Hello, I have been attempting to duel boot linux and Windows .Net Server 2003. I have tried to install both Mandrake 9.0 and Red Hat 8.0. After installing each they freeze a few seconds after successful boot (i see the desktop or the login screen and it then freezes). When installing Red Hat it gives me the following error:

"Unable to align Partition properly This probably means that another tool generated an incorrect partition table, because it didn't have the correct bios Geometry. It is safe to ignore, but ignoring may cause (fixable) problems with some boot loaders."

I have repartition my hard drive and still come up with the same error. The last time I was attempting to install Red Hat I hit cancel at this screen and it gave me the option to allow Red Hat to destroy the partition table and allow it to write a new one. I do not want to do this if it is not going to fix the problem.

The idea's I have come up with so far to fix it are: Flash the bios then repartition, manually enter my hard drive information into the bios, or simply let red hat write a partition table it likes then install everything all over again. Any help is appreciated as I would love to be able to try out linux as I grow more and more disgusted by Microsoft and the future of it's operating systems.

Thank you for your time,
Adam

Is it basically freezing when it starts the GUI install mode ? If so, have you tried to install text based mode..

But it definitely could be something wack with the partition table. I'd try installing text mode and see if you can't repartition with checking for bad blocks as well.

How did you repartition your drive? (what tools and procedures did you use).

Also - posting some specific hardware info might help as well. Someone may already have encountered a similar problem.

While we're on the subject - you could also try the search tool on this fine site.

Thank you for your quick replys. I installed succesfully everytime with no errors other than the previously stated one. It even boots succesfully after the install but it then freezes within a few second (I can see the clock, desktop, and "start" button). I believe the first time I clicked "Ignore" to the error then let Red Hat installer repartition my hard drive. The most recent time I believe I let XP partition the hard drive, then modified it with Partition Magic 8.0. All ended up the same way with linux freezing.

I have an Antlon XP 2100 (1.73GHz), ASUS A7N266 Motherboard with Award BIOS, Western Digital 100GB SE Hard Drive, Power color Radeon 9000 Pro AGP Card, two 3COM NIC's, RICOH CD-R/RW, and a DVDROM drive.

Thanks Again,
Adam