Two hard drives for dual boot?

globalgreg · 03-01-2005, 11:42 PM

I've got a 160 GB and an 80 GB hard drive. I want to do a dual boot with Mandrake and XP...can I put Mandrake on the 80 GB hard drive and XP on the 160 GB drive? I also want to do a FAT32 partition so that I can exchange files between the two. What drive should I put that one on? I'm guessing that GRUB is the best dual boot manager to use?

Also, I'll be installing the 10.2 beta3 version of Mandrake, is it easy to upgrade that to the final version when it comes out?

bulliver · 03-01-2005, 11:57 PM

Quote:

I've got a 160 GB and an 80 GB hard drive. I want to do a dual boot with Mandrake and XP...can I put Mandrake on the 80 GB hard drive and XP on the 160 GB drive?

Of course you can, in fact it is generally less of a hassle to do it this way.

Quote:

I also want to do a FAT32 partition so that I can exchange files between the two. What drive should I put that one on?

I'd put it on the 160, but I'm sure it doesn't matter. It would just fit into your '1 HDD for each os' plan better.

Quote:

I'm guessing that GRUB is the best dual boot manager to use?

It's what I prefer, as I think it is way more flexible and powerful, but some old-schoolers still swear by lilo. Go with what you are most comfortable with. If you are unfamiliar with both, go with grub.

Can't help with your upgrade question, sorry.

globalgreg · 03-02-2005, 12:02 AM

Thanks kindly. Do I install Mandrake first, then XP? I'm assuming XP will take over the MBR after I do that?

bulliver · 03-02-2005, 01:22 AM

Quote:

I'm assuming XP will take over the MBR after I do that?

Right, it will, but you don't want XP to take over the MBR, you want grub there. *Always* install Windows first in a dual-boot situation. I also highly recommend setting the HDD XP is going on as the primary master.