Install Mint first then Windows

[ckavakop]

Hello to everybody,
I have partitioned my drive like bellow
partition 1 Mint /swap
partition 2 Mint /
partition 3 Mint /home
partition 4 windows XP

I have installed Linux Mint but I cannot install windows
I have followed some guides on youtube on how to do it through virtualbox but no luck, windows setup crashes at the middle of installation.
Any ideas?

[remoulder]

You should install Windows 1st and mint 2nd, there is an option in the mint installer to install alongside which does everything for you.

[ckavakop]

The reason I installed Mint first is because I red the post "Considerations before you install" by Fred that the first partitions are faster and I wanted Mint to be as fast possible. I will use XP only as a backup OS so I dont need it to be super fast.
So there is no way of doing it like that?

[Aging Technogeek]

You do not need to install Mint first to get it on the first partitions. Set up the partitions ahead of time with Gparted run from the Mint live DVD. Format the partition you want for Windows as ntfs and format the others as ext4 - except the swap partition- just select Linux swap, the partitioner and the installer will know what to do..

Then go ahead and install Windows first. It will detect the ntfs formatted partition and give you the option of installing to that partition or to the entire drive. Choose the partition and run the installer.

When Windows is fully installed and tested, install Mint to the partitions set up earlier.

As to Mint crashing in the middle of the installation, can you give us more information? It would help to know something about your computer (CPU, clock speed, installed ram, hard drive size and sizes of all partitions) and something about the Mint DVD you are using. Did you download it yourself? If you did, did the md5 sum check after the download? Is it possible to be a bit more specific about exactly when and how the installer crashes?

[ckavakop]

thanks I will try it exactly as you described and post the results

As to Mint crashing in the middle of the installation, can you give us more information? It would help to know something about your computer (CPU, clock speed, installed ram, hard drive size and sizes of all partitions) and something about the Mint DVD you are using. Did you download it yourself? If you did, did the md5 sum check after the download? Is it possible to be a bit more specific about exactly when and how the installer crashes?

Perhaps I didnt explain enough. The Mint installation was problem free. I installed virtualbox on mint and I tried to run the windows installation through virtualbox. The windows intsallation crashed in the midde. But since there is another way of doing it as you sugested there is no point researching it any more
thnks again

[DrHu]

The reason I installed Mint first is because I red the post "Considerations before you install" by Fred that the first partitions are faster and I wanted Mint to be as fast possible.

For most OS that is a minor consideration: better to optimize the OS/desktop after installation, it would be more effective
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_linu ... _first.htm

Apart from partition setups, and considering which bootloader to use (Linux (Grub2) or Windows NTldr))
--you have to read some steps to be comfortable with this multi-boot mode
Of course the first OS installed will if it installed OK, run correctly..

[Jix]

I've never paid too much attention on which partition Windows or Mint is located. I simply first install Windows then Mint.

[Lumikki]

I've never paid too much attention on which partition Windows or Mint is located. I simply first install Windows then Mint.

Yep, this is the easyest way to do. Install Windows first and leave same empty space in disk for Linux. Then install Mint.

If you know what you do, you can do OS installation in any order.

[ckavakop]

I did it exactly as Aging Technogeek described and everything worked fine. I intstalled grub to fix boot.
Is there a prapfical alternative of the boring black and white select OS boot screen?