Dual booting with xp and suse 9.3 4

[6465]

I'm thinking of partitioning my HD to install suse linux 9.3(don't ask why!).My first thought was to partition the disk with Partition Magic 8.Then I would let linux use its own boot manager instead of Boot Magic.From then on I should be able to dual boot to whichever os I please.Q:Is there a flaw in my line of thinking?Any suggestions are wellcome.

 

[Xaqte]

Take a look at:
faq619-3492

 

[6465]

Thanks for link to FAQ Xaqte but the trouble is that my disk is running windows xp and I couldn't possibly bother to format it;I only want to create a partition to install suse 9.3 and let the GRUB do the booting.

 

[Xaqte]

Ok if I understand you correctly, you have a partition used solely for windows & this partition consumes the entire hard drive. You want to free up some of this space to create a partition with the utility of choice and install Suse on it.

If this is correct, I highly recommend a full backup (a disk image would be even better) before continuing this task. Between using a utility to free space & an install of Suse, you are facing a significant risk here.

Now, to go onward and answer your actual question... after freeing up the space needed you should be able to do what you are asking. If you have any problems, you may want to think about posting it at: forum619

Let us know your results!

X

 

[flubbard]

You should be able to do this without too much trouble. Make sure that when you do install suse, that the grub.conf file allows for booting to the Windows partition as well. This is normally asked during setup.

One other thing that I would keep in mind, make a rescue disk for hte suse install. If you ever have a need to reinstall or repair the windows installation, one of the first things that it does is rewrites the mbr, making your linux partition inaccessable. You would still probably be able to reach is using something like boot magic, but it just adds a little bit of excitement to the project.

Not to get too much into why you are doing this, but...if you are just trying to play around with linux or suse a little, you might want to start with something like a knoppix live cd from

http://www.knoppix.com.

It will allow you to run everything from the cd without having to partition or put anything permanent on the drive.

Hope this helps.

-flub

 

[htmlman]

I would recommend you use one of the Linux booable cd's to see if the hardware you have on your computer is supported by the Linux distro you plan to install. You can get single bootable Linux distros that run from the CD drive. That way you will get the feel of how Linux works and you can see if your nic or modem is supported. Since some modems are what they call soft modems. Modems that use software to make the modem work with Windows.
One that I like is DSL Linux. Down load an ISO of it from Sourceforge or google to DSL Linux and download the ISO. Then with your cd burning software make a disk, boot from it and see how you like Linux.
When you install Linux to a second primary partition be careful because it can wipe your Windows load if you answer a question wrong.

 

[scriptnewbie]

I am not sure about Suse, but I use XP and Redhat on my system. What I did was installing XP first on my system and then just popped in the REdhat Cds. It will guide your thru the process, and partition the drive for u. It is bit tricky when it got to this partition part. read the instruction carefully and you should be fine. If you choose Grub loader, you can set (after installation) the boot default of the OS you want to start up by modifying the Grub.conf file. Hope this helps.

 

[6465]

Ok guys,I think I'll try Knoppix first since it's been sitting on my desk for quite a while.Thanks again!

 

[flubbard]

Let us know if you have any more questions. It's a good place to start.
- Flub

 

[jujet84]

check this out

http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_suse_9.3