Announcement

**Fintan** · Jun 02, 2007, 12:41 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Welcome to kubuntu

35gb root (/)
35gb home (/home) OR shared FAT32 partition
2gb swap (swap)

I would add a fat32 partition to the list to "share" between your 2 os's. That is what I do and put all of my data on that partition.You don't need 32gb for root or /home. 6-10 for each should be ample. That should also answer your other question. I also use a vmware partition of about 20gb so I don't have to reboot to change from one os to another. But that another story.

To do your partitioning / resizing please don't use qtparted. It is flaky at best. Get yourself the gparted live cd here:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php
That site also has valid info an partitioning so it is a good read.

While your at it get youself the super grub cd:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzo...uper_Grub_Disk

When you are finished do your install with manual mode and chose your mount points. If you have data on your data partition (fat32) do not format that at install.

Well that should do it

Enjoy.

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 10:03 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Cool, thanks...
I'm downloading "gparted-livecd-0.3.4-7.iso." Is this the correct disc image I am supposed to download?
Also, GParted is able to resize NTFS partitions right? I'll google after I post this to see if it can resize NTFS partitions. EDIT: I googled it, it looks like it can resize NTFS partitions.

If 6-10gb each is enough for root and home, I will change that to: (I have a huge hard drive, It doesn't matter how much I use)

20gb root and /home (should I make a separate partition for /home even though most of my data will be on the shared fat32?)
32gb shared fat32 (Where I will store all my data, My Documents Folder, etc.) (Is 32gb the max you can have for fat32? I've heard several places that fat32 partitions should not be over 32gb)
4gb swap (I have a huge harddrive so it doesn't matter if I'm using a lot)

What is the "Super Grub CD"?

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 10:31 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Here's great guidance on how to partition for a dual-boot system:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning

GParted is the right way to do it. As you can see by reading the link, using the FAT32 filesystem is really optional -- FS-Drive is another option, and there are other ways too. I've been running Win XP in a VMWare Player window, for example.

YES, you should make a separate /home partition, even though you plan to have your data shared. If nothing else, you can use /home as a backup copy of the shared data, in case anything bad happens on the Windows side.

8 GB would be plenty for /, 2GB is more than you'll ever need for /{swap}, and you can make /home about equal to the data space that you plan for the Windows side, so one can be the backup for the other.

Super Grub will help you get out of trouble if your attempts to set up the dual boot don't go right -- you might find you ONLY have Linux on your boot screen menu, or you ONLY have Windows, and then you'll have to get some more help and Super Grub will come in handy at that point.

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 10:56 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

I read through that partition guide thing you posted. It said somewhere in there that there is a program FS-Drive to have Windows read&write to EXT3. But is there a way to do it the opposite way (Linux read and write to NTFS? I heard there was something but you would get corrupted data if you wrote to it). That would be nice, because then I wouldn't need a shared partition.

So how does this partition setup look:
If I can read&write NTFS from Linux:
10gb root
2gb swap
50gb home
left over space goes to windows

If I can't read&write NTFS from Linux:
10gb root
2gb swap
32gb home
32gb shared fat32
left over space goes to windows

(My hard drive is 250gb)

Thanks for your time...

Super Grub will help you get out of trouble if your attempts to set up the dual boot don't go right -- you might find you ONLY have Linux on your boot screen menu, or you ONLY have Windows, and then you'll have to get some more help and Super Grub will come in handy at that point.

Let's hope that doesn't happen.... :P (I'm assuming that I probably won't get that error, but just to be safe, how would I make sure to prevent that from that happening?)

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 11:09 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

That looks great. The only concern might be, 50GB looks huge until you start loading music file or lots of digital photos or videos into it, and then it kinda disappears. That's your business -- just pointing out what experience has taught me.

