Idiots Guide to How to create dual boot,XP and Linux please!

Hi

i know there are several posts out there on this topic, all vary with different commands etc.

I bought a Acer ASpire One Linux version with 120Gb hard drive and 1Gb memory. I previously had a EeePc and installed XP on that directly from an external USB DVD drive which was pretty straight forward.

I would like to install XP on this but also keep the option of having the Linux installed as well, thought it would have been easy but looking at these forums its anything but?

Is it possible to install Linux to a 8Gb SD Card in the slot as well as having only one partition on the 120Gb Hard drive running XP?

Can someone please supply me with an Idiots Guide to doing this or if not possible a step by step guide to creating 2 partitions on the HD with XP and Linux installed. What drivers do i need to download?

I have a 120Gb/1Gb version with 8Gb SD card and USB DVD/CD player available

Thanks

Jim

 

1. Make two partitions. One for Windows, one for Linux - you can split your HDD to two parts with the same size...
2. Install WinXP...
3. Install Linux - installer will add GRUB to MBR and will aloud you to choose default operating system which you want to boot as first...
4. Enjoy...

 

Thanks for the reply

Is it that simple?

Read a few posts saying that GRUB would have to be modified, i was a bit wary as being a bit of a novice was wary of tinkering with commands etc.

Re splitting HD into 2 partitions, can i make the Linux partition smaller?

After installing XP onto one partition and system boots up into Windows, how do i get the option to load Linux to the other partition? Will i get this option when i put the Linux recovery disk in supplied?

I assuming there are lots of drivers i need to download for XP as well

Jim

 

Yes it is. Actually both installers will guide you through installation process - anyway I believe you know how to install Windows. Installing Linux is the same easy...

 

I have split the Hard Drive into 2 partitions and loaded XP ok but now trying to load Linux into the other partition but it only gives me the option of using the full disk not the other partition i created

 

Distro?? Normally you can use manual disk partitioning - be careful. Do not damage Windows partition...

 

If i dont get the option on Linux Recovery menu how else can i do it? Any ideas? I don't
Cheers

Jim

 

you guys shoulda check out http://wubi-installer.org/index.php to install ubuntu from XP, then you have ubuntu in the XP's bootloader, not grub, this does not distroy MBR. play safer this way

 

Thanks for the info!

Sorry for showing my ignorance but does Ubunto work the same as Linux supplied with ACER ONE

Thanks

Jim

 

No. Ubuntu is full system where Linpus is a bit modified to fit AA1 hardware etc. But Ubuntu will be slower...

 

Can I re-install Linpus form the recovery dvd, or will that erases my windows installation?

Thanks

 

It'll erase your windows install, you can't reinstall linpus linux and keep windows.

Seriously, you're making this too dificult. You've got windows installed and spare space in another partition right? Well, use another linux distro like fedora, get the livecd (i686 one) transfer to usb stick boot it up and if you like it select install to hard disk. (Best to just delete the spare partition first and then tell fedora to do a default install in the free space). Linpus is based on Fedora 8, Fedora 10 is the latest and greatest, you might just have small issues with webcam, suspend/hibernate.

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

 

Damn. I didn't know this.

Can someone quickly tell me then, if I install XP on the AAO, can I then later re-install Linpus from the recovery USB pen drive or does the XP install delete some recovery partition on the Acer?
In short, is there a recovery partition/folder on the machine that the recovery depends on and that will be lost by the XP install?
If not, I'll just go ahead and install XP knowing I can return the unit back to Linpus if needed.

Thanks for a quick reply - about to do it!

 

The linpus recovery dvd is stand-alone - doesn't rely on anything else existing on the disk, so don't worry about windows wiping everything.

Many people have problems with the dvd recovery image transferred to usb stick (which is easier to use), that's down to shite acer technical competence if you ask me, if you have a usb dvd drive then no need to worry about this

 

Thanks a million for that swift reply chief.

I've used the pen drive/USB recovery a number of times when I was messing with restoring desktop to default from Acer and also with the xorg.conf file (which resulted in a no-boot scenario!) so I know it works well.

Thanks again.

Here's hoping I can use the Acer's proprietary (and app/settings related) Linpus and XP on a dual boot at some point.

 

So the answer is yes? If I create a recovery pen drive using the instructions that comes with the dvd, I can install Linpus without removing Windows. I have downloaded an image which is called Linpus_AAO, but I'm not sure if it's okay, so If it's possible I'd rather use the supplied software.

Well, I kind of like Linpus. It easy and fast, just what I want it to be. If I change for another linux distro, I think I will go for Ubuntu UMPC.

 

It's late and I'm tired.. can someone clarify this please..

New Acer One with Linpus on the 120GB HD.

Can I keep Linpus and install XP along side.. ? Then choose which OS I want when I turn on ??

Thanks

 

Sideways is right. I do have a dual booting AAO, which boots Win XP SP3 and Linpus.I tried the fedora 10 with XFCE spin and it just works great, so definitely I'm going to triple boot it. The boot time was more than acceptable. The only reason I won't wipe Linpus is because my girlfriend likes it. Plenty of space left, so that's no problem.

One question. When I install Fedora, will it recognise the other 2 distro's and make a good menu for grub?

 

Whilst installing XP onto the AAO which has the Linpus OS on it is relatively straightforward, there were a couple of gotchas that I only managed to circumnavigate because I had had previous experience of Linux and disk partitioning.

As a "for instance", the new partition I created came up as sda3 whereas I was expecting sda2. I figured that maybe a reboot would sort things out but no such luck. After installing XP as far as the first reboot, I got the (amost expected) hal.dll error.

I checked the boot.ini and found reference to partition 3 (instead of 2) which once I edited it (using a live linux OS on a pen drive and the vi editor of all things!) to refer to partition 2 things went swimingly.

But what if I knew nothing about the Windows boot.ini? And nothing about disk partions? And nothing about editing files using vi (spit, spit)? Basically it would have been USB pen restore time!

So it's probably worth thinking carefully about installing XP as there may be obstacles the less techie of us will be unable to overcome.

Naturally I'm mega pleased with my dual boot Linpus/XP - the only thing is I don't use the Linpus partition at all any more really so I might as well have just blitzed it when I installed XP. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Did you know that the Intel Atom support hyperthreading? The XP task manager clearly shows two CPU cores - given that it is NOT a dual core processor (yet, soon) it must be the HT advantage that makes the AAO very responsive in XP.

If you CAN do it (or find someone to do with for you/with you) then go for it. XP is like an old friend...

 

Short answer: yes. But have that USB recovery drive ready (see above post).

I'm going to get in touch with DJ_Steve and see if he would agree to me "massaging" his great article on how to do this with a few user friendly pictures. I create a lot of user guides at work so with his great source article and my presentation skills (no sniggering, please) we could come up with a Dummies guide, of sorts.

The trouble is, you can't teach experience, which is what is required occasionally.