dual boot with 2 drives

Liam Proven lproven at gmail.com
Wed Sep 15 14:19:52 UTC 2010


On 15 September 2010 14:25, Norman Silverstone <norman at littletank.org> wrote:
> < Snip >
>> >
>> > I have looked into using XP in a virtual window and have just wasted a
>> > week trying to get a piece of equipment to work which works out of the
>> > box on a pure XP machine.
>> >
>> > I have a working drive with Ubuntu 9.10 and all my files and I have
>> > other hard drives that I can use for the XP Pro installation so, please,
>> > can someone tell me the best way to proceed. I accept there are
>> > alternatives but at least I would then have a choice.
>>
>> Fit hard disk 1, on its own. Install XP. Patch to current.
>
> What does patch to current mean, please.

Ah, right, sorry. I mean install the latest Service Pack, IE8, and run
Windows Update until it says no more updates are available. "Patch"
means "apply patches", as in, updates and hotfixes and so on, and
"current" means your system is at the current revision level, in other
words, there are no outstanding fixes or anything.

>> Fit hard disk 2, as secondary after HD1. Install Ubuntu 10.04. Use 3
>> partitions, no more, no less: one smallish one for root, one of 2GB
>> for swap, the rest for /home.
>>
>> Re-fit old hard disk with Ubuntu on it as HD3. Extract whatever you
>> want from your old home directory into your new one. If necessary use
>> a LiveCD for this, so you can replace files that are in use.
>
> All this seems perfectly sensible and straightforward and well within my
> capabilities, thanks. However, how I will I be able to choose which
> system to boot from?

Good stuff, and you're welcome!

When you install Ubuntu, it will install a boot loader on the first
hard disk. This little program is called GRUB2 and every time you
start the computer it will display a menu allowing you to choose which
operating system you want to boot.

But the key thing is that for this to happen, Ubuntu has to be
installed /after/ Windows. If you put Ubuntu on first, Windows removes
the bootloader and puts its own on, and that stops you booting Ubuntu.

It's also possible to do it by having the 2 HDs in the machine at
separate times, so that neither OS knows about the other, and using
the BIOS to choose which hard disk to boot from. Some people prefer it
this way; it seems clunkier to me, but your mileage may vary, as they
say.

-- 
Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven
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