[linux-help] Re: dual booting Windows/Linux

[rohrer aaron l <alrohrer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey everyone,
        Dual-booting was a topic recently, so let me share what I learned
when I tried this recently.
        I built a computer and put Linux Mandrake 7.1 (only) on the entire
15GB drive.  I planned to add Windows 98 later when I got some more money
(I know, why bother, but my wife is a first-person shooter addict, and I
wanted to play Vampire: The Masquerade-Redemption). Anyway, I only had a
few school-related files in Linux. So I just copied to a floppy and
attempted to install Windows. When it tried to format the drive--blue
screen of death. I rebooted and tried again. Windows told me it detected
OS/2 operating system (huh?), and would I like to kill it? It attempted to
format--blue screen of death. Reboot--blue screen of death before install
even got started.
        So, I used Linux's partitioning tool from Mandrake to create a
fat32 partition on the first 10 GB and Linux partition and swap partition
on the last 5 GB. I installed Linux without any problem. Windows install
went fine until scandisk reached the end of the fat 32 partition. It
attempted to mark ALL of the remaining sectors as bad. Whether this would
have hosed the Linux partition or not, I don't know, but it sounded
ominous, so I aborted. (Incidentally, the tech support people with
MacMillan, who packaged the retail distro of Mandrake that I purchased,
said this method would work if you wanted to install Linux first.)
        Finally I was successful by using the Linux partitioning tool to
make the entire drive a fat32 partition, then aborting the Linux install. 
Then I installed Windows. Then I used a Windows-based, non-destructive
partitioning tool called Partition Magic (part of the retail Mandrake
distribution) to shrink the Windows partition. Then I installed Linux,
with LILO rather than Grub.  Then I installed a Windows-based bootloader
called Boot Magic (also part of the Mandrake retail version from
MacMillan). You can set Windows or Linux as your default OS.
        This setup works like a charm, with not a single problem in the
first month of use. I'm not a file system or partition expert, so I may
have done something stupid or overlooked something simple, but these were
the hoops I had to jump through to get up and running in dual boot.
        So, from my experience, you should definitely:

        1. Back up ALL important data.
        2. Install Windows first. It not only wants to be on the first, or
primary, partition, it MUST be there.
        3. Don't count on Windows to be able to cope with any unexpected
or unusual situations.
        4. Use a non-destructive partitioning tool, if you've got one.
Mandrake's built-in tool is destructive, for example, and therefore not
suitable for resizing partitions with any information on them.
        5. Windows does destroy MBR, but it can be recreated by
reinstalling LILO from a root console. Also, to avoid problems down the
line, when you select your bootloader during a Linux install, you must
install the bootloader to the partition set to the root ("/") mount point.
        6. Read all the documentation you can get your hands on.

        Ironic, isn't it? The "hostile" Windows OS choked and gagged when
trying to get rid of Linux. But the "friendly" OS had no problem creating
and/or obliterating Windows partitions.
        Well, that's my story for your amusement and (hopefully) 
enlightenment. Again, I am certainly not an expert. I got this setup to
work after many hours of frustration. Other distros may behave
differently--I can't say because Mandrake is the only one I've used at
home. If I overlooked something simple that would have made the whole
ordeal less painful, I would take absolutely no offense if you pointed it
out to me. I am interested in learning as much as I can. 
        Peace.

-Aaron



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