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- Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -6/+33"There is no longer a reason to have any machine in the house/office which is Windows-only."
Well like.. unless you don't need Linux that is. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -23/+42Remember kids, Linux is only free if your time is worth nothing..
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+25I find that most windows users don't need to actually dual boot anything, most of the time it's out of curiosity or for an educational experience.
So the line "There is no longer a reason to have any machine in the house/office which is Windows-only" is completely untrue.
There are many people for whom the Windows OS is 100% complete and effective for them. My brother has no need to dual boot the latest release of ubuntu 6.06, as it offers nothing at all to him and his family above what he uses Windows for.
If the various linux and OSX operating systems are truly a platform that stands on it's own, providing the end user with everything he/she needs to have a complete computing experience, then why does dual booting even exist, and why is one of the OS's 99.99% of the time a Microsoft one?
Now mod me into oblivion, though you know I am right. - fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -8/+21 TOTALineptitude, Then windows Must be very expensive.
- shucklak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Hmm, thats great for you. But for people who do real things with computers other than porn and World of Warcraft, they actually do have good reason to install Linux.
Let's see, servers. Why should I spend $xxx for every single CD key of Windows Server edition when I can just download the newest version of Ubuntu and have a fully functional LAMP server up and running in less than an hour? Oh, and it's really easy to set up too.
Dual booting is just a great way to start learning the possibilities of Linux. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Or if you're short on Hard Drive space.
- bigtrouble77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Linux has only recently become a decent desktop OS. Furious development is going on to make it as user friendly and as visually pleasing as windows/osx.
Dual booting is a great transition tool for allowing users to wean themselves off of windows. The reality is that we still have to get our work done while we learn new tools. - garethevans, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I have to agree there - the only reason I've dual-booted is because I wasn't completely functional in a Linux environment. Which, by the way is no way to get used to it - if you want to really learn you've got to nuke your windows partition and go completely with linux - otherwise you teeter on the fence.
- JimV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I wasn't aware that dual-booting linux was difficult...just slip the disk in and install....pretty simple.
- alphamerik, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14@TOTALineptitude:
Wrong advice, nice name.
Remember kids, LEARNING is only free if your time is worth nothing.. - dairylee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Yup ideal for n00bs like me, been thinking about this for a while now.
- motang, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Sweet, not that it's hard to dual boot now-a-days but a good one for a noob who wants to get their hands dirty with dual booting their machine.
- xlocust, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I duel boot into linux quite often for my programming needs. I also talk to females and i go outside quite often thank you.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Nice guide. At this point the only reason I keep my WinXP partition is for gaming. Damn you game companies, start printing games for 2.8% of the market already!
- becominglumberg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'm a Linux noob and got Ubuntu running well in about 30 minutes. You only need the ability to burn a CD and remember one word: automatix. After that, its simply cut and paste.
- josegutz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Heck I installed Ubuntu as I was eating a bowl of lucky charms, talking to my soon to be ex-girlfriend on the phone, having sex with my new girl neighbor and watching Lucky Louie on HBO on demand all the while downloading Season 4 of the sopranos...
Who needs fiances? Not me... - kbeeveer46, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This is another good tutorial for Windows + Ubuntu 6.06
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p3.htm - delhokie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I tried having XP, Vista, and Linux (SUSE) partitions a few weeks ago, but messed my xp partition which is the one I use primarily. Being a n00b when it comes to multiple partitions, I can see where this would be helpful. As many have said here, I think it is good to try out Linux and see what it's capabilities are.
For a lot of people out there, they could do 90% (or more) of what they do on a computer with an easy to install version of Linux. I think Window and Mac both have strong points and weaknesses, but the free, open-source nature of Linux and the continuing improvements are making a more viable option all the time. - neko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Why 99.99% of the time a Microsoft one? Because it's preinstalled by the vendors. Because the vendors are given nice discounts on winXP licenses, provided that winXP is preinstalled on everything they sell.
I did do the dual booting thing for a while. Got sick of it, too much hassle to reboot just for one or two apps.
Now I use 100% Debian on my main machine, and 100% winXP on my Morrowind-And-Oblivion machine. Much nicer. - jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4There is always Wine or running in parallels... and since when does anyone have to worry about disk space? 200GB drives are like $100...
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"I guess this is just a case of bored kids with nothing better to do? How about trying to go outside, or talk to a female."
How about trying NOT to end your comments with a pointless troll? - BobbyOnions, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Virtual PC doesn't run on Linux hosts (or Solaris).
On my own dual-boot machine the same guest O/S runs significantly faster under a Linux host compared to the XP host.
