Dual Boot Linux with vista already installed

Question

Hi

I have bought a new XPS 1530 laptop with vista already installed. I wanted to have Linux installed on to it.

For this reason i had searched this forum for any tips and most of them were redirecting to this site

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first.htm

Though this links happens to be very useful i have my own apprehensions.:smileyindifferent:

Firstly the links asks to shrink the volume. Is this safe? Can i bring back to the normal condition if anything goes wrong?

I guess the boatload is different for Vista so i had the option of moving to XP but due the the drivers non availability i had to leave this option.

I am bit new to this stuff so if anyone could answer these questions i would be deeply indebted.

I had these questions asked in my previous posts as well but i got answers in bits and pieces.

I would really like to know has anyone tried the way the link suggests to go with before? Or is there any other alternative. I have 4 partitions already created(i guess). One being for the MBR, second for the C drive, Third for the D and 4 for the backup.There is lot of free space on my D drive which could be utilised for this purpose. If somebody could suggest me their views on it i will try it out.

Thanks:smileytongue:

GrtArtiste · Answer

I followed the instructions from apcmag to dual boot Ubuntu 8.04 on the XPS 400 w/XP SP3 and it went without a hitch. I'd guess that the instructions for a dual boot w/Vista are just as good. My two caveats are: that I didn't want to allocate 50% of the C drive to Ubuntu, and ended up manually selecting a partition of approx 35GB. Probably should've made it larger, but oh well. The other thing I would not do w/Vista is jump through all those hoops to keep Windows as the default OS during boot. Way over my head, but your mileage may vary. I find that booting Ubuntu first works well for me. I can boot to it much faster than XP, so I do what I need to in Linux first and then reboot into Windows and let it load.

kevpan815 · Answer

The best way 2 set up a duel boot between Vista and Linux is 2 use Ubuntu's Wubi.exe File on http://www.ubuntu.com (assuming that you are interested in running Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS, and NOT Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 3 (does not work yet), and/or a different Linux Distro), just fyi.

Edmin · Answer

Can you please shed some more light on this please? Have been able to dual boot with the procedure you said? And is it Vista that you are using?

srjs8812 · Answer

Wubi is geared more as an introduction to Ubuntu and installs ubuntu into a single large file under vista that can later be removed. After it is installed, whenever you want to boot into one or the other, you just choose which one you want at boot.

While this is approach is good for absolute newbies that don't want to possibly damage their Windows install, it is fairly new, and I have heard of quite a number of problems associated with it. It is only meant as an introduction; for a fully stable installation, the best method is installing Ubuntu into its own partition. Therefore, if you are planning on using your Ubuntu installation for a decent length of time, I would recommend against using the wubi.exe installer.

The procedure outlined in the APC magazine article is completely safe to try. I have never corrupted a Windows Partition using the Ubuntu partition manager. If you still feel aprehensive about doing it though, you could resize the Windows partition from within Vista, and then allocate the space to ubuntu later. From a technical standpoint, this is your "safest" bet, as Vista was designed to handle its own partitions specifically (though like I said the Ubuntu partitioner is just as safe).

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Dual Boot Linux with vista already installed

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