dual boot with two hard drives

[MartiReek]

Hello everbody!

I'd like to make my 80G+18G system dual boot so, that linux is on the second, smaller drive, windows xp is on the first drive. Is it possible?

I have Windows installed at the moment on the first hard drive, so if I'd just simply install ubuntu 7.04 on the second drive, will it dual boot. Some time ago I did it oppositely (windows was on the smaller drive and installed linux on the bigger one). Result? GRUB didn't recognize Windows. So my question is: will it work that way.

Another question I have is that does linux mount ntfs partitions. Or does windows mount ext3 (or whatever ubuntu uses) partition. The problem is that I thought that it would be smart to do a separate partiton for music, photos and documents as it's very easy to screw up Windows and i have to decide in what format should I format it.

I would be glad if you respond.

And btw, to prevent those stupid questions like "why do you need windows" then I should also mention that I hate Windows because it's unstable and slow on my computer (old 2.4ghz celeron, 1gb of ram, gf 6200 256mb on agp 4x) but it offers me a better support for my digital camera, mp3 player and let's face it, it has some programs I need but that doesn't have Linux versions. However, I hate viruses,spyware, trojans and the fact that I should pay for software (in most cases, they should pay for me to use it , unless it's not an apple software on a mac).

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

I'd like to make my 80G+18G system dual boot so, that linux is on the second, smaller drive, windows xp is on the first drive. Is it possible?

Yes, Its possible and very easy.

Some time ago I did it oppositely (windows was on the smaller drive and installed linux on the bigger one). Result? GRUB didn't recognize Windows. So my question is: will it work that way.

It should work in both ways but in most cases, GRUB throw errors if you install it in the MBR of Windows HD. One should plug-in Linux Hard Disk as Primary Master and install GRUB in MBR of Linux Disk only ( Its default ).

Another question I have is that does linux mount ntfs partitions. Or does windows mount ext3 (or whatever ubuntu uses) partition. The problem is that I thought that it would be smart to do a separate partiton for music, photos and documents as it's very easy to screw up Windows and i have to decide in what format should I format it.

Ubuntu doesn't support NTFS write access out of box but you can enable NTFS write access by install ntfs-3g package.
If you wont plug-in Windows HD during Ubuntu Installation, you will have to mount Windows Partitions in Ubuntu to access those.