Linux dual boot question
 

I heard a rumor that if you are running windows and linux on seperate partitions that eventually windows will try to scan the other partition and corrupt your UFS.

Is there any validity to this rumor?

I don't think Win98 does this and that's what I have. Plus I got a program in Linux installed called 'Bill Gates Blocker' if this happens. Lol

No .... seriously I think this is a false rumor .

Thanks for replying so quickly. Eventually I hope to be rid of Bill Gates once and for all.

What are these dual boot programs I read about LILO and GRUB?

Lilo & Grub are boot manigers, they let you choose which OS to boot.

Re: Linux dual boot question
 

This sounds like a rumor but I have no way of proving it one way or another. I do know that with my setup win2k had "issues" with my linux partion. I was able to find a work around, though.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=31265

definite rumour
 

Logic would dictate that after all the rubbish/bad press/etc etc that M$ got from the trial last time, I seriously doubt that even the office tea boy at redmond would try something as pointless/stupid* as that.

It would be traceable back directly to M$ and even the best lawyer wouldn't be able to talk his/her way out of that. The basic fine for that would be hefty enough, but the punitive damages that I suspect would also result would probably be enough to bankrupt M$ or at very least, clear the boardroom completely (even M$ has share holders).

It's a bit like that jolly nice chap Alphonse Capone, a one time resident of Chicago being caught with the smoking gun that he was alledged to have used instead of the US government having to wait until it got him for the tax evasion thing.

regards

John

* delete as appropriate

If you reinstall windows, it will overwrite the LILO/grub loader, and that might be what you heard. Interestinly enough, XP seems to be smart about that (at least part of the time) cause I've had at least one install that didn't overwrite it.

Rumor probably based on bad experience(s). I've more than once had XP tell me that my second hard disc had problems (where I used to keep Linux). I ignore them because XP has no idea what I want, but I do. But if a newb didn't know what to do, it might let winbloze "fix" these errors, and probably ruin something in the linux install. It doesn't happen anymore though, I think it's because XP is in fear of getting completely removed now that my wife doesn't even use the bastard anymore! :D

Anyway, yeah, probably truth in there somewhere covered with a rig (maybe one of John's buddies ;) ) full of rumor(s).

Cool

On certain occasion that could be a little bit true. I tried installing Win2000 on one HD and Linux Mandrake 7.1 on another all is working fine. I used a boot disk to boot to Linux and I remove the boot disk whenever I need to boot to Windows. Problem is when I removed the Hard disk of Linux on Windows 2000 I can' t properly access my disk drive?!!!!!

A hearty thanks to all that have replyed to this question. One day I hope to have some answers of my own.

Please consider this post closed

I was just looking for help about dual booting. Then this thread caught my attention. What could one make if one reinstalls windows and doesn't have a linux bootable disk? Luckily that's not my case, but who knows, your bootable disk could be damaged when you reinstall windows, couldn't it? (I really trust Morphy :) )

Regards,
Josef

If you don't have Linux boot disk (or it goes bad), you can get one. Some distro-specific sites have them for download, or you can get Tom's boot disk, which is really just a small Linux distro, but very handy for maintenance work and emergencies.

Thanks for your answer, it's nice to know that there are more alternatives. I just read another post that says that you could also use the CDs of your distro installation.

boot disc's and stuff
 

I have to admit, I made many cock up's when I was first trying to get it loaded etc

It took me a while to find out that I can do a "rescue" from my installation disc's (mandrake), but I didn't notice which distro you are using before posting this, you will probably have to boot from the disc and see, with the mandrake, I think its F1 to get into install modes other that the normal ones.

Give it a try!!

regards

John

Re: boot disc's and stuff
 

Thanks for your reply.

Actually, I haven't had that problem yet. I was just wondering about it. I check my installations disks already, and saw that they have also a rescue boot.

Boot off the CD, mount the drives in the appropriate places (requires unmounting some temp filesystems) and run LILO. Reboot.