a second hd is the safest way. If you don't want to do that, and you have win2000 or XP. The utility to repartition is in the control panel. See here: http://www.d-silence.com/feature.php?id=246

In most cases I don't trust Bill Gates either, but to repartition his own file system I will trust him more than I trust linux qparted.

Hello,

I just recently installed SuSE 10.0 on my PC. I have it dual booting with WinXP. I downloaded SuSE 10.0 and it came with its GUI installer YaST. I just let YaST do all of the work for me. It automatically installs grub (the boot loader) and as soon as the install is completed and you restart your computer the boot loader will come up and it will have SuSE 10.0 showing up as well as WinXP. This is the simplest way I can think of to install a dual boot system with SuSE 10.0 as you have said you were using.

I still have um.. 2 days and 17 hours before SuSE 10.0 is done downloading rofle cakes. But that does sound pretty easy, but I still think i'm going to do the 2nd harddrive deal. I'd like Linux to have more room than 26 gigs and the computer upstairs is just sitting there, collecting dust. If i could walk better i'd bring it downstairs and network it but that ain't going to happen hah.

have you got xp pro or xp home?

i am just curious because of something that was said in an earlier post.

I’m far from being an expert, but I did just do this yesterday and had no issues. This is what I did for my XP Pro box.
1. Defrag using the windows utility.
2. Defrag again.
3. Download the latest Knoppix
4. Reboot machine with Knoppix
5. Run Qtparted from Knoppix
6. Resize NTFS partition to desired size.
7. Create at least 3 more partitions out of remaining space.
a. Etx3
b. Linux swap
c. Fat32
8. Reboot into windows to insure that nothing has gone wrong (you may be prompted to reboot again as windows sees the fat32 drive as new hardware).
9. Most distros give you the option of manually choosing which partition you want it installed to, do this and choose your ext3 partition.
10. When asked, install GRUB to MBR as suggested.

If i would want to install linux on a seperate harddrive, how would i apporach this? the 2nd harddrive has WIndows XP PRO, this computer has Windows XP home edition.