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  #1  
Old May 19th, 2006, 11:21 AM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Win XP and Linux

Hey all,

I thought id put this here as its to do with win xp and linux in a way.
Im probably going to be formatting my hard drive soon and i thought i might dot his. Im gonna partition in half 20 gb each and then install Win Xp in one parition and Ubuntu Linux on the other? Is this possible? And if it is how would i switch between the two, would i have to go into bios and change the boot sequence or is there an easier way?

Thanks
Neil
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  #2  
Old May 19th, 2006, 12:19 PM
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zipulrich zipulrich is offline
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Entirely possible, and likely loads of fun as well.
You'll get info on boot loaders and everything else you need to know from the kind penguin-heads in our Linux forum - moving this over there now
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  #3  
Old May 19th, 2006, 07:38 PM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Thanks, wasnt sure if it was possible to dual boot or to run to OS's
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  #4  
Old May 19th, 2006, 11:09 PM
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smurfy smurfy is offline
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Hi Pointblank5600.
Yes it's entirely possible, just do a quick search of the linux forum for dual-boot and you'll find plenty of information.

Simply partition 1 x 20GB and install WinXP, leaving the remainder unformatted. Then boot up with your Ubuntu install disc and let it use the remaining unpartitioned space. It will install a software bootloader which will give you the option of Linux or Windows when starting the PC.
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  #5  
Old May 20th, 2006, 09:06 AM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Nice sounds good. I have a 160gb external hd thats why im gonna split my 40gb internal (there wouldn't be much room for anything if it was just the 40 lol)

I don't have any software for partitioning, are there any free ones? Or i could i install ubuntu first which can create partitions and then install XP into the second partition, but i still want XP to be the default one to start with. Can that be done?

Thanks
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  #6  
Old May 20th, 2006, 09:23 AM
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kage kage is offline
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You could use the windows install disk or ubuntu install disk to partition the drive. Since you are installing windows first, it would be easiest to use the windows disk for partitioning as well. When you get to the screen where you need to choose where to install it, delete the partitions and create a new 20gig ntfs partition, leaving the rest of the disk blank (the other 20gigs). Proceed with the windows install as usual. Once you finish, and when you begin the ubuntu install, you should be able to use the remaining free space to setup the linux partitions (remaining 20gigs) required to run ubuntu. (at least a '/' partition and swap/virtual memory area, recommended that you use a '/', '/home' and swap partition)
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  #7  
Old May 20th, 2006, 09:53 AM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kage
You could use the windows install disk or ubuntu install disk to partition the drive. Since you are installing windows first, it would be easiest to use the windows disk for partitioning as well. When you get to the screen where you need to choose where to install it, delete the partitions and create a new 20gig ntfs partition, leaving the rest of the disk blank (the other 20gigs). Proceed with the windows install as usual. Once you finish, and when you begin the ubuntu install, you should be able to use the remaining free space to setup the linux partitions (remaining 20gigs) required to run ubuntu. (at least a '/' partition and swap/virtual memory area, recommended that you use a '/', '/home' and swap partition)
I understood that up till the part about '/', '/home' and 'swap/virtual memory area'

It will probably make sense when i start the installation but i don't have a copy of windows at the moment, as i am getting a new MoBo and my Dell OEM XP will not work on it so i won't be formatting till i have it.

Thanks for the info
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  #8  
Old May 20th, 2006, 11:41 PM
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kage kage is offline
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In linux, the system is installed under a partition marked as '/'. So your home directory would be /home/username, system devices are /dev, etc. '/' on linux is similar to C:\ on windows.

Linux (and other unix-like systems) allows you to set each directory on the system in a different partition. So you could have one partition that is 9GB in size for your '/' partition, and another partition that is 10GB in size for your '/home' partition. Then, say in a month you decide you do not like this linux distro, and you want to use another one (ie: switching from slackware or debian). You simply install the new system to the '/' partition, and point the '/home' directory to your already existing /home partition. Now you have a new linux installation without loosing all your personal data from your home directory. This is also extremely useful if something you do causes your system to not be bootable, you can simply reinstall without the fear of loosing valuable data.

The 'swap' area is virtually the same thing as the 'Windows virtual memory'. It is a section on your hard drive (in the case of linux, a 'swap partition') that is used as virtual memory. It is usually recommended that you have a swap partition two times the size of your installed memory. So if you have 512MB system memory, it is recommended that you have a 1GB swap partition. While this is the recommended setup, you do not have to have a swap partition twice as large as your system memory. You actually do not need a swap partition at all (ie: your system will function fine without one) but when dealing with larger applications, you'll find it does boost performance a tad.

I hope that clears things up a little bit for you.
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  #9  
Old May 21st, 2006, 09:38 AM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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So i could install win xp and make the two 20gb partitions, and then with the ubuntu install i could further spilt that 20gb into: 8gb '/', 10gb '/home' and 2gb for 'swap'. Would it do this by auto or i have to make them manually?

Thanks for help
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  #10  
Old May 21st, 2006, 10:40 AM
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kage kage is offline
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Yes, you could do that quite easily. I do not know for certain if it will do it automatically, I believe when you select it to auto layout the partitions it will make a single '/' partition, a '/boot' partition for your bootloader, and a swap partition. It would be better to manually partition (it is not hard at all) and setup as you said above.
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  #11  
Old May 21st, 2006, 12:47 PM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kage
Yes, you could do that quite easily. I do not know for certain if it will do it automatically, I believe when you select it to auto layout the partitions it will make a single '/' partition, a '/boot' partition for your bootloader, and a swap partition. It would be better to manually partition (it is not hard at all) and setup as you said above.
Does the ubuntu partitioning software allow me to set up as i said above or do i need to download some other sort of disk partitioning software to accomplish it?

I will probably start setting up in the next coupel weeks when i get my new MoBo and processor and a new copy of XP
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  #12  
Old May 21st, 2006, 05:59 PM
jediforce jediforce is offline
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what you're trying to do is very standard of a linux install and any modern distribution will let you split your hard drive to install. Ubuntu has a graphical install, I believe, so it'll walk you through the process quite nicely. Just tell it how much disk space you want to have for home, swap.. etc.
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  #13  
Old May 24th, 2006, 08:44 AM
DaveQB DaveQB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jediforce
what you're trying to do is very standard of a linux install and any modern distribution will let you split your hard drive to install. Ubuntu has a graphical install, I believe, so it'll walk you through the process quite nicely. Just tell it how much disk space you want to have for home, swap.. etc.
Well its actually an ncurses installer, so doesn't technically qualify as 'GUI'

I would definately go with what you suggested

Quote:
8gb '/', 10gb '/home' and 2gb for 'swap'.
A good way to go there indeed.

Don't worry so much if you make a mistake, your learning like you said and can easily install again.

You might want to take a look at Kubuntu too [Ubuntu with KDE]
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  #14  
Old May 24th, 2006, 08:57 AM
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Pointblank5600 Pointblank5600 is offline
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Thanks,


I read on their site that kubuntu can be installed through ubuntu so il probably do that :P
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  #15  
Old May 24th, 2006, 09:00 AM
DaveQB DaveQB is offline
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Brilliant idea! That way you can see which you like best [Gnome or KDE]

I'll think you'll do just fine in the Linux world.
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