A few years ago I tried linux and gave up when I reached a snag with certain drivers. I am now back but have forgotten how to do a duel boot when XP pro is already installed. I downloaded and burned the new DVD iso for Mandrake 10.1 and will be installing this on a Sager Laptop I just got so that I can try and learn linux once again.
I know this much: I have partitioned my hard drive ( duel hard drives in raid 0) and left an unpartitioned space of 6 gb where I wish to install linux merely to learn it. I know to install in the unpartitioned space during the install, but thats as much as I remember.

[1] Can someone tell me what else I need to look out for before trying to install Mandrake 10.1 to this XP system?
[2] Are there tutorrials out there that someone can provide links to?
[3] I will also need to know how to make my system boot into XP pro first, with the choice to go to Linux when I have time to learn it.
[4] Also: in the event things don't work out with linux, what is the best way to uninstall it and get back my normal windows master boot record? ( I kind-of remember that one had to do certain steps then do a command like /fdisk mbr somewhere )

Thank-you. Hopefully there is a site that has a tutorial for these things.

It's simple really. XP messes up your mbr so you actually want to install linux after xp, if you want to dual-boot.

Mandrake automatically scans your mbr and installs either GRUB or LILO (I recommend GRUB). You can define the default OS during installation and change it from the Mandrake control center.

Have fun!

MandrakeMikael,
If things go "bad" for me, what is the best way to remove Mandrake from my system and remove the bootloader so it reverts bac k to normal WinXP pro Start-up?

I need to know this before taking the plunge.
Also, do you guys think the dual drives in Raid0 will be an issue? Regarding drivers for start-up?

i have mandrake over xp, and i am kind of newbie as well. i did some tests before installing on my laptop, i used my old system for punchingbag.
after those trials, my conclusion is that, the best way is resizing your xp partition for space for linux before install ( assuming you first have installed xp), or installing xp on partitioned harddrive. When you have totally empty partition even not a formatted one for linux, mandrake will let you choose to install on that partition no problem. i found it easier to use bootit or other partition managers to create partition space for mandrake. Because mandrake`s partition manager gets confusing for a newbie.
i used bootit for partitioning

thou i would say you can try getting imaging of harddrive just incase. if you understasnd partition part , most likely you wont mess up

for me hardest issue was understanding,
/
/home
/swap

you can try having / and /home partition around same size. also remember mandrake needs to format those new partitions due to filesystem

partitions mandrake creates, which are standart linux partitioning as far as i know. and mandrake`s partition amanager does not lead you simply, but i think there was an auto way in mandrake, and that works nice and simple when you have the partition ready for before mandrake install as i mentioned

my worst problem was after installing on my laptop, at some point i did upgrades through mandrake, and i did not have enough space either on my / or /home mandrake would not start because could not create temp files during boot. that was a mess, it was easier to reinstall than solving the problem


thou try having at least 8 gb for linux at least, unless you know you wont install new stuff frerquently

in general installing mandrake was faster and easier than xp, i cannot talk about other distros but i was fairly happy with mandrake for first choice

i hope this helps you little

Thanks.
How about to delete the Mandrake partitions, how does one do that ( I have forgotten ). The onl;y thing I do remember is to do an " /fdisk mbr "

I would defrag the widows partition first since it will be resized. Then I installed Mandrake after windows XP was installed, I didn't worry about the partitions till I started the installing Mandrake.

I started the install and got to the point where I could adjust my partions. I resized my ntfs partions to the size I wanted and left enought room for Linux.
Then I just took the auto config that Mandrake wanted to default too. There are some tricks where you make make extra partitions for /user so if you reinstall you can leave the data uninterrupted. But I'm a newbie so I didn't get into that.

When I want to get rid of Mandrake I just start the install disk and get to the screen where I can adjust the partitions. I just delete all the Linux partitions and resize my windows ntfs partition.

That still leaves GRUB or LILO in the master boot record when you start up though. I have been taking a win98 startup floppy disk and booting off that. Then I just do a fdisk /mbr. That cleans LILO or GRUB off and give me a clean boot again.

Anyway, I hope that helps some. There is probably a better way but this is what works for me.

By the way, I use the install disk to add partitions and resize the partitions. I don't have Partition Magic or anything so I can use Mandrake.

Great , Thanks Charlespc, thats exactly what I needed.

Onto to linux for me now!

when you are running the command "fdisk /mbr" i take it that you are booting into dos, and it will delete the master boot record when you type that command. does xp pro automatically make you a new mbr or what.. i have seen this before but can someone clerify??

Yes, I boot from a 98 setup floppy disk. Then at the dos prompt a: I type fdisk /mbr. It erases the old boot options left from Linux (GRUB or LILO) and loads a new boot record. I have a laptop that doesn't have a floppy. I can take the winxp cd and boot off of it and then go in from the repair options and do a fdisk /mbr from the cd.

I have let Linux make the adjustments to dual boot and I don't use the Windows boot.ini file.

This has worked well with Mandrake.

Hope this helps some

cool. thats very good 2 know..