How to dual-boot Fedora 18 and Windows 8 on 1 HDD, with GRUB in a PBR

By Nothing Here
in HOW TO & FAQ Guides

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

Nothing Here

Posted
Posted

Despite the shortcomings of the new Anaconda, the Fedora systems installer, it is still kinda easy to set up a dual-boot system between Fedora 18 and any other operating system. Note that ?kinda easy? does not necessarily means that it is straight-forward, because it is not.

You just have to know how to go about it, that is, workaround the drawbacks of the new Anaconda.

In this article, a step-by-step guide on how to dual-boot Windows 8 and Fedora 18 on a single hard disk drive (HDD) is presented. A drawbacks of the new Anaconda is this: It gives you no choice on where GRUB 2, Fedora?s boot loader, is installed, and will install GRUB 2 in the Master Boot Record (MBR), overwriting Windows 8?s boot files.

But by the time you are done with this tutorial, GRUB 2 will be in the Partition Boot Record (PBR) of the boot partition of the Fedora installation, and Windows 8?s boot program will be restored to the boot manager, making it the primary boot manager, so that every time the computer is rebooted, you will see this screen, or a bland, black one. (Keep in mind that installing GRUB 2 in a PBR is not officially sanctioned, but installing it anywhere else creates a lot more headache.)

FedoraDualWindows23-600x450.png

Note that all the screen shots used in this tutorial were taken from a test installation in a virtual environment. But be rest assured that I tried it first on real hardware and it worked. Using a virtual environment just makes it easier to grab screen shots. Note also that the test installation on real hardware was not on UEFI hardware, but on legacy BIOS, and on a 200 GB HDD.

Also, the Windows 8 installation was a fresh installation of a 32-bit version of Windows 8 Pro, not an OEM installation. So, there are only two Windows 8 partitions involved, which are the default that the Windows 8 installer creates. The effect of this is that I am left with two primary partitions to use for installing Fedora 18, aka Spherical Cow. And finally, I let Anaconda create its partitions automatically. If you want to create partitions manually and are new to the Linux way of addressing partitions, you might want to read guide to disks and disks partitions in Linux before proceeding.

Ok, enough introduction. Let?s get started. I am going to assume that you have an existing installation of Windows 8, so I?ll not cover its installation here. Therefore, I?ll start at Anaconda?s installation hub. If you have not done so already, grab an installation image of Fedora 18 from here. I used a KDE Spin image for this tutorial, but use whatever you prefer. They all employ the same installer.

1. Anaconda?s Hub: The first step of the new Anaconda is the language and keyboard selection step. This is its second step, also known as the Hub. (The new Anaconda follows a hub-and-spoke model.) If you are using a Live CD installation image, this is exactly what you?ll see. The same step from a DVD image is slightly different. Regardless of which image you are using, you are going to select the same module on the hub. And that module is Installation Destination. Select it and click Continue.

FedoraDualWindows-600x450.png

Continue

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • Ford execs say they made a mistake when they replaced human engineers with AI

      By David Uzondu · Posted

      Ford execs say they made a mistake when they replaced human engineers with AI by David Uzondu Ford recently announced that over the last three years, it's had to rehire about 350 "gray beard" engineers to mentor younger staff and reprogram diagnostic systems and AI tools that were failing to meet up to quality expectations. The company's VP of vehicle hardware engineering, Charles **** said that leaders overlooked the deep experience of veterans who survived many product cycles. **** admitted that simply replacing them with AI was a huge mistake, and that while AI is "a fantastic tool," it remains "only as good as the information you use to train it." The rehired engineers now run mandatory meetings to troubleshoot vehicles and reprogram automated engineering software and AI tools to prevent glitches before production. These technical specialists hunt for failure points before parts ever reach the plant floor, helping prevent the massive recalls and defects that previously cost the company billions as it aims to cut one billion dollars in expenses this year. In last year's JD Power Quality Survey, an annual study that measures the quality of a car during the first three months of ownership, Ford finished 10th among mainstream brands and scored below the industry average. But this year, JD Power ranked the automaker as the top mainstream brand, placing it above the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ford attributed this massive improvement directly to the expertise of these returned engineers. Ford's realization that AI cannot magically design and test quality vehicles without senior human oversight is just the tip of the iceberg. When Careerminds looked at companies that conducted AI-driven layoffs, researchers found out that 35.6% of those companies had to rehire more than half of the employees they previously fired. Another 32.7% had to rehire between 25% and 50% of them. In 2024, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, proudly announced that its new chatbot was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service agents. As a result, the fintech company froze hiring and cut hundreds of positions. But by mid 2025, and into 2026, Klarna was scrambling to recruit human agents again because customer satisfaction had plummeted. It turns out, while AI is very good at answering basic questions like how to check an account balance, when faced with complex customer issues that require nuance, the thing usually resorts to the unhelpful, robotic corporate jargon we all know and love.
    • Microsoft updates Visual Studio Code with chat cost tracking and multi-agent chats

      By The Werewolf · Posted

      Free AI in IDEs is shifting to paid models Or you know, you could just learn to actually design and code apps, use frameworks to handle the repetitive parts and not use AI at all - and voila... free for life!
    • EU says AWS and Microsoft Azure should be treated as DMA gatekeepers

      By +Sledge · Posted

      In a sane world US antitrust laws wouldn't even allow these companies to be in the position to be subjected to EU directives. As you say, better than oligarch nothing.
    • Apple reportedly has a second-generation iPhone Fold planned for 2027

      By The Werewolf · Posted

      Apple reportedly has a second-generation iPhone Fold planned for 2027 Good grief, Apple hasn't even released a first folding phone and the Apple faithful is already obsessing over the sequel? Seriously people, go out and touch grass... because this level of obsession is borderline stalkery/neurotic.
    • Microsoft Authenticator - Constant Login Approval Requests

      By jbarcus81 · Posted

      I checked on the IPs associated with every login and they're all mine... And whenever I get a new prompt, there is no activity to show for it. 

  • Recent Achievements

    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
    • Apprentice
      daryld went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Contributor
      Carltonbar went up a rank
      Contributor

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      405
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      169
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      129
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!