Fedora FC4 Suse 10.0 and Windows XP Triple Boot

1kyle · 10-03-2005, 03:43 AM

Warning -- If you try the above configuration INSTALL SUSE LAST otherwise Fedora's boot system hozes up your boot system and you won't be able to get to Windows.

I think Fedora (not sure so correct me if I'm wrong) uses LILO by default whilst SUSE uses (IMO) the MUCH BETTER option GRUB.

If you install SUSE last then GRUB sorts out the boot systems.

After just playing with Fedora a couple of times I'm still convinced that SUSE is a much better bet even though Fedora has improved somewhat.

Anyway this is one of the great things about Linux --you can try out all sorts of distros without having to spend a lot of money on any of them --and with nice fast ADSL/ Broadband systems even downloading 5 CD's doesn't take too long any more.

Tip -- If you totally want to remove Fedora --you'll need to get a Windows 2000 CD (don't use the Windows XP CD --it will ask for an Administrator password which usually doesn't work on 99.99% of home systems -- the Windows 2000 CD doesn't ask for a password)

Boot into The Recovery Console and then type FIXMBR.

This fixes the boot sector. It DOESN'T WIPE partitions so by then running the install SUSE CD you can "Repair" your existing SUSE system by fixing / re-writing GRUB. You don't need to re-install either Windows or SUSE after a FIXMBR.

Cheers

-K

Ahmed · 10-03-2005, 06:39 AM

Little correction:

Fedora uses Grub.

-A

amdrake · 10-03-2005, 07:27 AM

I've never had a problem using the XP CD to fix the mbr. The 99.99% failure rate sounds a little high.

Ray_Kovecses · 10-07-2005, 08:58 AM

Never had a prob with the xp disc either 99.9 is WAY off

fratkiller · 10-08-2005, 07:18 PM

So now that I formatted my hard-drive that previously had Fedora Core on it and rebuilt the MBR, the Windows 2000 installation doesnt see the portion of the drive that Fedora was on? What do you have to do in order to totally wipe Linux from the drive and replace it with Win 2000???

amdrake · 10-08-2005, 07:22 PM

You need to resize your Windows partition to use the whole disk. You can download a utility to do this from the web or your favorite P2P.

Jongi · 10-19-2005, 04:53 AM

My experience of using fixmbr is chequered at best.

Ray_Kovecses · 10-19-2005, 02:26 PM

Well the best way to do a triple boot is.... Partition hard drive. Install windows FIRST....then the other linux operating systems....