Installing windows after having a linux install, without losing the linux bootloader (grub)

[josolanes]

I've seen this posted a few times, and am not sure where I would find the answer (the search only finds one page ).

So, could someone tell me how I would install windows onto a separate partition while maintaing grub? I know that when I install windows, it'll create a new MBR, but I would really like to keep grub....so would I reinstall grub?? how would i do this if I can't get into linux?

Thanks in advance!
windows is going on as a toy really...and a slight gaming project




one irrelevant question: does dsl have a partitioning tool? i looked but couldn't find one i'm familiar with. i'd like it to be graphical, but if not, than how would i resize a partition using something like fdisk or cfdisk? i'm trying to resize my root ( / ) partition of gentoo through dsl so i can free up some space for all my games to be used in windows.

the root partition is the only one on my first drive (hda1) and i would like to resize it and create a second partition (hda2) beside it with the rest of the available free space that i would acquire by resizing hda1.

thanks again

[smolloy]

I think it's impossible to install windows without it taking control of the MBR. If you've installed grub on your gentoo system then you can use the livecd to boot up the computer and chroot into gentoo (just like you did during the installation). After that just install grub as you did during the installation. If you don't have the livecd you could download it or another livecd (such as knoppix) and use that to chroot into your gentoo environment. After that just follow the instructions in the gentoo handbook for installing grub.

Having the knoppix livecd would also solve your partitioning problem as it comes with qtparted, which is a nice partition magic clone.

[josolanes]

I think it's impossible to install windows without it taking control of the MBR. If you've installed grub on your gentoo system then you can use the livecd to boot up the computer and chroot into gentoo (just like you did during the installation). After that just install grub as you did during the installation. If you don't have the livecd you could download it or another livecd (such as knoppix) and use that to chroot into your gentoo environment. After that just follow the instructions in the gentoo handbook for installing grub.

Having the knoppix livecd would also solve your partitioning problem as it comes with qtparted, which is a nice partition magic clone.

thanks a lot for the response. that sounds like it's exactly what i was looking for. i thought i'd be able to chroot into the system to install grub, but was afraid of trying without another person's opinion first....as i didn't want to mess up my gentoo installation or make it impossible to use.

i'll work on getting knoppix also....sounds very full of features. i've used qtparted in the past, and gparted and i know they're both very good partitoining tools. i'll get knoppix and repartition using it.

thanks again for the quick reply