Virtual PC, last time I ran it, didn't propagate USB devices "up" from the host to the guest operating system - this alone was the show-stopper for me.
I've been offered VPC "free" with my action pack for 18 months now so the cost (until recently) wasn't the issue. - ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"There is no longer a reason to have any machine in the house/office which is Windows-only."
I say, if you have more than one computer, it only makes sense to run 1 OS per machine. Dual-booting uses up extra disk space, and just adds complexity. Having to reboot all the time to get to the other OS is a pain.
Put 1 OS on each machine, and use tools like ssh, cygwin (has X11 and openssh), VNC, samba, etc to make access to other platforms easy. - darkfate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Why can't people just use VMWare?
- jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3if you can't download a live distro and install it, then you don't need to be worried about dual-booting. you're just not skilled enough yet if you can't install from a live CD.
- i440, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Using GRUB in general is such a pain though. I think it's much nicer with XP's bootloader: XP just boot quickly with no menus, screens or dialogs. I wish GRUB was hidden by default and would only appear if, for instance, was held down during boot and otherwise, the default system/kernel would be booted immediately.
Anyway, I didn't WTFV (watch the videos), but I will supply a quick how-to on how to uninstall (more like delete) Linux if necessary. "Uninstalling" Linux involves delete whichever partitions it resides on. Note that (obviously) this will remove your operating system and any data on the partitions that Linux lives on. This also assumes you have Windows XP installed. If not, you'll need to install it before progressing (unless you normally use a different operating system, I'm not covering it right here though).
1. (Re)start your computer. Boot Windows from the GRUB menu.
2. At the desktop, go to Start > Control Panel. Make sure "category" view is enabled (it should say "switch to classic view" on the upper right hand corner.
3. Click on "Performance and Maintenance" and the "Administrative Tools".
4. Click on "Computer Management".
5. In the left pane, expand the "storage" group if it isn't already, and click on "Disk Management".
6. Now, you will see a list of every partition on your computer. Linux partitions are labeled "Unknown Partitions". To delete ALL of your non-Windows partitions, right click in the area of the "Volume" column in each row where the partition is unknown and click "Delete Partition...". Answer "yes/OK" if prompted. If you want delete certain installations of Linux, you'll need to note which hard drives & partitions it resides on. A more visual representation of the partition of each hard drive is made in the bottom half of each pane. I think it might be in a similar order that Linux uses. Anyway, you may also right click the partition in the bottom half of the right pane and click "Delete Partition..." there.
-- only perform step 7 on if there are no other Linux installations are on your computer, unless you have a grub floppy and know how to use it (and you don't want GRUB anymore). this is a tutorial on how to rewrite the MBR, so it is useful whenever a foreign MBR exists. if GRUB was never installed, also skip this section as you will not be needing it. --
7. Now, just continue working with Windows XP. When you need to (re)start your computer afterwards, insert your Windows setup CD for the installation you are using and boot from it. So, remember to press any key when prompted after BIOS detects the boot record.
8. Setup will now load a bunch of drivers for the installation of Windows. You will now be prompted what action you wish to take next. You may either (a) perform a new installation of Windows; (b) enter a recovery console; or (c) cancel, I think. (b) suits our needs, so press "r" on your keyboard to be taken to the recovery console.
9. Wait a little bit. A list of (numbered) Windows system partitions will appear. Press the number of corresponding Windows installation you use. If there is only one listing, press the number the corresponds to it.
10. Enter the Administrator password. If you don't know it, there probably isn't one, so just press enter.
11. You should now see a prompt. In it, issue the command "fixmbr".
12. A prompt will ask you to confirm and tell you a foreign MBR was found. Press "y" and enter.
13. It should now say "the new MBR was successfully written."
14. Now, issue the "exit" command. The computer will restart. Remove your Windows XP setup CD. From now on, Windows will boot as usual. - jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3start with a live cd. you'll get an installer icon on the desktop, then you'll be running linux from your hard drive in 10 minutes...
www.distrowatch.com - jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3to have two versions of windows, you need to install both wins BEFORE installing linux so GRUB loads before the windows bootloader...
- Sasabune, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@josegutz
Yep that multitasking stuff is really cathing on ... - underthewether, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2what is the need for a tutorial.
step 1: partition hard drive for windows, leaving empty space for Linux
step 2: install windows
step 3: install linux (which will detect the empty space along with windows and create its own partitions as well as setup dual booting)
step 4: play with your new setup - akross80, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Even better, I can go outside, dual boot Linux and talk to my fiance all at the same time...
- jgreene777, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3VirtualPC is actually free now too.
http://digg.com/software/MS_Virtual_PC_2004_is_FREE - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've been dual booting linux and XP for a few years now on my laptop, it's gotten a looooooot easier the past few years.
