Going to try my first dual boot

[M1CH431]

Well I'm going to try my first dual boot in the next few days and I'm going to post my plan and see if anyone can find any flaws in it so I don't end up messing up my hard drive.
So heres my plan:

1. Back up all data
2. Use partition Magic and make a partition for linux, also as a side question I was reading up about some requirements and I read it doesn't like NTFS, but my hard drive is formatted as Fat 32 anyways but I also read up about a linux swap partition or something like that so will I need to make another seperate partition?
3. Enjoy?

Info on my dual boot:
I plan on dual booting Windows Xp Pro SP2 with Ubuntu linux at the beginning, and eventually trying other distributions.
Info on the computer:
Pentium Three Processor 730mhz, 512mb ram, and a 40gig hard drive, which I'll probably make the linux partition about 10gigs?

So any advice or concerns about my plan would be greatly appreciated and also if any has done this I'd love to hear their success story , and just for kicks I'll add the links where I read most of this information.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

[Rob Pomeroy]

FYI: Most modern Linux distros can now read NTFS.  Many can also write to NTFS.

[banjo67xxx]

Hi Mich,

10GB will be enough to install the full linux distro with a little bit left over, but as you've only got 512MB RAM you'll probably need to configure some swap too. I'd go for atleast another GB for swap, 2GB would be better.

Don't bother formatting the extra partitions as NTFS or VFAT, as linux will need to reformat them as Reiserfs and Swap anyway.

What Rob means, is that when running linux you'll be able to access your Windows NTFS partition. It will probably appear as a directory/folder called /windows/C instead of C:\ (Windows doesn't understand reiserfs or swap so you won't see a D: or E:)

As for booting, linux will replace your hard disk's MBR (Master Boot Record) with either LILO or GRUB, and this very small program will prompt you to boot either Linux or Windows.

[banjo67xxx]

Doh!
That should read E: followed by close bracket, instead of a smiley

[Rob Pomeroy]

Like this:  E:)

Cunning trick...

[M1CH431]

Well My computer is now Dual Booting Windows XP professional and Ubuntu 6.10. Yay for me. Also, I'd like to thank everyone for there help and input.

[tedder]

G'day    I am also going to try ths dual boot system, have I got to use partition magic or is there an alternative

[Rob Pomeroy]

Have a look for GPartEd in the software FAQ.

[banjo67xxx]

G'day    I am also going to try ths dual boot system, have I got to use partition magic or is there an alternative

That depends on how your disk is partitioned right now, and if you want to keep any data on your Windows partition.

Not absolutely sure how to check for free disk space in "My Computer" on WinXP, but if you boot the linux install CD and take a look at your disk partitioning, you'll be able to see what's free before you do anything.

If you already have free space to create another partition, or you are happy to re-install Windows on a re-formatted disk (lossing any data you have) then you don't need to bother with Partition Magic or anything similar.

However, if your windows partition occupies the whole disk, and you want to keep your data, then you will need to use something like Partition Magic to shrink your windows partition.

[tedder]

Thank you for that advice,could I install on and run linux from an external hard drive
,and when booting could I select which os to use. Thanks Terry

[banjo67xxx]

Thank you for that advice,could I install on and run linux from an external hard drive
,and when booting could I select which os to use. Thanks Terry

Yes, that'll work a treat, and no mucking about with Partition Magic.

I don't think it gets much easy than that

[tedder]

Thanks for that.the only thing to do now is to download ubuntu. Where is the best place to get it and is it  new user friendly(I refrained from idiot friendly).I have also read on this forum that some have had touble with wireless networks.I run a D linkg604t, would this be a problem? Thanks  Terry

[phoenix910]

You can get the latest Linux from http://www.ubuntu.com  (i think it's .com, otherwise it's .org).
It is relatively user-friendly. Wireless can be a problem, however if you dual-boot with XP, you can just use XP for internet.

[M1CH431]

Personally I haven't had a problem with Linux and wireless yet.

[phoenix910]

Lol, yeah, just like most don't have trouble with the wired broadband, yet for some reason no one can seem to fix mine on linux, but it works fine on windows.