Some installfest issues

[Matthew J. Brodeur]

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On Mon, 22 Apr 2002, Jim Kelly-Rand wrote:

> In all the dual boot documentation that I have read, the NT boot loader must
> be on the first partition and you must load linux through NT's boot loader.
> Ihave documentation at home of the process I went through to achieve an
> NT/Linux dual boot but I am not there now.

   I have read the same documentation, and it's all wrong.  I don't 
currently have a machine doing so, but it is quite possible to boot 
BIOS->LILO->NTLoader.  I have done this in the past to create 
Linux/W95/WNT and Linux/W98/W2K systems.
   IIRC, and I might be misremembering, I would first partition the drive 
using Linux fdisk.  Then I'd install Win9x in C: (first DOS-type Primary 
partition), WinNT in another DOS partition (usually formatted NTFS), and 
then Linux somewhere else.  WinNT (or 2k) would see that I already had 9x 
installed, add an entry to NTLoader for me, and install it in the root 
block of C:.  During the Linux install I'd create a LILO entry pointing to 
that partition (usually /dev/hda2, since /boot was hda1) and I'd just call 
it "Windows".
   This left me with one step to get to Linux (LILO->Linux), or two to 
either Windows (LILO->NTLoader->WinNT/9x).  I found this to be much easier 
than tricking NTLoader into booting LILO.

   As for the original issue of not being able to boot after shuffling
partitions, I'd just reinstall.  I get nervous enough shrinking a
partition from the tail end, but if it comes to moving the beginning I
just can't trust it.
   This is one of those situations where "Recovery Discs" are just plain
evil, and one might have to find a copy of an actual install CD.  
Remember though, just because MS doesn't *want* you to have an
installation CD doesn't mean you don't have a right to one.  IANAL, but if 
software (say, WinXP) is licensed to a system and not the media, then it 
doesn't matter if you use the CD that came with the machine or a copy you 
made of a friend's disc when you reinstall.

   That being said, and to wrap this up since it's already too long, it 
shouldn't be necessary for Linux to have space in the early sectors of 
your HD.  LILO can now (as of at least a year ago) boot directly to a 
partition well above the 8GB mark, and the next limit won't be a problem 
for a while. 


- -- 
     -Matt

The trouble with being punctual is that people think you have nothing
more important to do.

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