Installing Red Hat Linux 7.3 for dual boot on an XP box

I'm running an XP box with two harddrives a C drive with 16 gigs and a D drive with 60 gigs. Both the of drives use the NTFS file system.

Both of the drives are used by xp only.

I have 7 gigs of free space left on the C drive. The C drive is my drive with the windows directory so I guess it is the primary drive, I want to install Linux on these 7 gigs and let Linux use these 7 gigs.

I know I have to make a partion out of those 7 gigs with Partion Magic. I have Partion Magic 8.0. Anyone know how to make a partion that linux can use out of those 7 gigs on my c drive?

Also, I want to use the grub loader cause I heard it was the easiest to use. Will I have any problems with grub? How do I use grub?

Is this all that I do:

1. make a partion out of those 7 gigs with partion magic
2. install redhat 7.3 and choose during the installation to install linux on that partion
3. Choose the grub loader
4. reboot, and I can pic if I wanna boot into windows or linux?

Is that it? Do I have to do anything else to make this work? No problems.

My other drive (d drive) will still be for xp only and the rest of the c drive will be for xp only?

Thanks

I dont know if this is any help!! But...

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...ight=Dual+Boot

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...ight=Dual+Boot

Thats just some help!! there are a lot more threads about this!!! And with "GOOGLE" i figured out how to DUAL BOOT



TASH :hearts:

I have searched...I'm just trying to sum up what i've gathered and get it confirmed before i try this...

what you said solid prez, will work im sure. unless you have that partition slaved... i would recommend using one harddrive for windows, and one for linux. just my opinion.

First of all....you need to create 2 partitions to run Linux... one with ext3 or ext2 file system (thats the best for Linux) and other that will be the swap partition...(my swap partition have 500M=256M of RAM*2)
This swap partition is the virtual memory of Linux.

Then when you start to install Linux it will ask you on what partition you want to install so dont worry...

after that it will ask what boot loader you will choose (grub or lilo)...

After installing Linux...every time you reboot your box will appear Grub loader for you choose what OS to boot..

"My other drive (d drive) will still be for xp only and the rest of the c drive will be for xp only?"

yes the drive D will still for xp but drive C (hda1) will be for Linux..

Great replies,

Er0k- How can I tell if my drives are slaves or or not?

neowarez- All of my c drive will be for linux? I wanted to install just just on those three partions I made from the 7 gigs.......Could this work?

The reason I want to do this is because I'm afraid my c drive is a slave for xp. The c drive holds all the windows files etc. If I could put all those files on the d drive and tell xp to look there when booting then I'd love to give the whole drive to linux (after formatting it). Is this possible?

"All of my c drive will be for linux?" --> No..you can take 6.5G of that drive for Linux (/) and the others 500M for swap.

So your hard drive will have 4 partitons:

One with NTFS for WIN XP
other with ext3 or ext2 for /
other for swap
and finally other with NTFS


Note that windows do not detect Linux partition but linux detect the others partitions if you want.

Also someone said I should install the grub bootloader on the first sector of the first partion instead of the mbr. Should I do this?

SolidPrez >> whenever your computer boots, your bios does a POST, A Power On Self Test, it shows you your harddrive status, your memory status etc, you can just check there. Plus you can choose to use LILO or GRUB. I use LILO, but whatever floats your boat.

Erok do you recommend installing the bootloader on the mbr? and also, what's the difference between lilo and grub?

Assalamuailakum,

Hello SolidPez. yes i recommend installing the bootloader on the mbr, thats better..and will be made easier for you.
well, no much difference between LILO and GRUB, its just that GRU is nicer and more friendly to use, for a Leaner..dont get me wrong, LILO is also friendly ,,,,but hey GRUB ):):
))::

during the redhat installation process there is a Partioning section. It asks if I want redhat to automatically partion my free space, use fdisk for partion, or use (something else which i don't remember but it wasn't the right option for me).

I have already created the partions (root partion and swap partions) for linux with Partion Magic. So how can I get by this screen if all of the options don't apply to me? Thanks

Also, should I make the linux partion ext2 or ext3?

Someone said I should only have two linux partions a root and swap, but somone else said I needed three, a boot partion (very small), root partion, and swap. Who is right?

Thanks again.

Solid,
one thing I don`t think anyone here has mentioned - make an xp recovery / boot diskette! ;) you also get the option to make a linux boot disk while you install - do this.
that way if any thing goes wrong :( with the MBR you can boot an repair it. also consider a home partition - not required but it`ll help keep your system neat and tidy.

When it comes to your boot loader, i kinda reccomend GRUB, (for me at least) its alot easier to work w/, n' Partition Magic isn't bad but FDISK is pretty much the closest thing out there to a standard from what I've seen, it'll probably be alot safer to use than Partition Magic even though I have a friend that has used Partition Magic and never had any problems. But, to each his own, I can only make reccomendations for u ;)

And...as far as I know you only need two partitions for linux man, just the swap and the root. Btw, it may be a good idea to make ur swap partition as large as how much RAM u have man. Just a thought ;)

Thanks for the replies alan and aut0.

Anyone else have any input on the situation posted in my previous post?

Well both are right..

