Winblows XP and Linux dual boot?

[Interscope]

Is it possible? I heard that M$ removed the possibility to co-exist with any other OS.

[slave]

It is in fact possible; it is very easy if you have two hard drives.  If you do not, and you installed Windows XP on a FAT32 partition, most modern Linux distributions can resize it and install Linux on the same hard drive.  If you have one hard drive and you installed Windows XP using the NTFS filesystem then things get much more difficult, as Linux cannot resize that kind of partition.

[Gooseberry Clock]

DAMN, I WANTED TO REPLY FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only by using NTFS as the filing system instead of FAT. You should still be able to install Linux onto a separate partition, although I'm not sure if it can resize NTFS partitions.

[ June 10, 2002: Message edited by: Gooseberry Clock ]

[shuiend]

i have had problems trying to resize ntfs partion's. and windows does let u dual boot. i have xp pro, win 2k advanced server and suse 8.0 all running on one drive. you just have to make sure xp is not first one to be installed is what i have learned from my trials

[Master of Reality]

*sigh* i wouldnt pay much attention two the first to replies.

You can 'easily' (no thanks to windows) dual boot with windows and Linux. All you need is two partitions. A fat or NTFS for windows and a Linux Native (Ext.2 or Ext.3). Then you install windows first and then install linux. Linux comes with a boot loader (which is placed in the Master Boot Record) that will allow you to choose at startup which OS to go into.

If you install windows after Linux, then windows will overwrite the Master Boot record and only allow windows to boot.

[ June 08, 2002: Message edited by: Master of Reality / Bob ]

[TheQuirk]

This might not be right, but I thought when you get your boot loader over written, you can reinstall it from the Linux CD... At least on the Mandrake one =\

[Calum]

yes you can, you can install linux and windows on the same disk, and you can reinstate your MBR. Both easily, thanks to simple but effective software that will most likely come with your linux distro.

There is no way that M$ could make it harder to dual boot than it already is (which is not hard, despite their pathetic efforts) since they already brought out a so called operating system that doesn't recognise any filesystems except proprietary ones, overwrites your MBR with its own when installing without asking you and to boot, it's 'native' filesystem, NTFS, is as closed as possible to prevent other operating systems from supporting it.

Actually, if windows were to overwrite your MBR EVERY time you booted it, that would be a real pain in the arse, but i suspect that dual booters would just dump windows, if it started foing that. Might stop people dual booting in the first place though....