Laptop installation

[Avraham Hanadari]

On Mon, 2009-04-20 at 10:49 +0200, Nils Kassube wrote:
> Avraham Hanadari wrote:
> > Ubuntu 8.1 is running fine, if slowly, on my test machine (470.5
> > MiB), dual booted with XP Pro. I would like to install 9.04 on my HP
> > Pavilion with Vista Home Premium, but I have read horror stories
> > about partitioning an HD with Vista installed, and about GRUB access
> > difficulties after installation. I have also read that the new 9.04
> > manages to partition a Vista machine well. I guess I just need
> > someone who has done it to give me directions.
> 
> Vista comes with a tool to resize partitions. I suggest to use that tool 
> because Microsoft should know best how to resize NTFS partitions 
> without data loss. Then it should be no problem to install Ubuntu to 
> the now free space on the disk.
> 
> What horror stories of grub problems are you talking about?
> 
> 
> Nils
> 
When I last tried to make a partition in a Vista HD a couple of years
ago, I discovered that I could only "resize" partitions, but not make
them. I have a singel, unpartitioned HD on the laptop right now. I shall
try again. Perhaps upgrades have changed the conditions. On the other
hand, I have read that the Ubuntu partition manager is very good, and is
preferable to the MS one.

The last I read about installing Ubuntu in a dual boot on a Vista
machine explained that the installation was inaccessible afterwards
because of some booting properties peculiar in Vista. It was explained
that special software needed to be installed in Vista "before" the
Ubuntu installation. That software somehow enabled access to the GRUB
boot loader, or maybe it was LILO.

Have you had personal experience installing 9.04 in a dual boot on an HP
Vista laptop?

Thanks in advance, 
Avraham