[CA LUG] Dual booting

[Rajiv Gunja]

The biggest myth about Dual-booting is that when Linux fails, your windows =

partition is also domed.
Or something like that.

Yes partition magic is awesome to handle what Linux or Windows throws at it=
, =

but if you want to get your legs wet with dual booting, you might as well =

get down and get dirty and learn a few main things about it.

My mom always said, if you have the knowledge, you will not be afraid of it=
. =


Of course for her that was simple, as she had a Masters in Math and Physics.

Of course for us normal folks ( u guessed right, the apple fell far far awa=
y =

from its tree), learning about LILO or Grub or Windows Boot code might not =

be achievable.
However, rescuing a system which has gone bad is.

In Linux, if our LILO goes bad, what do we do? Boot through the installatio=
n =

CD and fix the MBR or if you were like me, you would have a copy of the MBR =

itself and you can copy it back.

The same principle works with Windows too (2k and XP included).
Boot your system of the installation media, go into Administrative option =

and then to the command prompt and then Fix the MBR.
If you do not know the command, type in "help" at the prompt and you will =

get all the commands you need to know.

If you are wondering about taking a backup of your MBR, then you need to us=
e =

"dd".
I am sure, all of you know how to use it. So just dump the first 512 bytes =

of your disk to a file or a floppy and you are all set to go.

It has saved me numerous times with my fiddling hand with Hardware RAID.

Anyway, dont mean to take away what anyone else has already said, those are =

all awesome, fool proof advise, But I had to give me 2 cents.

Have fun with Dual booting. I used to do that a long time ago and stopped i=
t =

around 2000 or 2001 when I got VMWare 2.0
Now I run a Linux host (Xandros 3.0) and run Windows XP and Windows 2k as =

guests on VMWare 5.0

Enjoy Life !! =

 =

-GGR
Rajiv G Gunja


On 9/16/05, Russ <rmain at polaris.umuc.edu> wrote:
> =

> Thanks VERY much,
> =

> I do have another dual boot system that is entirely FAT32 (4 partitions)
> using cfdisk. I thought I had heard,read or inferred from the immense
> list of file systems that Slackware/cfdisk gave me to format the
> partiton as, that the Linux partition could be NTFS as well.
> I used LILO on my first Dual boot, and that was fairly easy to accomplish.
> Not simple, but I made it happen.
> =

> I do plan to make Linux the primary boot sector on the new system, but I
> wanted to install Windoze Server 2003 on another partition, since I am in
> the certification class.
> =

> Thanks again
> =

> Russ Main
> =

> On Fri, 16 Sep 2005, James Ewing Cottrell 3rd wrote:
> =

> > Yes. You need NTFS for that. But if you want to transfer files between
> > Windoze and Linux, you will probably want a FAT32 partition as well.
> >
> > The easiest way to do dual boot systems is to go buy Partition Magic,
> > which also contains Boot Magic. You can use Windoze to dual boot, but
> > you have to import the Linux boot block into Windoze, and edit the
> > boot.ini file. I don't like doing this.
> >
> > You can also use Linux to boot Windoze via either LILO or GRUB. The
> > problem here is that unless/until you become a LILO/GRUB expert, you
> > risk being unable to boot anything.
> >
> > I use PM, which owns the MBR, and install the LILO/GRUB boot block in
> > the target partitions. Rather foolproof.
> >
> > Ultimately, what you want is something like: P1=3DFAT32, P2=3DNTFS, P3=
=3DEXT,
> > P4=3DUNUSED, L5=3DSWAP, L6=3DLinux
> >
> > You can use one of the following methods:
> >
> > [1] Install Windoze however it likes, perhaps even eating the whole
> > disk. Install PM and use it to shrink and move it, creating space for
> > the P1 and P3 partitions. Actually, P1 and P2 will be reversed and out
> > of sequence if you do it this way, but that's OK. Now create the FAT32
> > partition, either via Windoze itself or PM. Format and load Boot Magic.
> >
> > IMPORTANT: Make sure that you edit the "visible partitions" and check
> > that the FAT32 partition is available to Windoze, or you can't boot!
> >
> > Now load Linux into the rest of the disk. You will have to go back into
> > Windows and make an entry in Boot Magic for Windows too.
> >
> > [2] Use Linux to partition the disks the way you like, but don't load
> > Linux just yet. Make the P2=3DNTFS partition active. Hopefully, Windoze
> > will choose to load itself there. If you do this, you will be able to
> > collapse a few of the steps listed above, and your partitions will be in
> > order, and you will avoid the shrink/move step.
> >
> > [3] A third way to do it is to use a small "rescue linux" partition to
> > boot and/or fix any problems you might have. The layout is thus:
> >
> > P1=3DLinux, P2=3DFAT32, P3=3DNTFS, P4=3DEXT, L5=3DSWAP, L6=3DL7=3DL8=3D=
L9=3DLINUX.
> >
> > You can load and play with many linux systems this way.
> >
> > The steps here are: partition via Linux, load Windoze into P3, load
> > Rescue Linux into P1, make P1 active, add a Windoze entry to the rescue
> > LILO/GRUB. Now install your other Linuxi, writing the "boot sector" into
> > their own partition, and make an entry in the Rescue Linux LILO/GRUB.
> >
> > HAVE FUN!
> >
> > JIM
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I'm realtively new to linux. I've been to some of your meetings and =

> I'd
> > > like to thank Dave Cafaro as well for his time and help.
> > >
> > > I have a question about dual booting. I dont really understand =

> FAT/NTFS
> > > systems other than the basics. However, I installed RH9 on a 333MHZ
> > > machine with 256 MEG RAM. I set it to FAT32 because I was going to
> > > reinstall W98. Well, I'm taking a Win 2003 Server class and I tried to
> > > install that on a partition on the same machine. It went fine =

> obviously
> > > until I went to install Active Directory. You need NTFS. I was =

> wondering
> > > if you can set a machine from FAT32 to NTFS or is this only done when
> > > formatted. I have not installed any files on the system other than the
> > > two operating systems. I plan to reformat and install both again this
> > > weekend unless someone has some acvice or suggestions.
> > >
> > >
> > > Russ Main
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Lug mailing list
> > > Lug at calug.com
> > > http://calug.com/mailman/listinfo/lug
> > >
> >
> =

> Sincerely,
> =

> Russ Main
> =

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