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Linux & Duel Boot
I am building a desktop & would like to duel boot with Linuz & Windows XP. I need someone with Linux savy to tell me if the components I have is adequate for Linux. Power Supply: Corsair 650 W. Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H. Memory: Corsair XMS3 (2X2 GB) DDR3 1333. CPU: AMD Athlon II x4 640. HDD 2x Seagate barracuda 7200.12 500 GB. Case: Cooler Master Gladiator 600.
I plan to load each OS onto it's own HDD & wifh seperate internet security for each, in other words, two seperate operating systems. I know the components are OK for XP, what I don't know, are they OK for Linus.
Also, which Linux OS would be recomended?
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I would recommend you try Fedora or Ubuntu just b/c they are so user-friendly and you'll have a lot of community support with them (my personal choice is Fedora but whatever). They are both very friendly to dual-boot scenarios, too. Honestly, most Linux distros these days are dual-boot friendly.
I would also recommend trying the "Live CD/DVD" approach first, to see if the Linux distro you choose works best for you (are all hardware devices working properly, etc.). Then when you're happy, you can actually install it.
Good luck!
-bill
If your going to use Windows XP, that should be installed first, since, windows tends to overwrite anything else on the hard disk. Linux can be put on second, and it will recognize Windows XP and make an entry in the bootloader for it.
If you have anymore questions as you think about your setup, please ask.
The thing you must remember about dual booting with windows is that windows must be installed on the first hard drive and installed first, windows expects to be the first OS and throws fits if it is not, also if it is installed second it will blow the bootloader from the other OS off of the computer.
Each distro's forums, it seems, has at least one thread that explains how this is done. That's because most folks don't ask first like you did, and have to restore the Linux bootloader after Windows overwrites it. Restoring the Linux bootloader is also fairly simple, but it's easier to add a couple lines to grub, than do a grub restore.
So, if you need further explanation, have more questions or need more step by step instructions, please ask.
Thanks
Yes. If you install Xp after you installed linux, you will overwrite linux's boot loader. Then you will have to manually re-write the bootloader for linux and windows to use.
It does not matter what hard drive your OS is installed on, it still needs the boot loader to load the system. The loader will install itself on every hard drive it finds that has an OS on it so it can boot.
It is much easier to install windows first then linux.B)
I'm not an Ubuntu fan but... all that's debatable.
You can give a try to OpenSuse or Fedora which are "friendly" to newcomers
Regards