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Home > Archive > Linux/Unix > September 2001 > installing linux with / alongside windows.
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installing linux with / alongside windows.
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| aadami1 2001-09-07, 5:20 pm |
| Trying to have dual boot with linux and wins 2000 - is it viable ?
I've got a PII with 450 mhz and 2 HD. one is 1.2 GB and the other is 4 GB . Also 128 MB RAM.
Please advise which distro to use to learn Linux with Networking flavour ?
I wish to install wins 2000 Pro for my MCSE on the 2nd HD.
What is your advice and what should i be aware of ? | |
| ccieToBe 2001-09-07, 5:57 pm |
| This is very doable. Just be sure to install Windows 2000 first and keep boot disks for both Windows 2000 and Linux around in case something goes wrong with the MBR. Most Linux distros will give you an option of creating a boot disk during the installation process. I suggest starting out with Mandrake, RedHat or Caldera. If you have fast Internet connection and a CD recorder you can download them from Linuxiso.org.
The MCSE material will require you to use NTFS to some extent, but if you want to be able to share data between the OSs you may have to to store it on a FAT or FAT32 partition since Linux's NTFS5 support is questionable. You could fit Linux or Win2k on the 1.2GB drive, but wouldn't have much room left over in either case.
The fist time I installed Linux the one thing that confused me was that partition layout. If you get lost at this point most distros now have an autoallocate feature which works nicely until you get more familiar with Linux. | |
| TW2001 2001-09-07, 7:38 pm |
| YES,yeS!
I would put NT5 on the bigger hd.Its likes the room.Red Hat 7 will write to the /mbr and will enable you to boot both.Make your boot disks though!
Another thing that can be frustrating is getting to the end of the installation and getting "your so and so partition does not have enough room".Keep that in mind and do a minimal (custom) install.You can always go back later and add things.Which, is actually better becouse you do the work.You learn.
Remember Linux has a high learning curve.It is not Windows.The windows mind set/control/assimilation will only hinder your progress into this endeveour.(ie think outside of the box or the window )
Any questions dont hesitate.The regular posters on this board actually know what they are doing. | |
| koolkat 2001-09-07, 8:19 pm |
| Here's the deal. First I will load the linux on the smaller hd. Like the other post read, make sure you customize, with redhat 7.1, the full installation might be a problem. But before anything please make sure you have compatible adapters (i.e. sound and video).. it is VERY important to go to their site to find this out. Linux is very troublesome, if you plan on using it GUI (Xwindow), and the driver for your hardware isnt available, you will be in a lot of trouble. Also, unlike the other post I will advise you to install linux first. There are cylinder issues to worry about... loading linux first will eliminate this... I know you are using different hds but, to be safe, do linux first. One more thing, study linux the manly way... do it "all command based" forget about the GUI stuff!! Anyways, with 1.2gb hd you dont have much of a choice... Gnome alone will eat that up. | |
| ccieToBe 2001-09-07, 9:24 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by koolkat
Here's the deal. First I will load the linux on the smaller hd. Like the other post read, make sure you customize, with redhat 7.1, the full installation might be a problem. But before anything please make sure you have compatible adapters (i.e. sound and video).. it is VERY important to go to their site to find this out. Linux is very troublesome, if you plan on using it GUI (Xwindow), and the driver for your hardware isnt available, you will be in a lot of trouble. Also, unlike the other post I will advise you to install linux first. There are cylinder issues to worry about... loading linux first will eliminate this... I know you are using different hds but, to be safe, do linux first. One more thing, study linux the manly way... do it "all command based" forget about the GUI stuff!! Anyways, with 1.2gb hd you dont have much of a choice... Gnome alone will eat that up.
There are some issues there, but I still recommend loading Windows first since (I think) this problem only occurs on harddrives larger then 8GB. If you do load Linux first, just boot from your LILO floppy after installing Windows and execute "lilo" as root to restore the Linux MBR. | |
| ccieToBe 2001-09-07, 9:30 pm |
| quote:
Originally posted by TW2001
...The windows mind set/control/assimilation will only hinder your progress into this endeveour.(ie think outside of the box or the window )...
lol | |
| aadami1 2001-09-08, 6:32 am |
| whoooooaaah.
Thanks guys.
But I am relatively new to these OS's and would like someone to walk me thru the installation scenario.
on C: wins 98
on D: all my data ( FAT 32).
can I install wins 2000 over 98? Or do I have to format c: and start from scratch?
I want to keep D: as it is for the time being. As it is FAT 32 win 2000 should have no problems with it. Isn't that right ? | |
| ccieToBe 2001-09-08, 6:55 am |
| quote:
Originally posted by aadami1
whoooooaaah.
Thanks guys.
But I am relatively new to these OS's and would like someone to walk me thru the installation scenario.
on C: wins 98
on D: all my data ( FAT 32).
can I install wins 2000 over 98? Or do I have to format c: and start from scratch?
I want to keep D: as it is for the time being. As it is FAT 32 win 2000 should have no problems with it. Isn't that right ?
You could install Windows 2000 over 98, but there are a lot of problems you can run into so I don't recommend it. Also, reformating takes care of a lot of the fragmentation that defrag does't.
As long as you don't have compression or something simular running Windows 2000 shouldn't have any trouble reading a FAT32 partition.
The Windows 2000 installation process isn't much more complicated then 98's. Just boot of the CD, or Windows 2000 floppies, or install it through another OS. This should be well documented in your MCSE study material. M$'s actually simplified the installation a lot since NT. | |
| ccieToBe 2001-09-08, 6:57 am |
| Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention. Don't enable dynamic disks (I forget the exact name) on any drive that a non-Windows 2000 OS exists on. AFAIK only Windows 2000 knows how to read these. |
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