[AuckLUG] Dual Boot

[Darryl Ovens]

First time I have replied to this for some time so hope I have it right.

Just backing up what Nevyn is suggesting,
I had a similar problem, reinstall windows and loose my dual boot.  Then 
one time I was having problems with the W. OS and I ended up restoring 
the dual boot several times then somehow lost linux as well.  That was 
the last straw! 
I bought several HD cradles, put each OS on it's own HD (set as the 
master) and a "data" drive (set as the slave) in the machine. 
Now that the OS 's are nearly isolated from each other, I almost know 
any problems are not caused by another OS. 
It is also quite handy as you can have a spare OS to use in an emergency 
if the usual one falls over, nearly as good as having a second computer.
Still looking for a linux driver for my "win printer"  (OKI c3200), hope 
I don't have to replace the printer, but starting to look like it will 
come to this.

Cheers
Darryl


>Message: 3
>Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 10:07:48 +1200
>From: Nevyn <nevynh at gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [AuckLUG] Dual Boot
>To: "Auckland Linux User Group mailing list" <aucklug at linux.net.nz>
>Message-ID:
>	<bcdb9ee50805141507t468caadaje17af637e0e6f278 at mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
>I know this probably doesn't help but a few years ago I was facing the
>same sort of problems. It was really irritating me and then I had an
>idea....
>
>Instead I went out and brought a hard drive cradle and a inner tray. I
>set up the computer to boot from the cradle (i.e. set it to master)
>and in each inner tray, threw in a hard drive. One I installed Linux,
>the other I installed Windows. I also threw another hard drive into
>the computer so that I could swap files between the two of them though
>I found that this became completely un-necessary.
>
>Of course, this is only good if you've got a couple of hard drives
>sitting around.
>
>Regards,
>Nevyn.
>
>On Thu, May 15, 2008 at 6:51 AM, Richard Innes <unclerichard at xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>  
>
>>> I believe more people than will admit are dual booting Windows and Linux; I
>>> do on both my boxes. Like you I am finding I do not use my Windows (Vista)
>>> as much as the Linux, but it is still useful for certain tasks. Do not be
>>> opologetic, most people are not fanatics and appreciate that dual booting is
>>> a practical option for many.
>>>
>>>  The Windows Installer/Bootloader is all consuming and doesn't like sharing
>>> with Linux, this is believed by many to be deliberate. To overcome this, it
>>> is necessary to install Windows first and Linux which is much more
>>> accommodating afterwards. While it is possible to install and manage a dual
>>> Windows/Linux just using the two OS's I think you would find it useful
>>> download a copy of Parted Magic 2.2 (which in an earlier post I referred to
>>> as Partition Magic, my apologies!). There is also the Trinity Ressure Discs
>>> (which I haven't found that useful) and Koppix. Parted Magic will help you
>>> resize and maintain your partitions, Trinity has programs to help with
>>> corrupted Partitions tables and MBRs. Every dual booter will find one of
>>> this discs useful at some point.
>>>
>>>  IMHO you will find it best to do a complete re-install of all your OS's.
>>> Start with Windows, then using Parted Magic or whatever reduce the Windows
>>> partition to the desirable size and install your Linux on the free space. I
>>> always keep my installations simple, just the main linux partition and the
>>> swap partition.
>>>
>>>  There are free programs that claim to manage multiple installations better
>>> than LILO or GRUB, but I have found the latter perfectly adequate and well
>>> behaved. I always do a manual install when the partitioner comes up on
>>> installation, and it is important to mark the partition as root (/) at this
>>> stage.
>>>
>>>  You might consider using the latest versions of Mandrive. I thought
>>> Mandrive Spring 2008 one of the best distros around, just as good as Ubuntu
>>> 8.04. These later versions have the ability to extract files from the
>>> Windows partition and therere also programs you can ins6tall on Windows to
>>> extract files from Linux. When you are dual booting this is a useful
>>> ability.
>>>
>>>  Others will have different approaches which may suit your way of working
>>> better. I have been duall booting for three or four years, using different
>>> combinations of Windows and Linux. As with all things computer-wise dual
>>> booting isn't perfect, sooner or later you will experience problems such as
>>> you have experienced. One thing I have found is that it is easier and
>>> quicker re-installing Linux than it is Windows so you might consider
>>> archiving your Windows installation on your second drive once you have it in
>>> a prostione condition or making a mirror copy on a DVD.
>>>
>>>  Of course at all time back up, back up, and back up again.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>