Linux and Windows on same PC

spp

spp

spp

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15 Nov 2006
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I've recently started using linux at work, and think it would be nice to use it at home to. Having used Windows for years and having it on my home PC, I was wondering how simple it would be to keep windows on one of my HDD's, and install linux on my other HDD? Then set it up so when the computer is started, it asks which drive to boot from. Anyone done this? Are they're better ways to go about having two OS's?
 
The standard way is too install GRUB , it will overwrite the existing MBR on the first harddrive ( usually Windows ) and allow you too specificy different operating systems to bootup. If you're using using one of the more mainstream linux distros, then GRUB install should be fairly automated. ( Ubuntu.Suse, Fedora etc )

However if you don't want to muck about with your windows MBR and your bios supports it, then just press the relevent F key to boot from a selected drive.
 
grub will do this for you wuth two drives. i used to have 160gb and a 80gb drives in my old pc with linux on the 80 and windows on the 160. grub would ask me which one i wanted to boot into on start up.

edit: installing ubuntu will give you the option to do this.
 
Thanks guys, I'll have a look at setting it up over the weekend trying out some of these methods.
 
Wait. If you're new to Linux, I recommend not installing anything. Not even inside a virtual machine, which isn't always a good impression of how it will work on the real machine (some devices are emulated).

I'd recommend using a LiveCD. These are simply CDs you can boot with a fully functional GNU/Linux distro ready to use. The more advanced ones will let you save changes and even install programs (the changes and installed programs are saved on your HDD, in a place of your choosing, and merged with the CD image when you next boot).

If you decide to install Linux and dual-boot, I'd also recommend a dedicated GRUB partition. That way, you can play around with Linux all you want, format your Linux partition on a whim, and still have access to Windows at all times.
 
a wubi install is the way for new people. I only wish wubi was available a few years ago. That way I wouldnt have borked countless XP partitions. Nearly throw the computer out of the window several times due to botched GRUB settings.... ah you live and learn...... :)
 
No, it's only for Ubuntu (and the various flavours of Ubuntu such as Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc...). I've not seen an equivalent for other distros.
 
Most distro's installers will handle an automatic installation of the GRUB boot loader with windows installed very well.

The hardest task will be to shrink your windows partition. Then all you need do is tell your distro's installer to install on free space.
 
So does Wubi actually install on a hdd partition, or within your current windows setup and just boot to a specified application?
 
[edit: ok, I did some reading around. This http://uloasuquo.blogspot.com/2007/08/wubi-ubuntu-linux-installed-through.html explains it pretty well.]

So it's like, hmm I can't figure this out.

You're still running XP in the background while you're using Ubuntu?

Or you're not running XP at all? But Linux doesn't have proper read-write NTFS support, or so I thought, so if it's not using it's own partition, what the hell?

Or does it just make Ubuntu a win32 application? No, that can't be it.
 
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