Please can anyone put me through the process of running two OS on my pc? i want to run linux(ubuntu or any other) and windows and i don't know how to go about it. Someone told me something about partitioning my hard disk but what is it all about?
n/b
i have a 100gb hard disk space and a 1024ram.

Or better still. Partition ur disk into 4 . C,D,E,F
install widows xp on C
Install ubuntu on E and F
E for the root
F for the swap


have a nice day

thanks sbucareer. This looks like a though job though

First decide which OS will be the host and which will be the guest. Then google, you'll find many answers.

sbucareer pretty much laid it down. My only additions:

1. Repeating sbucareer's comments: You MUST install Windows first.
2. I see you have quite a large disk space so sizing the partitions shouldn't be too hard but things depend on how you use your machines. My point is that since both cannot access each other's file system where you keep your personal files and data is important. I run Vista and Ubuntu and although I use Ubuntu more often sometimes I'll need to work on Vista. To address the situation I have a separate FAT32 partition where I store my personal stuff which allows me to access(i.e Read + Write) my stuff independently of which OS I'm running but this is my setting. Handling FAT32 file systen is a well implemented in both. You may choose to set up your differently. Linux can access NTFS with Read access and although there are third party plug-ins to allow write access I WOULD NOT recommend it. Windows cannot access Ext2/Ext3 (Linux's file system) naturally but there is a third party plug-in(which I also have installed and use sometimes ) that allows you Read and Write access to your Linux partition and although I haven't had or heard it misbehave I still wouldn't recommend it.

Overall partitions is a very tricky area that you should tread carefully unless you have good experience and knowledge on them, and even if you do you should still play safe. A rule of thumb is that you have a back-up of what's most important to you externally because you may have to re-install some thing, some time when things to wrong. If you use you Windows more often and Linux sparingly then you may simply keep your stuff on your Windows partition and mount NTFS whenever you boot into Linux. If you're using Linux more often then I'll assume you're a Linux head and I need say no more.

kudos to sbucareer,cocoon,icon, & rof-imao,they have said it all.but if u dont have the prerequisite experience,contact system engineer close to u to put u through.

Icon:

First decide which OS will be the host and which will be the guest. Then google, you'll find many answers.

I want linux as the guest OS, cos i am still learning it.

krysto:

kudos to sbucareer,cocoon,icon, & rof-imao,they have said it all.but if u don't have the prerequisite experience,contact system engineer close to u to put u through.

Thanks but i will rather do it on my own and learn

@rof-lmao
Thanks a lot.

You can do it, just google "partition tutorial with fdisk" or something like that. In 1-3hrs you should know how to partition. If you are lazy grab partition magic off a torrent. If you don't know what a torrent is, google it.

I will suggest going for a virtualisation-based solution as this also allows you to run the
second OS in a virtual terminal. This is the latest trend in running multiple OS on a single
Host

The two big players are VMware and Apple Parallels. I have a Windows XP PRO notebook
and run Ubuntu in a VMware Workstation. You can readily switch/ share resources
such as USB, CD-ROM etc between your Virtual OS and your underlining OS.


More information can be gotten from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware

http://www.vmware.com/

How can i install win 98 with win xp?
win xp is already installed.
Please advise?

I don't see the need to go back to Win 98, you can do it from Win XP.

I'd recommend you download Dualboot, it's a free program and it works really well.

Be careful which filesystem you format your different partitions too, NTFS, FAT32 etc.

i have a flash disk which has a privacy password that encrypts about 220 mb of 256mb.
I wrongly formatted the disk and now i have only 25mb to use.
I have the software to regain it but it will only run on win 98.
What do u think?

I'd suggest u use vmware.with vmware u can run multiple operating systems on ur pc.No need to partition ur hard disk.

I suggest you try and install vmware you can download it online or if you live around surulere i can help you with it, call 08026604109

i have same issue with robby.i just both a laptop early this year with vista as OS though i need an application that does not support vista.
i've been reading your advises but frankly speaking i dont know much about pc. can you give me an advise as to who to contact to help me
install 2 OS in my laptop.Vista and XP, greatly appreciate any help

@ chris holla @ me i will get it done 4 u. 08026604109 or 07025143249

ObaMan:

i have a flash disk which has a privacy password that encrypts about 220 mb of 256mb.
I wrongly formatted the disk and now i have only 25mb to use.
I have the software to regain it but it will only run on win 98.
What do u think?

If you're using linux as that is very easy with Gparted with allows you to delete the file system of the flash and also allow you to use other file system such as ext3 or ext2 on the flash which will restore back your flash.


@subcareer
Nice tutorial but this long and geek stuff will scare a chronic noob, but to me its just the best way thru.

OR
As subcareer said earlier install windows first then get tools like partition magic and shrink your hardisk to assuming you want 20gb for linux out of the 100gb then shrink your drive to bring out that 20gb you want and leave it raw and boot from linux and lunch the installer and choose use largest continuous free space voila thats it. There are other method . Good luck

@subcareer
Long time

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_windows_xp_and_linux_xp_installed_first.htm for xp and ubuntu

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm for vista and ubuntu

Hello all. I already have the two operating systems installed but I want to delete the UNIX. How do I go about it?

naturally, i presume the other os is windows?

well if that is so, removing the other os may be as simple as just formatting the partition!! no big deal.
BUT THE PRIMARY QUESTION IS WHAT BOOTLOADER ARE U USING?

are you using grub? or the windows boot loader?
if you are using grub, then u need to have a windows operating system cd handy, because after formatting the partition, you will need to repair the bootloader with the windows bootloader. (you do that by running fixmbr in command ternimal after booting the os cd, OR much easier just choose the repair option from the cd menu dialog.

because windows does not normally handle ext partitions, the installation disk will come in handy as when you run the cd, when you get to the disk partitioner, you will see the ext partition listed as unknown or raw partition, u can thn format it.

or even easier, use gparted or partition magic. gparted comes with most new unix os like ubuntu, when you boot them in live user mode(DO NOT MOUNT A PARTITION YOU WANT TO FORMAT OR YOUR ALLOCATION TABLES MAY BE MESSED UP) gparted or other standalone partition tools are the easiest way anyway.

Sorry am not too concise or clear, teaching has never been my strong point,

Friend here I am going to talk about "Dual Boot" in my ways, How I learnt and did.


Dual Boot means, you have Two Operating Systems in one Pc. You have to select which operating system to boot up with at Start Up.

Other option is to use a Virtual Machine. In this process, you will be able to run one operating system within the other one. The plus point of using virtual machine is, you can run both OS at the same time. But for this you need a powerful PC at last Dual Core or higher and 2 GB of RAM or higher.
Suppose you have Xp instead on your Pc and want to install Windows 7 on you present System volume without losing any files. Follow the steps below:

***Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS. Insert your Windows 7 boot disk and boot in command prompt mood.

*** Shrink The XP Volume( System Volume):
*Type "diskpart" on command prompt and Press Enter.
*Type "list volume" and press Enter to see the Partitions List.
*Type "select volume #" ( # = Volume number) and press Enter to select a volume.
*Type "shrink querymax" and press Enter.
*Now type the amount of MB you want to "Shrink desired=#" ( # = amount of MB) and Enter.
*Type "exit" and press Enter.
Note: 1024 MB = 1 GB, Windows 7 will need a minimum of 16 GB ( 16384 MB).

*** Now complete setup and restart your PC to have the option to boot from Earlier Version of Windows ( Windows Xp) or Windows 7.
If it is only booting Windows 7 automatically and do not show Windows Xp listed in the Windows Boot Manager, then you can try any boot manager software to add Windows Xp in Windows Boot Manager.