Your Kubuntu Linux will read the ntfs file system just fine, so you can get files out of the "My Documents" folder in Windows if you need them. But it won't be able to write to it, so you can't save anything there from the Linux side. So, you can limit that to 10 or 15 GB if you want, and then have the FAT32 partition for shared data, if you want to do it that way, or else use the FS-Drive approach if you want.

Another consideration is that there are a few applications that are so Windows-centric that it's somewhere between real difficult and impossible to get them to work under Linux. Here are 3 examples:

- Motorola Phone Tools (app for their cell phones, via USB cable)
- BIOS flash tool for some motherboards are only for Windows
- some "tweakers" tools for motherboard overclocking and benchmarking

So it makes sense to have a small Windows installation, just in case you have to have it for one these things. But for all the "major" things, including office productivity tasks, image and music editing and playing, etc., the capabilities of Linux are pretty sufficient for the majority of folks.

Hope this helps! 8)

EDIT: On your final question, if you install WinXP first, then Kubuntu, it's pretty rare to have a problem with the Grub file and boot menu. Just let the Kubuntu installer do its natural thing, and you should be fine.

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 11:22 AM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

OK, I think I'm pretty much set up to install it.

By "FS-Drive Approach," do you mean, "store all data except Windows installation and programs on Linux then access them via FS-Drive?"

Another question: Do I have to like manually run FS-Drive or can I just go into My Computer and click on the Linux partition? Can I save to the Linux partition through the normal save function in programs?

(I'm trying to decide whether or not to put in a shared partition. Can FAT32 partitions be over 32gb?)

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 12:35 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

All I know about FS-Drive is what I read on the Psychocats page -- I've never used it so I can't advise you about it. According to what it says, it looks like you could do something like this:

1. Windows XP native partition = 15 GB (ntfs)
2. Linux root partition = 10 GB ext3
3. Linux swap partition = 2 GB
4. Linux home partition = all the rest of it, ext3

Then you would use FS-Drive, installed with Win XP, to access the data in the Linux /home partition. This approach maximizes the size of your data partition, and lets you live with the 4-partition limit for primary partitions. Install Win XP first, and then when you go to install Kubuntu it will put Grub with the Windows MBR, and your boot screen should be perfectly acceptable for booting either one.

However, if you think you are going to stay real involved with your Windows stuff, and you've got a lot of Windows software, then you might want to take that partition up to 20 GB, to be extra-safe on the size.

8)

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 01:08 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

I'm going with a fat32 shared partition I think... I can always remove it later and switch to FS-Drive right?
What do you mean by 4 "primary" partitions? Aren't the ones with XP and Linux on it the two "main" partitions? Can you explain what "primary" partitions are?

This is what I'm gonna do
15gb /
2gb swap
40gb home
32gb shared
150gb (left over) windows xp

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 01:38 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

That will work fine.

Somewhere deep in the fundamentals of PC architecture is a "4-primary partitions max" rule for hard drive partitions. You can get around it with extended partitions, but you're still limited to 4 primary. When you are playing with your GParted disk, explore the "type" field a little and you will see the choices. The boot partition, for example, has to be on a primary partition. If you Google the term, you'll be able to get the gist of it.

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 03:05 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Alright, so I make the main Windows and Linux / partitions "primary" partitions, and the rest can be extended partitions?
I already have 2 partitions on my hard drive. That won't be a problem right?
I googled it and it looks like I can make only 1 extended partition and then I can split the extended partition up. Is that how I do it?

Anyway, thanks for all your help! 8)

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 03:10 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Well, something like that will work. One of your 4 primaries is going to have to become the "holder" of the extended partitions. So probably you will need to put all of Linux into that one, with /, {swap}, and /home being in 3 extended partitions under the "holder" primary partition. I take it you wish to preserve the two existing partitions as-is? Just make sure neither is marked as "bootable" when you're looking at them with GParted. You want only the one where Windows is to be installed to be marked "bootable".

