Hi, i would like to ask how can somebody setup a dual-boot WinXP\SUSE_LINUX system in the following case:
There are 2 hard drives. The first is a 80GB hard drive\100% partitioned and formated using NTFS\running Windows XP. The second is just installed but hasnt been partitioned yet. It has much free space reserved for Linux.
Thanks in advance.

How big is the second drive?

If it is at least 10 gig you should be fine. There are a lot of things to consider. There is limited support for NTFS in linux. You can read NTFS, but not write, without experimental software. I would not recommend trying that if this is your first experience with linux. If you want ( or may want ) to share files, consider making a fat32 partition of suitable size to share your files. Both systems support fat32.

At a minimum you should have a / (root) partition for the linux system, a swap partition, and a /home partition. Add the fat32 partition if you need to share files. Since you have not stated how big this second drive is, you will need to decide how large the partitions should be.

You will also need a boot loader. Linux comes with grub and lilo. Lilo is the easiest to set up. You will need to decide where to put it. It can go on the MBR or on the second disk.

Hope this gets the thought juices going.

wich distribution would that be? Some are harder then other on this point.

As you know there are lots of opinions about distro choice. I've found Mandriva's installer to be good at handling partitioning situations and setting up dual boot. Also try debian or ubuntu.

Thanks a lot... May linux be installed on the 2nd disc (yeah it is bigger than 10G) and grub (because I preffer it to lilo) on the MBR of the first disc?
PS: That isnt my first experience with Linux, just another one :P

hi there,
its absolutely possible to have yr linux distro on 2nd disk and grub on the MBR on the first disc.

regards

Most distros will ask where to install Grub/Lilo, choose the MBR. Then when you boot up you will be given the choice of whether to boot XP or Linux.

You can also choose a default so it boots whichever you use the most.