How to Dual Boot Windows XP and Linux on a Single Hard Disk

How To Dual Boot Linux and Windows XP on a Single Hard Disk

  I know this may seems a long winded method to achieve the dual boot and you may say this is hardly a beginnners guide, well maybe not but it is a very accurate and well detailed easy to follow tutorial, if you would like to install a Windows and a Linux OS on your system I feel this is the best way to start.

This step by step guide is meant to show you how to install Linux (Fedora Core 2) on one hard drive, on top of an existing Windows machine, and using native boot loaders for each OS, i.e. the ntloader for Windows, and grub for booting Linux. This 21 step guide details each step necessary to perform a dual boot of Windows XP and Linux, and uses the QtParted tool in the SystemRescueCD to resize NTFS (QtParted is a free tool for resizing NTFS partitions).

There are a number of advantages to using this approach

1. It keeps both system separated on a single hard drive, thus allowing you to upgrade either system without overwriting the other boot loader image.
2. Because this approach doesn't require a floppy and only requires one hard drive, it is well suited for laptops. That is important since many laptops do not have a floppy and are available with only one hard drive.
3. This approach allows you to install Linux on top of an existing Windows XP machine without having to reinstall Windows XP, and without losing any existing files.
4. It uses only free software.
5. This guide has been successfully completed by many users with no prior experience in dual booting.

For this guide you will need the following resources

• An iso distribution of SystemRescueCD-x86-0.2.15 (find CDROM in the Cuesta lab).
• An iso distribution of Linux, for example Fedora Core 2 disks 1-4 (find CDROMS in the Cuesta lab).

This step by step guide is meant to show you how to install Linux (Fedora Core 2) on one hard drive, on top of an existing Windows machine, and using native boot loaders for each OS, i.e. the ntloader for Windows, and grub for booting Linux. This 21 step guide details each step necessary to perform a dual boot of Windows XP and Linux, and uses the QtParted tool in the SystemRescueCD to resize NTFS (QtParted is a free tool for resizing NTFS partitions).

There are a number of advantages to using this approach

1. It keeps both system separated on a single hard drive, thus allowing you to upgrade either system without overwriting the other boot loader image.
2. Because this approach doesn't require a floppy and only requires one hard drive, it is well suited for laptops. That is important since many laptops do not have a floppy and are available with only one hard drive.
3. This approach allows you to install Linux on top of an existing Windows XP machine without having to reinstall Windows XP, and without losing any existing files.
4. It uses only free software.
5. This guide has been successfully completed by many users with no prior experience in dual booting.

For this guide you will need the following resources

• An iso distribution of SystemRescueCD-x86-0.2.15 (find CDROM in the Cuesta lab).
• An iso distribution of Linux, for example Fedora Core 2 disks 1-4 (find CDROMS in the Cuesta lab).

AFTER A TYPICAL WINDOWS XP INSTALL

This write up assumes you are installing Linux after a typical windows XP install. For example, you have a home PC setup with windows already installed, when you purchased it. Such a system has Windows XP on one large NTFS formatted partition on your hard disk, drive (C:), and that leaves no room for any other operating system. ;(

This guide is an attempt to provide a step by step approach to help you setup a dual-booting Windows and Linux PC without having to remove windows, reformat your hard drive, or lose any data.

BEFORE YOU START, CHECK DISKSPACE AND VERIFY THAT YOU HAVE A SINGLE WINDOWS PARTITION




Before your start, check that you have enough disk space (I recommend at least 9GB).

Next verify that you have a typical windows installation, i.e. one that has only one partition, Disk 0 (C:), as shown below




Power-on and logon to Windows XP | Start | Control Panel | Performance and Maintenance | | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Disk Management | You should be able to see that Disk 0 is (C:) with one primary partiton, with a description similar to what you see below: Layout Type File System Status Partition Basic NTFS Health (System)


Assuming your hard drive is presently configured as a single C:\ partition as described above continue with the next step. If you do not have a single C:\ partition, find another installation guide that better matches your present system, or modify the steps to suit your needs.





DEFRAG WINDOWS




To begin, its a good idea to defragment your existing Windows partition. This condenses the existing files which in turn makes more room for Linux (although this step may not be necessary since some partition managers automatically do this for you, lets do it just in case). To begin defragmenting follow the steps shown below




| Start | Control Panel | Performance and Maintenance | | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Disk Defragmenter | [ Defragment ] (this can take some time)




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BOOT SYSTEM RESCUE CD




Next, you are going to boot using the SystemRescueCD so you can resize your existing Windows partition. SystemRescueCD has a tool for doing this that will allow you to shrink your NTFS partition (the C: drive). Shrinking your C: drive will make Windows play nicely, so you can install other OSs on your computor, such as Linux (or some other OS(s)).




Insert SystemRescueCD-x86-0.2.15 Shutdown computer. Restart computer. boot: [Enter] Keymap selection: [Enter] 12:45 root@cdimage /root % \ (time of day) (at the above prompt, enter command run_qtparted, as shown below) % run_qtparted Your mouse selection: 3 (PS/2) ... (Green screen appears) (Window appears)




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RESIZE NTFS




QtParted is a handy and easy to use tool for resizing NTFS, and also allows you to create additional partitions formatted as you like. The following steps should allow you to resize NTFS, to make room for your Linux, or other OS(s). If you follow along, this should take place with out any problems.




Click-on /dev/hda Click-on 01 /dev/hda1 ntfs Active... | Operations | Resize | New Size: 3000 MB [OK] | NOTE: this actually resizes partition a little larger than 3GB. We use a 3GB "small" size in our Lab. If you are performing this dual boot install at home or work you probably want to use a larger resize, perhaps 5GB or 10GB, etc, depending. It is good practice to give yourself a extra space a few extra GB for future Windows upgrades, applications, and user data on your Windows partition.



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