dual boot XP with Fedora Core 4 question

**craft-tech** · 09-09-2005

AW8-MAX Abit MB
4 GB DDR 2 RAM
GF 6600GT 256MB DDR3 dual DVI graphics card
2 300GB maxtor sata drives
Pentium D dual core
430 watt power

i am currently building this machine and i would like to have a dual boot for Win XP and Fedora Core 4 64 bit. i am unable to run the raid utility so as of now the HD's are independent. i was wondering if i am able to install winXP on one HD and Linux on the other and create a dual boot like that. my question is how do i go about doing that? i was under the impression that i could manipulate the boot.ini file in windows to boot off of the second HD at boot time which would mean booting linux. i have already formatted one of the HD's to WinXP but i am unsure how to go about installing FC4 on the other HD and having it boot correctly. also i am unfamilier with GRUB so if that is part of an answer i would need you to explain it thoroughly as i am a linux nub compared to any of your standards. i very much apreciate your time and patience in dealing with my problem. thanks to anyone who would be of assistance.

**Flatline** · 09-09-2005

Actually, with Fedora you probably won't even have to worry about setting up a dual-boot. Install Windows first and then install Fedora on the other drive. The Fedora installer should "automagically" set up a dual-boot configuration for you.

You can also go through the boot.ini edit process for a dual-boot, but it is more difficult.

**techieMoe** · 09-09-2005

As flatline said, it's actually easier to set up a dual-boot with two separate drives. Just make sure when you install Linux that it writes its bootloader to the Master Boot Record of your main drive (I assume it's the one you have MS Windows on). Just in case it doesn't do it automatically.

**craft-tech** · 09-09-2005

thanks for such a quick reply, once is started the install process of FC4 i did notice the GRUB set-up for the auto dual boot, and i am installing it now, so we shall see how well it works. thanks to both of you for your quick replies.

**craft-tech** · 09-09-2005

so i tried to do a dual boot automatically using the GRUB installer and it seemed to work hower does not when i reboot the machine it automatically boots to windows. is there something else i would have to do or did i miss something?

**techieMoe** · 09-09-2005

Originally Posted by craft-tech

so i tried to do a dual boot automatically using the GRUB installer and it seemed to work hower does not when i reboot the machine it automatically boots to windows. is there something else i would have to do or did i miss something?

Which harddrive is your primary? It's possible that your Linux install put the bootloader on the MBR of the *Linux* drive rather than your primary. You could either make the other drive the primary or reinstall the bootloader onto your primary drive.

**craft-tech** · 09-09-2005

my primary HD is the 'windows' HD, so how would i change the MBR? should i reinstall fedora?

**Roxoff** · 09-09-2005

Originally Posted by craft-tech

my primary HD is the 'windows' HD, so how would i change the MBR? should i reinstall fedora?

It should be enough to just run grub-install and tell it which device (/dev/hda probably) to install to.

**techieMoe** · 09-09-2005

You could also try telling your computer to boot from the Linux harddrive first instead. That way you don't have to reinstall the bootloader. Just a thought.

**craft-tech** · 09-09-2005

ok thanks i was thinking about changing the 'linux' HD to be my primary so im going to try that.

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dual boot XP with Fedora Core 4 question

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