WinXP on C: - Linux on D:


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ehm... why not use Linux boot manager? I had installed WinXP Pro on the primary drive, and then installed Mandrake on the secondary HDD... but LILO took care of everything... I don't know if boot.ini can be used to boot from a Linux partition, never tried it :/

/Raptor

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first you don't need to have partition d. you need the blank space. when you install mandrake the setup should allow you to do it very easy. make sure you read up on it before you install. Mandrake was my first distro, and it is very easy to install. don't worry about deleting the d on your own. mandrake install comes with a partition manager that should get everything to work if you follow the directions. what will happen is that when you boot you will get a menu and you can choose between mandrake or windows. :)

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I just planing to install Mandrake, but at partition D, at C I have got xp already

and btw: stop calling the partitions "C" and "D"... these are just letters Windows assigns to logical drives... In linux world, you won't see "C" or "D"...

/Raptor

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Go ahead and install Linux into your second partition. When asked, tell it to installl GRUB or LILO into the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your drive.

If you want to remove Linux and re-use that partition for Windows in the future it is easy. You have Windows change the MBR back to the old way (either "fdisk /mbr" or "fixmbr"), and reformat your Linux partition to FAT or NTFS.

We can help with any of that when the time comes.

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when I fixmbr'd my mbr I messed it up. I probably could have fixed it eventually, but instead I decided to reinstall xp on a smaller partition.

Hmmm.. fixmbr is Window's own writing the MBR the way that Windows should want it.

Sounds like it isn't always reliable.

Anyhow.. Once you have Linux installed, you can get a VERY GOOD detailed summary of your partition setup by executing "fdisk -l" with root permissions. Exact block start and end points are listed. Could be useful to rebuild your partition table up. Not sure how to point the MBR to the Windows stuff, though.

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