[How-To] How to install Windows after you have installed Linux

[EvilDMT]

Remember to get the following program before doing any of these steps: Super Grub

Installing Windows

1. Make sure you've backed up all your data, as I can't guarantee this to work.

2. Install Ubuntu first just to cause trouble .

3. Make sure you have a blank NTFS (or fat32*) partition on your harddrive.

4. Optional: Use the super grub disc or free dos fdisk (couldn't find page) to hide your ubuntu partition. Follow D in the next set of directions

5. Insert your Windows XP install/recovery disk into your computer, boot into it, and wait for it to load it's drivers and everything.

6. A menu will come up with three options. Press enter to choose the "set-up Windows now" option, and agree to the license.

7. An overview of your harddrive will show up, displaying all your partitions (windows will show non FAT or NTFS partition types as "unknown"). Choose the NTFS or FAT partition that you want to install Windows on, and tell the installer to leave the filesystem intact.

8. Let the installer scan the disks, copy files, and reboot. Leave the CD in the disk drive, but don't boot into it again.

9. A graphical installer will come up to finish the installation process, occasionally asking you to give some information for the install. Once it's finished installing the files in this step, it will automatically reboot.

10. When it boots back up, it will ask you to set-up users and some other things (like register Windows ). Once finished, it will log you into XP, and you can now use it.

11. You can now remove your XP install disk. Reboot your computer to make sure it installed correctly. (You may want to wait before updating windows, and installing your programs)

You now have windows installed, and can proceed to the next set of directions.

*You can use a fat32 partition to install windows on, which will enable you to read/write to it in Ubuntu out-of-the-box, but fat32 is not a journalled filesystem, meaning that if your computer is shutoff during a storm or something, and it happens to be writing some data to the disc when this happens, the whole partition gets messed up, and you lose all your data.

Getting Grub to work again

I'll give you instructions on how to use the super grub disk to re-enable grub again, but I will also post the links here that everyone posted on this thread (thanks guys!)

1. Using the super grub disc (further down the page, it will give you the same directions)

1. Insert the super grub disk into your computer, and boot into it.

2. Choose your language

3. Choose GNU/Linux

4. Choose fix boot of GNU/Linux (notice how it says "Has windows overwritten your MBR?")

5. Select the partition you have linux on. If SGD was successful, it will tell you that it succeeded

6. Reboot, and remove the SGD disk.

Grub is back! Yay!

2. Restore GRUB (if your MBR is messed up) (link posted by kinson) this is a rather old how to, so the first post used the old text installer that was in Hoary. However, you can still do it using the Alternate Install CD. This is probably the easiest way to install grub if you have an Alternate Install CD lying around. You can also follow the directions on another post on that thread with the Live/install CD.

3. How to restore Grub from a live Ubuntu cd Requires using a terminal, but has easy to follow step-by-step instructions.

4. Hiding your Ubuntu partition, and updating grub

1. Unhide your Ubuntu partion using the super grub disc

2. Setup grub within ubuntu (live CD or direct Boot)

None of these worked!

In the unlikely event that none of these how-tos worked, and you still can't boot ubuntu, then you might want to try using the super grub disc to boot Ubuntu directly.

1. Boot your computer off the super grub disc.

2. Choose your language

3. Choose GNU/Linux

4. Choose Boot GNU/Linux Directly

From here, you can retrieve your data, do any important work, or try to fix grub from Ubuntu.

Well, there it is. I hope someone finds this useful.

[PENGUINwithM4A1]

heres another way of doing it, do the usual install of windows but boot back into your ubuntu (or what ever install media you have).

my root is sda5 on the disk sda, use your own dev names

If your live cd doesnt mount your disks then mount them like this

Mount your root in /mnt with

mount /dev/sda5 /mnt

Then mount the rest of the system

mount -t proc proc /mnt/proc

mount -t sysfs sys /mnt/sys

mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev

now chroot into your install

chroot /mnt /bin/bash

now install grub with

(not NOT sda5)

grub-install /dev/sda

check /boot/grub/menu.lst for errors and add your xp partition to the boot process

now unmount everything

cd /

umount -a

exit

cd/

umount -a

reboot

should be done!

[DnHaren]

It is great help, very useful, I like this, Thanks.