With modern biosses you can have a bootable partition anywhere.. that didn't use to be like that..

in that time you realy needed a small boot partition (under the 1024 cylinder of the disk I believe) mounted as /boot for the bios to be able to find the parts of your kernel needed to boot linux..

Nowadays you can do with two (root (/) and swap) since the bios can find stuff anywhere on the disk..

but useing a sepperate /home (if you got a lot of users) or other partitions is recommended to easily manage diskspace.
especialy on a server with lots of users..

for normal home use on a hdd of more then 2 Gb that's not realy nessecary..

Quote:

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Originally posted here by SolidPez
during the redhat installation process there is a Partioning section. It asks if I want redhat to automatically partion my free space, use fdisk for partion, or use (something else which i don't remember but it wasn't the right option for me).

I have already created the partions (root partion and swap partions) for linux with Partion Magic. So how can I get by this screen if all of the options don't apply to me? Thanks

Also, should I make the linux partion ext2 or ext3?

Someone said I should only have two linux partions a root and swap, but somone else said I needed three, a boot partion (very small), root partion, and swap. Who is right?

Thanks again.

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partition with disk druid. itll give you that option. that way you can allocate your partitions how you please. yes install it on the mbr. (GRUB) id advise.

ext2 and ext3 isn't realy a question..
ext3 is a journal (layer) on ext2 and is totaly backwards compatible (you can mount an ext3 partition as ext2)
if your kernel supports ext3 you could turn your existing ext2 partition into ext3 wth a simple command

tune2fs -j /dev/hda1 (if the partition is hda1 that is)

you can also set howmany times you'd like to reboot befor your partitionis checked by useing the -c option (or type tune2fs --help for more info)

lilo (linux loader) and GRUB (Grand Unified Boot Loader) are essentially the same. GRUB was made to replace lilo, but many still prefer lilo.

For your first time doing linux, I would just stick to two partitions.

[list=1][*]swap (2 *'s the RAM size)[*]/ (root)[/list=1]

That is all you need to get linux running. Once you learn it furthur you can go back and change around its partitions. You'll prolly end up reinstalling anyways, cause usually newbies will end up trashing the file system. Heh... Don't worry, we all did that.


Thats about it really.. Oh and its called disk druid.. heh..

any more questions let us know.

Is it ok to delete the empty 'Recycler' files inside the new partions that partion magic creates after it makes a partion?

^^ Anyone with experience in Partion Magic? ^^

Take a look at my question before this...

I have to get into the BIOS settings to change the boot order on my system so that I can boot the redhat install disk. However, there is no "press F1 to enter bios settings" or "press del...."...etc....On startup it goes to a black screen with info on my devices, but there isn't anything telling me to press a button to enter bios setting, so I'm not sure how to enter my bios. This is a p4 sony viao if that helps.

any other way I change change the boot order so my cd-rom drive gets checked for bootable media before the harddrive is booted from?

Also, in partion magic I did not specify my linux partions to be ext 2, partion magic made them ntfs by default. Is this a problem? WIll linux recognize these partions as ext 2 and swap partion? Or will I have to somehow change the partions from ntsf to ext2 and swap? Thanks a lot.



On a side note: What is the shutdown and reboot commands in Linux? =P

I think you should try "F" button (try F1 to F12) to set your bios(when you turn on your laptop you will see that "F" in your screen..so better look carefully..what "F"(F12 or any F) in your laptop,some times that "F" sign flicked very fast(my one is very fast....so I have to get hurry to press my F12 button ..otherwise I just see black screen). My laptop have F12 to setup bios setting.

You might want to have a look at my tutorials on partitioning and Linux filesystems for the answers to some of your questions.

Like xmaddness said, swap and / is probably OK for your first install, but once you get to the point where you plan on doing some work with it I would partition it a little more sensibly.

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WIll linux recognize these partions as ext 2 and swap partion?

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No, you will need to format them during installation.

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What is the shutdown and reboot commands in Linux? =P

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Ummmmm.... shutdown and reboot. :D

Quote:

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No, you will need to format them during installation.

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Is this easy to do and straight forward?

My sony Vaio Laptop uses F2 to get to the Bios, also

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Is this easy to do and straight forward?

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Yes just make sure the partitions you format are the ones you want to use for linux (not the ones holding all your backed up data or XP, if you get confused by the names check the sizes )

If you are still worried about what you are doing
1. Back up all your data to CD
2. Bite the Bullet
3. Do it!

We have all messed up a Dual boot install before :eek: but its the preparation you make before hand that gets you out of the $h!t. :rolleyes:

Even if it all goes wrong you`ll learn something new ;)

Thanks your input, the bios issue has been resolved.

Was looking at Er0k's post on the first page and I'm wondering if I have to make these to new partions for linux's primary slaves. Would this faulter the installation process, is it ok if these are logical partions?

Whoops! better let this thread die before I get banned. I should have known better than to ask newbie questions in a NEWBIE forum. If anyone can answer the question above please pm so the neggers don't get their panties in a bunch.

hey man , it seems like that you experienced that subject and you dont need any help

just partiotion your hard drive to make 7 gigas free for linux . when you start installation the "disk druid " will began .it is so easy to determine where you want the linux os to be installed . but the thing you forgot is making the swap space in the partition you made .


that's all
linux now is so user-friendly ;)