windows xp linux dual boot?

By TechN9ne
in Linux

 Share

Recommended Posts

Apprentice

TechN9ne

Posted
  • Author
Posted

awesome, thanks for the welcome to the forum and the quick replies guys. i had done some dual booting with two windows os's before, glad to see that there isn't anything special one must do to set up linux as well.

csabo2 - as far as techn9ne goes i actually don't listen to rap, i picked up the guitar one day and started listening to rock, but i do like the name :)

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
ive got windows xp home edition installed onto my computer this now can i partion my hard disk without removing all the things on it?

also what if i just installed linux what wud happen would xp get deleted and the whole drive wiped?

585237382[/snapback]

If you want to keep your Windows install operational, and want to add Linux as a boot option, you will need to have disk room available (unpartitioned, not just empty space on C: or D: or whatever).

Two ways to do this: Shrink your existing partition with a tool like Partition Magic ($), or add in an extra hard drive to use for Linux.

There is a free tool, ntfsresize (part of qtparted on a Knoppix CD), that can shrink your NTFS partition. However, no tool (including PM, above) is 100% foolproof. Have a backup of your data, just in case!

But you really only have two choices.

EDIT: Ok, a third choice, too. If you have your drive already partitioned into separate drives, and use one of them for stuff like MP3s that you can move off of there and make it totally empty, you can remove that partition and use the space. But this really IS the last option. ;)

Neowinian

rega451

Posted
Posted (edited)
ive got windows xp home edition installed onto my computer this now

can i partion my hard disk without removing all the things on it?

also what if i just installed linux what wud happen would xp get deleted and the whole drive wiped?

585237382[/snapback]

You can ADD a Linux partition provided you have enough disk space. You will need to use a reliable partition managing program, and since you already have WinXP on your system I would suggest using one that is WinXP based. I use 7Tools Partition Manager. It can be downloaded from the internet and costs about US $30.00. You can get a free download but it won't actually repartition your drive, you have to pay for that. The free download may be a good idea just to get the feel of how it works. Most partition manager programs provide a 'dry run' option that will allow you to see what will happen without actually performing the task. There are several good partioning programs available, I just happen to like the way this one works. Anyway, the very first thing you need to do is remove any WinXP programs and/or files you really don't need or want. Then install your partitioning software but don't run it just yet. The next step is to turn off any background programs like spyware checkers, anti-virus software and the like. Now you MUST deactivate your Windows swapfile space since this, and many of the 'checker' programs use the last part of your active partition to store information and you might overwrite them when you repartition and this is NOT good! Next, do a complete disk clean, then a defrag. After that, if you have anything you want to save you really should back-up those files on CD's or floppies or something just in case. Now check your free drive space on your main drive. If you have enough unused space you can go ahead and repartition. This is where you really need to be careful! If you have enough free space left you should probably allocate as much space as you can to your new partition you will create. I know you can install Linux in less space than 1 or 2GB, but you will need to have the 'overhead' for new Linux programs you may want to install later. You may also want to set up a 'swap' partition if you don't have a lot of RAM. You may want to use between 128MB and 256MB for this, but it's up to you. Along with this, make sure you have left enough disk space available to add new programs to your XP partition, if you REALLY want to ;) . Now comes the fun part! I can't tell you exactly how to run your partitioning program since that will depend on which program you decide to use. If your partiton manager program lets you format your new partition, I can suggest you partition using the Linux standard 'ext2' file system to be on the safe side. There are other options and you will most likely have a chance to choose one of them when you do your actual Linux install. Make SURE you follow the directions for your partitioning program EXACTLY and do not try to outguess the installation screens. If you aren't sure of what you are reading STOP and don't go on until you feel comfortable that you know exactly what will happen next. When you have your new partition ready, you can go ahead and install your chosen Linux distro. Again, you will need to be careful when you install Linux because it will want to reformat your partition. Just make sure you reformat your Linux partition and not your WinXP NTFS (or FAT32) partition. HAVE FUN! :D

Edited by rega451
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 - All Versions: Free, Lite & Portable

      By Copernic · Posted

      DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 - All Versions: Free, Lite & Portable by Razvan Serea DiskGenius is a full-featured partition manager, which is designed to optimize disk usage for Windows users. It will efficiently help you recover lost data, resize/split partition, backup files, edit hex data, check bad sectors, manage virtual disks, erase data, etc.. Create a system image backup for current Windows with simple clicks to keep the operating system under protection. DiskGenius key features: Partition Management - It can create format, resize, extend, backup, split, hide and clone partition, both MBR and GPT are supported. Disk and partition conversion - Convert dynamic disk to basic, convert virtual disk format and convert MBR to GPT, convert primary partition to logical. File recovery - It can recover files deleted or emptied form recycle bin, recover files from damaged partition or disk and recover files by file type and supports file preview and file filter. Partition recovery - It is the best partition recovery program in that it can recover files from damaged, corrupted and RAW partitions, search for lost partition and recover files from it, besides, it can fix partition table. RAID recovery - It can reconstruct Virtual RAID and recover files from it, and all RAID types are supported. Sector Editor - A Hex editor is embedded to help users edit raw hex data and recover data manually. Backup and Restore - It can backup and restore partition including system partition, hard disk and partition table. Bad Tracks - It can check and repair bad sectors for all storage devices; check hard disk S.M.A.R.T. information. Delete files permanently - It can delete files permanently so that they can't be recovered by any data recovery software. Virtual Disk - It supports virtual disks, including VMware, Virtual PC and Virtual Box. Create WinPE bootable disk and you can manage disk partition when system crashes or there is no operating system on your computer. Support FAT12/FAT16/FAt32/exFAT/NTFS/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system format. DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 changelog: Add the "Disk Speed Test" feature. Add the "Windows Boot Repair and Conversion" feature. Add the BMB21-2019 erase standard to the "Erase Sectors" feature. Add support for restoring an individual partition from a PMFX disk image file. Enhanced The "Verify Or Repair Bad Sectors/Blocks" feature displays disk read speed in the detection window during scanning. The "Quick Partition" dialog box allows users to quickly select the number of partitions by pressing the numeric keys 1, 2, 7, 8, or 9. The "Set Volume Name" dialog box supports selecting preset volume labels provided by the software. The "Copy Sectors" feature supports resuming copy tasks after modifying the number of skipped bad sectors. Add the "TRIM Optimization" option to the format dialog box. The "Clone Partition" and "Clone Disk" features perform TRIM optimization on target partitions or disks before cloning. Add support for Not Equal To search conditions (prefixed with "!") when searching hexadecimal data in the sector editor. Optimize the display of capacity values in the program interface to show two decimal places. Add a minimize button to dialogs that may require long processing time. Enhance support for the ReFS file system. Enhance support for newer HIF and MP4 formats when recovering files by type. Enhance support for the EXT4 file system. Enhance compatibility of the "File Recovery" feature with special data structures. Fixed Fixed the issue that the selected file system type automatically reverted to NTFS after changing it to exFAT or EXT4 in the "Quick Partition" dialog box. Fixed inaccurate Unicode string search results in the "Sector Editor" feature. Fixed the issue that exceptions might occur when adding multiple disks in the "Erase Sectors" feature. Fixed the issue that insufficient target disk space was incorrectly reported in some cases when cloning, backing up, or restoring disks. Fixed the issue that folder modification timestamps were not preserved when copying files from ReFS partitions. Fixed the issue that Excel-format reports generated by features such as file copying or bad sector checking could not be opened when the report contained more than one million rows. Fixed the issue that folders were not displayed in the exclude-folder dialog box when backing up partitions to image files. Fixed the issue that the "Erase Sectors" feature could not be executed in some cases. Download: DiskGenius 6.2.0.1829 | 63.9 MB (Freeware, paid upgrade available) Download: DiskGenius Portable 64-bit | 40.0 MB Download: DiskGenius Portable 32-bit | 36.0 MB Download: DiskGenius Lite 64-bit | 13.4 MB Download: DiskGenius Lite 32-bit | 11.6 MB View: DiskGenius Home Page | DiskGenius Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • EA Sports UFC 6 review: Brutal, satisfying, and surprisingly accessible to newcomers

      By Steven P. · Posted

      Really? Use a better search engine https://www.google.com/search?...ourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By Steven P. · Posted

    • EA Sports UFC 6 review: Brutal, satisfying, and surprisingly accessible to newcomers

      By ryansurfer98 · Posted

      Seems like Neowin has transitioned into being simps for the white house. I can't find a review for the last UFC games that came out.
    • Politically funny images of the World

      By PsYcHoKiLLa · Posted

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      agatameier earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      ssd21345 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Contributor
      MarkHughes4096 went up a rank
      Contributor
    • Dedicated
      jordanspringer earned a badge
      Dedicated

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      513
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      182
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      140
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      94
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      75
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!