creating dual boot

[pickj]

Hello to everyone. I am a Linux newbie. I am building a new puter with:
Windows XP (in one partition)
Linux F10-i686-live (in another partition)
Intel 2 quad Q6700/2.66 Ghz
4 G RAM
WD 320 G HD
My first question is how to make this a dual boot system. I want to either run Win XP OR Linux. I plan to eventually make this new computer a Linux based system, but need to learn Linux first. ANY help or past threads would be appreciated.

[jayd512]

Welcome to LinuxForums!

Install Windows first. During installation, make sure to tell it how much of HDD you want to use. After that, install Linux. There are a few ways to set up partitions. I would set one partition for / and a second for /home. Linux installer will automatically set-up dual-boot environment.

[FeidhlimRedmund]

Hi,
Notebook computers are generally preloaded with Windows XP, but for those of us who do considerable work in the Linux environment, a Windows-only notebook is far from ideal. I worked with Unix on Windows packages such as Uwin and Cygwin for several years, but I finally decided I wanted a full Linux installation on my notebook.
I started with my aging Toshiba laptop (which had about 90 percent of its 30GB disk filled) and, without losing any data, turned it into a dual-boot XP/Ubuntu Linux system with a shared partition where many of my user files were accessible whether I was using XP or Ubuntu. This made the laptop much more versatile, which is ideal for a developer who works in Linux but must also work in Windows for certain applications or for Windows-based development. A few months later, the monitor on that machine gave out. I bought a new HP notebook and transformed it into a dual-boot XP/Ubuntu Linux system right away.
This article describes the steps I took to complete the dual-boot conversions.

[devils casper]

Its really easy to setup dual boot. Just install Windows OS first. Boot up from Fedora LiveCD after successful installation of Windows OS. Open GParted Partition Manager ( Look for it in Menu of Fedora ) and create two partitions for Linux.

ext3 - 10-15GB for /
SWAP - 512MB

Start Fedora installation and select Manual Partitioning in Partition Section. Assign / mount point to ext3 partition. Installer will detect SWAP Partition. Continue installation. Installer will detect Windows OS and setup dual boot itself.

[pickj]

As I mentioned in my original comment, I have F10-i686-live installed on my HD (down loaded from the internet), in a separate partition, and an iso image of that file on my CD. When I boot up the new computer with the "iso file CD" in the CD, it still boots from the HD. I, obviously, need some additional file/s on the " iso CD" for the computer to boot from there. Yes, I do have the bios set up to boot from the CD first. I do not have a floppy on this new computer. I am also assuming that the "F10-i686-live" needs to be run to complete the installation.

I have worked with computers for several years but unfortunately 90% of my computer experience is along with DOS and then Windows XXXX. Very little machine and assembly language and VERY LITTLE linux. I get frustrated in trying to make this change but I plan to make the change to Linux, period.

If someone could tell me what additional file/s, is needed on the "iso CD", to make it a bootable CD, so that I can complete the installation of Linux.

I plan to purchase Red Hat but want to try the free version first.

HELP ? Regards ... "just confused"

[devils casper]

I, obviously, need some additional file/s on the " iso CD" for the computer to boot from there.

.iso images are bootable by default and you don't have to create bootable disk. Just select Burn Image to Disk option in your CD Burner Package.
Burn Image to Disk option is available in most of CD Burning packages including Nero.

[pickj]

I burned the image to cd, then rebooted and Fedora came up, after what looked like a few files were loaded, I then received a I/O error for device SR0, seek not completed. Could this possibly be a CD disk or CD hardware problem ? Below is the exact wording, black screen, white letters;

sr 6:0:0:0: [sr0} Add. Sense: No seek complete
end_request: I/O error, dev sr0, sector 389752
Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 48719

The sector and logical block numbers incremented as the errors were printed.

[pickj]

I need to know what iso version, or mirror # to load. My new computer has a Intel Core 2 quad, Q6700. I have not been successful in getting the ISO to boot up. The hardware appears to be fine. I have to date loaded Windows XP, several drivers and programs with no problems.