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 03:21 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Ok, I'm think I'm starting to understand-This is so complicated... Sry if I'm bothering you with all these questions

So I would do this:
Resize my current Windows XP partition
Make a primary partition which contains an extended partition which contains root home and swap
Make a shared partition, and make it a primary partition (?)
Leave my other current partition alone.
Check a box that says "bootable" for ONLY my windows partition. (?)

Then
Boot off Kubuntu cd and install
Select manually edit partitions at the partitioning step
Then "mount" the correct partitions as / and /home and swap
Install

And then they will both be installed and I can select which one I want every time I start up, right?

**dibl** · Jun 02, 2007, 03:47 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Boy, that sounds close to right. You're proposing to a couple of things that I have not done, such as having Windows share data in an extended partition, so I hate to act like an expert on that. I'd forgotten that you intend to leave your WinXP installation as is, with only a smaller partition for it. I think you're supposed to do the disk cleanup and defrag routines with it, before you go in with GParted and reduce the partition.

So, it would be like this (after cleanup & defrag):

1. Boot to the GParted live CD, resize the partition that Win XP is on to free up as much space as you want for Linux, including /home where you will have the shared data. You said 15+2+40, so you need to free up about 60 GB. Probably you will see that the Win XP partition is already marked "boot", so you won't need to change it. Just make sure none of the other partitions are so marked. I just ran GParted on another computer to remind myself what it looks like -- the "boot" indicator is called a "flag" and is on the right end of the partition.

2. Still in GParted, your new "unallocated" partition needs to have 3 extended partitions created in it, of 15, 2 and "the rest of it" sizes. You can format them if you wish, but Kubuntu is going to offer to do it again, so it kinda doesn't matter. If you do it with GParted, you will of course choose "ext3" from the format choices for / and /home, and "Linux Swap" for the 2 GB.

3. There's no special maneuver to label your Linux /home partition as "shared" -- it just will be, when you browse to it from Windows using FS-Drive.

4. With the partitions set up in GParted, the last thing you do is click "Apply" and that's when it actually does the work.

5. After ejecting the GParted CD and rebooting, let Windows come up, so you're certain there has been no adverse effects. If it's all OK (and it should be), shut down Windows and reboot to your Kubuntu CD. When it's all up and running, click "Install" and follow the instructions. Your partitions should all show up in a familiar-looking screen (it is GParted also), and you'll be invited to select the "manual" method for partitioning. Put / on the 15 GB partition, swap on the 2GB, and /home on the last one, go ahead and tell it to format them as well, and you'll be on your way. Just "return" when Grub invites you to install it, and it will go on the MBR of the Windows partition, which will be fine for your purpose.

**d41** · Jun 02, 2007, 04:05 PM

Re: Help doing a dual boot with Kubuntu and Windows XP

Ok, I'm getting closer!

3. There's no special maneuver to label your Linux /home partition as "shared" -- it just will be, when you browse to it from Windows using FS-Drive.

Actually, I was planning on making a shared FAT32 partition. I think I'll change my mind and do FS-Drive instead, though (I don't like FAT32).

You're proposing to a couple of things that I have not done, such as having Windows share data in an extended partition

If I can have 4 primary partitions I can just make the /home one primary also, right?
Can I have these primary partitions:
The two that came with my comp (I don't know if the other one is primary or not)
The one that hold the extended partition
/home

Just "return" when Grub invites you to install it, and it will go on the MBR of the Windows partition, which will be fine for your purpose.

? What does that mean? What is Grub and what is the MBR? I will google after posting....
EDIT: Oh, ok, now I understand what you mean... Maybe...

EDIT: I changed my mind again. I think I'm gonna do a shared FAT32 partition. The FS-Drive thing looks like it can only do EXT2. I can always remove that partition if I want to switch to FS-Drive, right...?

Sorry about all these questions, I just don't wanna mess up :P

Announcement

Help doing a dualboot with Kubuntu and XP - SOLVED COMPLETELY! Thanks!

Help doing a dualboot with Kubuntu and XP - SOLVED COMPLETELY! Thanks!

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment