Dual Booting windowsXP and Fedora core 5
 

I have read through some info on installation of winXP home and fedora core 5 dual booting. As I am new to linux,hope u guys can provide me with some advice and tips on installation and configuring dual boot.

I currently have winXP home on C:,D: is created free space for installing FC5,and E: is another NTFS partition for my winXP.All these are partitioned on a single SATA hard disk.

So far I believed that my partioning configurations are correct(Pls correct me if im wrong).I will try to point down my questions in point form to be neat as I post will be long.:)

1)will there be any problems to this configuration?

2)how to manual install fc5 on D: by using commands instead and what are the commands(I have no idea yet on the command lines that linux has and thought of getting books to read up on it)?

3)I understand that Grub will have to replace the window bootloader at mbr to allow for dual boot with winXP.How to configure it to use the win bootloader instead if possible?

4)If I decide to remove FC5 afterwards will it affect my winXP bootup as I assume Grub will be affected?If it is affected I understand we can fixed it by using fdisk or fixmbr?

5)Any other advices for configurations?I am currently keen on exploring linux as i've heard of its capabilities and hope u guys out there can provide me with good starting points.

You are in for a fun and frustrating ride. Welcome to a world of computing where you are forced to learn long before your system crashing forces you to learn. I love it. :)

Here is a first difference between Windows and UNIX/Linux: the filesystem hierarchy. Linux doesn't use the C:, D:, etc. for volume identification as Windows does. It only has one hierarchy, starting from root, also called /. Read the post by AwesomeMachine in this thread for more info:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=458526

You might also have a look at this thread to learn more about partitioning:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=459116

You will want to delete the D: partition, since FC5 won't work well on a partition created by Windows. You'll likely understand why if you read the above threads.

I think it is a misconception to manually install. How do you mean? I have never installed FC5, but I'm quite sure its installer (such as when run from a CD) is far better than a "manual install." As a joke: The best manual install is where you read the manual before installing. :)

As for Linux commands, there is no need to buy a book yet. There are plenty of online resources and documentation in Linux itself to get your started. You'll post to find out more later, I'm sure. Focus first on the installation.

Here is an example:
http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux...w2k-HOWTO.html
(See my notes below first though.)

It depends on whether Grub or NTLDR (Window's boot loader) is installed in the MBR. You can have it either way. If Grub is installed in the MBR, then it is responsible for launching Windows. Its second stage, however, will live in one of the Linux partitions, so if you delete that partition, of course Grub cannot start Windows. But you are going to make backups of the MBR anyway, so don't worry about that.

I will edit a post I just used to reply to another thread here to match it to your questions. I'll keep it simple, if you don't understand just ask.

Windows is already installed, so the first step is to backup the Master Boot Record (MBR) and partition table. If you don't do this, you must perform the sacred rituals to appease the Multi-Boot Installation Gods. There are several tools available, one tool that has many many such useful utilities is:
http://ultimatebootcd.com/ (scroll down or search for Partition Tools)
You would use your current Windows installation to burn an Ultimate Boot CD, and you can use this to start your computer from the CD only, without installing anything. It has lots of great utilities, including one for saving and restoring the MBR and partition table. Grub and NTLDR are examples of boot loaders that live in the MBR. The partition table contains the information about what partition is installed where on your hard-drive.

If you don't like the looks of Ultimate Boot CD, google: save restore mbr partition table

Just make sure you don't decide to skip backing up the MBR and partition table. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the MBIGs.

Now that your MBR and partition table are safely backed up, so that you can easily restore them if they get destroyed on your hard-drive, you can continue with installation. Estimate your disk usage, and plan your partitions. You have already done this, but are you aware of all the issues? Essentially, you need to consider how many partitions will you need, how big should they be and what goes on each one. There is also the detail of what filesystem to use for each partition. Here are some things to consider:
* Making an NTFS data partition for WinXP, so that you can put all your valuable data on a partition separate from the Windows system and applications. Apparently, this is your E: drive. The advantage if it, as you probably know, is that if Windows crashes, you can reinstall Windows (after saving your MBR and partition table, of course, since a new Windows installation will overwrite the MBR) without losing any valuable data. This also makes it easier to manage your data.
* Consider making a small /boot partition, and figure out whether the 1024-cylinder boot limit affects you, as this will affect where you should put it. If you have a recent motherboard, you are probably safe from this problem.
* You will want a separate partition for swap. It is much more efficient than using a swap image. In other words, as an absolute minimum you will want two partitions for Linux: one for swap and one for the system installation, programs and user data.
* You will want to share other partitions if possible. You might consider making an appropriately sized FAT32 partition to share data between both operating systems, since Linux cannot write well to NTFS.
* The Linux filesystem? There is ext2, ext3, ReiserFS, XFS, and whatever else. I don't know what all FC5 supports.
* If you have two hard-disks, you get more space, but it also makes multi-booting slightly more complicated. I like keeping Windows and Linux on separate drives, and using the extra space on both drives to back up data.


Once you have determined the number and size of partitions, you will need to carry out the partitioning. If you need to resize Windows partitions, do that first, using a good utility to resize it. There are various ones: look again at the Ultimate Boot CD. For example, version 1.3.4 of Partition Resizer appears to be able to resize NTFS partitions. (Another valuable warning: be absolutely sure to have all your valuable data backed up before resizing. I recently got bit by this and had to rescue my data.) Now you are ready to install FC5. Read its installation instructions or manual first. You will learn and save yourself headaches. :) At this point, you can follow the "Dual-Boot Linux and Windows 2000/Windows XP with GRUB HOWTO" article I linked above.


As a last step, once everything is installed and you are a happy camper, backup your MBR and partition table again, to protect yourself from future mischief. You should do this everytime you create new partitions or change your MBR.

Have fun, make backups first, and be patient.

Coffee and sympathy help. :twocents:

If you want a walk through to guide your installation you can find an excellent one at

Stanton-Finley.net

It will help set up everything correctly, it helped me a lot.

Nice! Complete with sexy pictures, why do people hang around these forums when such info is out there? :D

(I am pretty sure this was a tongue in cheek comment (a joke incase you don't know all of the english slangs), but I thought I would respond anyway).
The reason I hang around here is because there are a lot of people, and there is a greater chance someone will know an answer to my questions, and it gets answered quickly. The reason I still hang around Stanton's site (now that my installation is working almost perfect) is because since there is a small number of people I can follow every single thread posted (try doing that around here!).

But yes, I think that Stanton-finley.net is a must for all newbies trying to user Fedora (and it may help with other distros as well). I am so glad that I found it back when I had just installed FC4. He helped me get that going, and I followed the instructions again for FC5. And on the forum there aren't many expert users, mostly newbies, but stanton is very good at figuring out how to solve the problems that some people run into. I just wish I had more time to learn all the ins and outs of linux so that I could be more of a help there.

My comment was only meant to be funny, and not directed at anyone. Otherwise, I would be making fun of myself, because I spent a lot of time hanging out here yesterday.

I've never installed RedHat or Fedora Core, and I was glad to see that such an organized (and good-looking) site is out there.

Cheers,
Mike

Hi there to all and thanks for the reply!First off..

so can i just using windows to delete the "D:" logical drive so it becomes free space for FC5?

Have read ur info below on backuping up using ultimatebootcd.But just wondering if it is possible to reinstall the ntldr by using winxp cd after removing linux?so that my system will go back to the original state as it is now?

nevertheless,think i should heed ur advice and backit up regardless of the consequences :)

If i am to delete off my d: which is about 25GB of unpartition free space then,I thought i might install on it using the automatic partitioning(is it called LVM?as i read it somewhere)so as to get my system up and running first..prob when i go into more advanced level i will reconsidering doing the partitioning myself?

Ive read that there are ext1,ext2,ext3 but still unsure of how it works....care to elaborate?:(

yeah bro ive understand the headaches and the satisfaction we can gained if our systems work.tats y im trying to prepare myself more for the first experience of linux!and am trying to follow whichever article tat is intro by u guys!

oh yea...coffee sure helps for me!been trying to squeeze in time for this!

btw,how do u guys perform the checksums of the fc5 file that ive downloaded?

thanks again for the info from u guys!and the link from stanton finley sure helps too!:)

If deleting means to convert it to unpartitioned free space, then yes. I imagine though you can do it just as easily with the FC 5 installer. Make sure to select the right partition, of course!

Yes. Theoretically.

Smart man. ;) This way if the WinXP CD restoration fails (wouldn't be the first time) you can still restore your original boot configureation and partition table.

If it is unpartitioned free space, then it should not show up as drive D:\.

You can certainly use Logical Volume Management (LVM), but it may be complicated. I can't really comment since I haven't found the time to try it out yet, but others have mentioned that it's rather advanced for first-time users. Despite its advantages, it also complicates disaster recovery. So... up to you.

Don't forget JFS, ReiserFS, XFS, and I'm sure there are others. ext3, and the others I just mentioned are journaling filesystems, ext2 is not. Journaling filesystems log changes, so basically it is more secure against data being lost due to system crashes (rare event in stable Linux installations). The main advantage of ext3 is its compatibility with ext2. XFS and ReiserFS are logical journaling filesystems, meaning they journal using metadata, with the result they are faster, but I don't know how they compare to each other. Read the installation documentation of FC5 for more info or a recommendation, or just google to your heart's content. If it's all the same to you, just choose one.


Speaking of which .... mmmm, that tastes good. :D

CAUTION: See comment two posts below.
On Windows, I use http://www.md5summer.org/
CAUTION: See comment two posts below.

May your hard-drive be blessed...

This thread and the above link has actually motivated me to finally try out a FC5 installation. :)

CAUTION: I was misguided in this. Fedora's ISO images do not use the MD5 technology, but rather SHA1. Therefore, you do not need a program like md5summer for this (although it is useful for the more frequently used MD5 checksums), but rather something like these:
http://www.roseindia.net/linux/tutor...acoreiso.shtml

The sha1sum.exe file on Windows can be run in a DOS window. Just type in sha1sum *.iso at the command prompt. It will calculate the checksum, and you apparently have to compare it to the sums in the SHA1SUM file. To do so I pasted them into the SHA1SUM file using an editor that uses fixed-width fonts (GNU Emacs).

Personally I liked FC4 a little better, but FC5 is alright. My main reason for liking FC4 better is that FC5 does a different auto-mount of CD and DVD drives so that the volume name is always the name of the cd that was inserted instead of always being /media/cdrom. This makes it difficult to use wine, which needs a directory that is always there and doesn't change. This is easy enough to do, but it causes problems with the automount that I haven't gotten working perfect yet. And they use the new fedora icon instead of the red hat now, and getting my theme to show the red hat on the GNOME applications menu is more difficult than I thought it should be.

But FC5 (at least for me) automatically uses LVM. And it wasn't to advanced for me because it did it all without me really knowing about it (some people may not like this as it makes it more difficult to not use LVM).

At the begining of the Fedora Installation befora any system changes are made there is a time to check and see if your CDs are correct. I never use checksum or anything like sha1sum, I just check the cds during the install on the first machine I install the OS on.

Thanks for the caution!will still do a checksum to verify since theres no harm trying and of course the media check during installation.So u got ur fc5 running already?heard that fc6 will be released in sept.

yea tats wad i understand that it does it all by itself.for the moment i felt i needed this first..not too complicated perhaps.The site by stanton finley is detailed enough and will reference that also during my installation!

weekend is here..cant wait to try it out!:)