How to install ubuntu with dual boot on laptop

[prasad at i2r.a-star.edu.sg]

Hi,

Your instructions are clear but does this method prevent overwriting MBR of windows ? I had read in few places that dual boot installations should be done carefully not to disturb MBR else some unwanted "side effects" may appear. How to care of this part ? 

P

----- Original Message -----
From: Arun Bhanu <arun at codemovers.org>
Date: Saturday, November 6, 2004 1:52 pm
Subject: Re: How to install ubuntu with dual boot on laptop

> On 09:52 Sat 06 Nov     , prasad at i2r.a-star.edu.sg wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I have a IBM Thinkpad T30 laptop running windows XP and with 
> lots of data. Is there a way to safely install ubuntu linux to co-
> exist with Windows XP so that during boot time, I can choose linux 
> as an option if I want else boot normally with Windows XP ? Is 
> there any step-by-step guide available so that I can safely 
> install ubuntu linux from my downloaded CD image  without losing 
> my WIndows partition and data ? 
> 
> You will need atleast one extra partition to install Ubuntu. If you
> don't have one, in WinXP you can install PartitionMagic and resize an
> existing partition to make room for an extra partition. Another option
> would be to boot with a Knoppix cd and use QTParted.
> 
> It is also recommended to make a small partition for swap 
> space(virtualmemory). Formula generally used is 2x size of 
> available memory. For e.g,
> if you have 256MB of memory, create a partition of size 512MB for swap
> space.
> 
> Then follow along the installation guide[1].
> 
> [1] 
> http://www.ubuntulinux.org/support/documentation/howto/installation-i386
> 
> The installation should detect your WinXP installation and add it 
> to the
> boot menu along with Ubuntu.
> 
> If you really care about your data, I recommend you do some backup
> before attempting any of the above. It is pretty safe, but you never
> know what will happen.
> 
> Cheers,
> Arun...
>