Dual boot xp/Mint 8

[xarune]

Hi, I'm brand new to Linux and my question is about dual booting. I have looked around Google and this forum for answers, but I can't seem to find what I need.

I have an old gateway desktop with windows XP on it, and I would like to dual boot it with Mint 8. When I put the Mint CD in and start the installation, I get to the part where it asks how I want to install it, and there is the override option, and a manual partition option. I heard there was a side by side option if Mint recognized another OS present, so you could choose what OS you wanted to use when you start up the PC.

Any ideas how to get Linux to recognize XP, and do the side by side install?

[StanTheMan]

When you start with a hard drive that has Win XP installed , the Win XP operaitng system will normally be installed iun what it calls C:drive (and what Linux calls ' sda1 ' or ' hda1 ' . Also most Microsoft installations also have one or two hidden partitions with back up or special computer machine menus.
If you are going to dual boot, the first thing is to reduce the size of C:drive to make empty space for your new Linux installations. Win XP has a built in menu in disk management to reduce the size of C:drive. Usually reduce it b half, but that is your own discretion as to what size you require left.
After resizing, then re-boot and let Widows do an automatic file check.

Next you should use a Linux disk to prepare the empty space.
On the Mint running Live off the disk , there is a partitioning tool called GPartEd (Gnome Partition Editor).

I prefer to make three Logical partitions (of the empty space) - -
sda5 about 7 GB formatted ext4 (for root of Mint operating system)
sda6 2 GB typed swap
sda7 (rest of the empty space) formatted ext4 to be mounted on /home during installation (/home will hold all your e-mail and personal settings and files)

After you have these Logical partitions prepared, then run the Mint installer setting the above partition mounted as shown above , ( / ) root system , /home .

At the end of the installation it will automatically create a ' Bootloader Menu ' which will give you a choice to boot Win XP or Mint at start up .

If you are using an older version of Mint such as Gloria, format with ext3 .

[Txnca]

Well, you get to the point where you need to repartition your HDD and it sounds like you stop. You need to do the manual partition method and when it goes to the next page, just shrink the XP partition, then make two or three more from what is left. One should be swap, the second should be / (root) and the third should be /home. You can also just add two swap and /. Then when you install Mint, be sure and let it install Grub to your MBR and when you reboot after the installation it will have Mint 8 and an option and the last option on the list will be XP.

Steve

More info can be found here. http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=45403 You don't have to use the same partition scheme that I used since I am triple-booting and will be quad booting as soon as I fix the over-heating issue I'm having. I hate OEM heatsink/fans. They always screw up.

[xarune]

If you are going to dual boot, the first thing is to reduce the size of C:drive to make empty space for your new Linux installations. Win XP has a built in menu in disk management to reduce the size of C:drive.

Is this the menu found in right clicking my computer going to manage then hard drives or something like that, because I went to that menu, right clicked on the XP partition and got no option to compress the XP partition or create a new one.

[Txnca]

If you are going to dual boot, the first thing is to reduce the size of C:drive to make empty space for your new Linux installations. Win XP has a built in menu in disk management to reduce the size of C:drive.

Is this the menu found in right clicking my computer going to manage then hard drives or something like that, because I went to that menu, right clicked on the XP partition and got no option to compress the XP partition or create a new one.

That is because XP doesn't have that ability. It doesn't show up in Windows until Vista.

What you need to do is either use the partitioner in the Mint 8 installation wizard by going to the manual setting, OR you can download Gparted separately from Mint and use it before you do the install. You can find the iso file here; http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted ... o/download

Once you download it, burn it to a CD and then boot with it making sure that you have your boot device set to your CD/DVD in the BIOS. With it, or the partitioner in Mint, which is Gparted, you can shrink the XP partition, then you can create the other partitions you plan on making. You should at least make two new partitions, swap, and (root) / which is where you will install Mint. You can also do something like this, which is to create an extended partition, create a swap partition, (root) /, (user)/usr, and (home)/home partitions in the extended partition. This allows you to reload or upgrade Mint or any Linux distro without losing your /home partition.

Hope this made it clearer for you.

Steve

[vincent]

Actually, there IS an in-built partitioning utility in XP as well, but it isn't as well-known because it's not as easily accessible as on Vista or 7. To access it, hold down the Windows key and press R (or just select Run... from the Start menu), and type: diskmgmt.msc. That will allow you to add/format/delete partitions, and is practically the same Disk Management Utility that is currently present on both Vista and 7.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

Problem is, you can't really shorten your Windows partition because chances are that in order to make room for Mint, you're probably going to have to decrease the size of your Windows partition itself, and you can't do that while it's running (you can't partition partitions that are currently mounted and in use; that's why a GParted live CD/USB is often the best choice). So run a defrag or two first, and then use GParted to partition your hard drive.

[Txnca]

Actually, there IS an in-built partitioning utility in XP as well, but it isn't as well-known because it's not as easily accessible as on Vista or 7. To access it, hold down the Windows key and press R (or just select Run... from the Start menu), and type: diskmgmt.msc. That will allow you to add/format/delete partitions, and is practically the same Disk Management Utility that is currently present on both Vista and 7.

Yes, I know about that one. What I was referring to was the ability for Vista to reduce partitions, something that isn't available in XP. That you can check as well. Now if you want to just delete or format or anything else to a partition, then yes, XP can do that. But it can not, in any way, increase or decrease the size of a partition.

Steve