Dear Sir/Madame,

I have got Linux 6.2 already installed on my system. Now I want to install Windows XP and create a Dual Boot System. I know how to create a dual boot system if Windows is already installed. But I dont know how to create a dual boot if Linux is installed.

Can anyone please help me.

Regards,
Debashish

What kind of partition setup do you have right now? What distro are you running?

This is the basics, not newbie friendly though.

1: install windoze, and reboot after you know windoze is working, well, working as good as it gets anyway.
2: Get out the rescue CD, Linux not windoze, and boot it up.
3: enter the rescue mode and re-install grub or lilo.
4: say a prayer, usually not needed but just in case.
5: reboot into Linux.
6: edit grub or lilo conf file and add windoze if needed, usually is needed.
7: reboot again, since you are putting on windoze, you may as well get used to rebooting.
8: Hope the new entry is there and windoze boots, which is a tad touchy anyway.

Parden the hummor. I hate windoze.

If you have Gentoo or something, just boot the install CD and remount the partitions and install grub or lilo like in the manual. You can add the windoze to the conf file if you want too.

Hope that helps. It is doable, just make sure you don't erase a Linux partition when you install windoze.

He might not be able to do that. If his HD is full of Linux partitions, WinXP setup may very well anihilate the whole shebang to make way for XP.

True. I am hoping that he has a empty hard drive for the new windoze. I hate mixing the two. It leads to problems on occasion. If he moves his current Linux install to primary slave instead of primary master, he would then have to edit the fstab and grub or lilo files for the new setup.

I'm starting to put the cart before the horse here.

*cough* *cough* What you got over there partner? We really need more info here. It will get deep if you don't start to share.

Later

Somebody put a birthday cake for my avatar. Who did that? I want my banging head back!!!

Dale, as we say in China…

Zhenyi shengri kauile...

it's also my brother-in-laws, and yesterday was my brothers...
course, it's always "yesterday" for you as far as we're concerned ;-)

But how do I get my banging head back??

You know Jeremy doesn't allow avatar's on LQ...

This thread officially hijacked.

Nope, just waiting on debashish_shona to tell us something.

Later

hey there
before the thread starter shows up
can u tell me that is dual booting that easy in RH 6.2 as we have nowadays

i haven't used such an old distro,but came to know that it was very hard going for dual boot that days,so will it be posssible to go with dual boot with these old packages(lilo,grub )

regards

I'm sure there have been a few "improvments" since then. I have not used that old a distro before but it may work.

Good question though.

hi

so should we ask the thread starter to look into this very seriously before he gets in to all sorts of trouble with the older packages

regards

I doubt it would hurt to try it, as long as he/she? is careful about the partitions and watches windoze, REAL CLOSE, so that it doesn't take over the Linux partitions. I would be very basic at first, then if it works install the rest of Linux. No need installing everything till you know if it works.

OP is going to have a lot of reading to do when he checks back.

Later