- evileyetmc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Funny thing. I was just about to reinstall 2k, but now I guess I'll dual boot. Thanks guys
- ilselu1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A nice alternative to the VMware Workstation I use.
- snipes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm planning on doing that before I go back to school.
There was NOTHING hard about dual booting Linux and XP, I've done it with my Desktop at home.
Just getting GRUB to work was a bitch. - a10webb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I don't really see the point of this. If anyone had intentions of dual booting any OS they would have done it already. This "self help" guide will help some technologically retarded person dual boot linux, but then they will have no idea what to do next because actually reading about programming and trying it out yourself seems like too much work for the lazy M$ users today.
"then why does dual booting even exist, and why is one of the OS's 99.99% of the time a Microsoft one"
-because M$ pays to get it out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry and stifle open source software - TrevorBradley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is it just me, or are these videos simply about partitioning? I was looking for something about GRUB (for which I'm a newbie) or even LILO.
- frank3000, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2before attempting anything, just make !absolutely! sure that everything is backed up, since there is a chance that you will lose everything. when i installed ubuntu as a dual boot on my laptop, my bios was incompatable with the bootloader, making me have to reformat the drive, losing everything. so BACK IT UP!!
- clickwir, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Turn off that damn music dude! I can't hear ***** what you're saying.
- mugs, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5CrazyZ said that his brother has no need to dual boot, as Linux offers nothing to him and his family beyond what he gets from Windows. I have to disagree. Linux offers you amazing flexibility, you dont have to worry about spyware and viruses. You can download and install thousands of apps for free. You can customize your installation a million different ways. Plus it works so much better and faster. It is real sad how most of the world buys into the Windows philosophy.
I dont dual boot, I dont want Windows in my house at all. - n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1erm, this tutorial is for an existing Windows partition for those that don't need to reformat.
- plueken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In my case, it's just not possible for me to run any other OS than Windows, even though I would like to set up Linux. I'm staying in Florida this summer as a guest with a nice old couple that uses AOL Cable internet services. As a result, I had to reinstall Windows ahead of time, just so I could survive. I've advised them to switch, and they recognize the problems with AOL, but they're old and stubborn and will stick with what works for them, and I have no right to speak out against my hosts.
AOL dialup is crap, but there is ancient Linux software that allows you to use it. AOL for DSL is crap, but there are ways to cheat most routers to connect through PPPoE. AOL for Cable... well, unless you own an AOL-approved router and can cheat the system thusly, you have no internet without Windows + AOL.
And Linux without the internet, in this day and age... is pointless. - celerate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm disappointed that these people couldn't include removing the boot loader in their video on removing the Linux partitions. Many people don't know how to do it, and while Lilo still boots Windows if your Linux partitions are deleted, Grub won't work at all if the partition with its configuration file is removed.
I suppose it would be a lot more work go to through that step, I'm not really sure. I just use a Windows 98 boot disk image burned to a CD, and I use the old 'fdisk /mbr' command to wipe the master boot record. Perhaps FreeDOS' fdisk will also do this, and that would be free and bootable from a CD without hunting down instructions. Even if it is more work, before telling people how to trash their Grub boot loader, these folks should also have told them how to restore the normal Windows boot process first. - dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The removing linux thing is wrong, well, if you want to get back into Windows.. Why? GRUB is (or was) on that partition you just deleted.. Although, there is a command on the Windows recovery promt "restorembr" or "restore mbr", I can't remeber exactly how to get to it at this minute..
The installing bit, you need to make sure you mount that large partition as /home, or it'll make your home folder in the 5GB partition you made
It kind of skipped over the whole installing linux bit, and boot-loaders, which are far more difficult than partitioning
- Ben - underthewether, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1so just resize your windows partition
- snipes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dual hard drives eliminates the disk space use...
Even better when you have an old 20GB HDD lying around. - snipes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Small imagination...
- snipes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Partition Magic is extrememly useful when preparing to dual boot or even triple boot.
- smarvelous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is not easy. Even a well supported commercial partition app like Partition Magic will occasionally fail at re-sizing a partition (by fail I mean you lose everything). So you must back up first (80GB? see you on Sunday) then you must go through a bunch of other steps to get the distro of choice installed (It's Monday, time for work again).
An actual easy way to run linux on your windows machine is VMWare Player. It's free, it takes minutes to install. Then download a pre-installed/configured distro like Xubuntu (500MB) unzip it and boot it throught the Player. That's easy. If course you don't learn as much, but I've already been there and done that a dozen times (a dozen long, weekends). -
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