News Group Posts

dual boot linux windows

From: Joshua Stone <jstone@chartermi.net>
Subject: Re: (Newbie install question) AAAARRRRGH!?!?!? Help!!
Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2001 16:27:59 -0500
References: <a0ipds$l6p$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>
<3C2CEE18.90403@aplawrence.com> 

Tony Lawrence wrote:

> Harry Hewat wrote:
> 
> Probably is NOT going to work- that CD will wipe out your hard drive.
> 
> The way to handle that sort of thing is to let it install, then use fips
> (it's on the cd, and it's a Dos program) to shrink the Windows down..
> THEN you can install Linux on the newly freed space.
> 
> I have an old article about that at /Linux/linrh60.html
> -that was RH 6, but the basic concepts are still the same).
> 

It depends on the CD.  If it's a "system recovery" CD, then it might be 
correct that the CD will try to hose the whole drive.  However, if it's a 
distribution "Windows ME" CD, you might still have a shot.

However, Windows is very particular, and it needs to have a primary 
partition to install on, and if I understand the previous post, it sounds 
like the Windows partition you left is way the heck up in the extended 
partition.

Run "fdisk /dev/hda" and from the main menu type "p" and press enter.  If 
the partition number for the windows partition you left available is not 
less than 5, then it's an extended partition, and Windows won't want to 
install on it...

If you DO try to install WinME on it after Linux, ME will kill the boot 
sector, so you will have to keep a boot floppy that will let you get back 
into Linux later so that you can reinstall Lilo (or Grub, or whatever) 
later...


                                -Josh O-
 

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