XP & Linux 1

[ScreamerChaotix]

Looking for advice more than help really...currently I have a 1.1ghz machine with WinXP Pro installed. I'd like to install the Mandrake 9.0 I currently have onto this faster machine...but concerns about sound configuration and (I admit) games I want to play are preventing me from doing a complete install. From past experience I found installing XP and Linux on the same HD to be a tad difficult (when asked "What's the best way to remove NTFS", the proper answer should be "Fire works best&quot. Can anyone give any advice about how to go about getting these two operating systems on the same HD? From what I understand, you should wipe the drive clean and install Linux first...is this the best way to go? Most tutorials online seem to forget the drive in XP that stores those recovery files, how can I prevent that from being wiped out? If anybody can either point me to a comprehensive tutorial or just give me some pointers I'd appreciate it.

 

[smah]

XP needs to be on there first. I assume that your ntfs partion fills the entire physical drive? You can put XP and Linux on the same physical drive, but they must be in different partitions. Make sure that you defrag your xp installation first, then back it up. I can't remember for sure, but I don't think that linux will be able to resize your ntfs partition. If not, you will need a third party partitioning program to resize the ntfs partition, so that there is room for linux.

Once you have space for linux, boot the computer with the install cd (make sure your cdrom is the first boot device) then run through the install program. Be careful when partitioning the linux install, so that you don't mess up your xp partition. At the end of the install, you will have the option to dual boot.

 

[RiezalR]

Well, as said by smah, do a partition on your HDD. I don't think that would cause any problems booting both OS, unless XP has taken up all the space on your HDD. To make, resize and alter partitions, i suggest you go with Partition Magic. This software makes it easier if you are unfamilliar with partitioning.

I think within XP there is an option to save your current files and settings. If you have enough HDD space, and want to be on the safe side, backup the XP using this settings. Later you can just reinstall that setting. It's like making an image of the current OS settings. Hope that helps.

 

[ScreamerChaotix]

Thanks for the advice. I managed to resize the xp partition with partition magic, and then just created the linux native and swap with the partition utility that came with mandrake. Everything went smoothly. My mistake last time was in using the mandrake utility to resize the ntfs partition, a big no no.