Dual Boot with Windows XP Pro and Linux 1

[sfendi]

I'm seeking for some advice on how to properly install both Windows XP with RedHat 9.
I previously installed Windows XP on my computer with a few programs and Windows is already activated. My 80GB Hard drive is NTFS formatted and only 1 partition is present. I don't have tools to repartition on the fly. So, I'm willing to restart from the beginning and reinstall my programs.
My question is: "What's the best way to proceed?"
Reformat the hard disk? If so, how do I proceed? Will reinstalling Windows let me repartition and reformat the disk? If I have to reformat it myself, how can I do it? I will need to allocate 15GB to Linux and 65GB to Windows. How do I have a start menu to choose booting from either OS? I heard about a utility called GRUB. Is it the good way to go? What do I need beyond the Windows XP CD and the 3 Linux CDs? Could anyone please suggest how I can do that? Any special consideration before engaging into it?
You understand, This is my first time...
Very appreciated.
Thanks, Fen

 

[JeffPr]

That question has been asked a lot lately, just for future reference if you do a search for dual boot or something under search posts by keyword, you will find a gold mine of information. Anyways, look at my post in this thread and it should tell you everything you need to know, from editing grub.conf in red hat and everything in between.

thread779-758383

You can also check out this website, I found it quite useful and it explains everything in detail and even has some cool pictures.

http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux/grub-w2k-HOWTO.html

regards

Do you think your friend could feed my cat? Heisenberg wasn't sure. ~ Erwin Schrodinger talking of his revolutionary paradox

 

[sfendi]

Questions about dual boot have been asked several times. For a beginner like myself, it's sometimes confusing to consider the best way to proceed from the different answers. So, in my situation, is reformatting the disk the easiest way to go? And should I do it myself? I don't know if Windows will do it again once reinstalling. Please share your experience with the novice.
Thank you.

 

[JeffPr]

I didn't mean anything bad by my comment so I hope you didn't interpret it that way. Depending on which way you want to go, you can leave windows XP alone and just put in the Red hat linux CD and use the formatting tools on Red hats CD called disk druid. You will need 3 partitions for your Red hat linux, one for swap (this is like virtual memory for linux), you will need one partition called /boot and another called / (which is your home directory). Its a pretty good tool, I've used it lots of times and you can either use it manually or it will automatically partition your hard drive for you.

Anyways, I guess I didn't really give you much advice there. This is one of many ways to proceed, someone else may have better advice.

1. Download this freeware utility that runs on windows XP and allows you to manipulate hard drives, it does the same thing as partition magic except its free. Please note that its not the prettiest of interfaces, but it gets the job done. Note you will have to do something like this because disk druid cannot shink existing partition like your one big NTFS partition.

http://www.ranish.com/part/

2. Use this tool which will allow you to manipulate your hard disk. Make the windows partition 65 Gb and leave the 15 Gb as unallocated space. I would allocate the 15 Gb for linux at the BEGINNING of your hard drive for this simple reason:

The location of the /boot partition on the hard drive is critical so that you don't get screwed by the infamous BIOS 1024 cylinder limit. The BIOS of older systems can't access data beyond cylinder 1024, which is ~8.5 GB. A simple way to avoid the BIOS 1024 limit is to create /boot within the first 1024 cylinders (~8.5 GB) of the hard drive. If you have multiple hard drives (disks), /boot must be on the same hard drive (probably the first hard drive) that has the Windows boot loader (NTLDR) on the MBR.

3. After you have your hard drive all nice you just put in the Red Hat CD and follow the instructions on there. You can use disk druid to automatically partition the allocated space so you don't have to do anything, it will create the swap, /boot, and / in the best place for you.

4. After you install red hat it should be the partition to boot up (because its at the first of your hard drive and presumably the active one), a screen will come up and ask you which OS you want to load, Red Hat 9 or something called DOS, which is actually your windows XP partition that Red Hat has detected. You won't be able to choose DOS and have windows XP to boot up because you have to make the changes at this website:

http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux/grub-w2k-HOWTO.html

5. Everything should be good after that, another option that might be easier is to use the boot loader that comes with the ranish software, unfortunately I haven't had any experience using a bootloader because I have my computer set up differnetly.

I realize some of this might be confusing but honestly the best way to learn is to experiment, good luck.

regards


Do you think your friend could feed my cat? Heisenberg wasn't sure. ~ Erwin Schrodinger talking of his revolutionary paradox

 

[sfendi]

Thank You,
That is clear and good advice! I will try it later.
Fen