How to make XP and Linux systems co-exist with each other

How to make XP and Linux systems co-exist with each other

I. Installation

1. First of all assume that you have installed Windows XP, and the partition format is FAT32;

2. Preparatory work prior to the installation of Redhat: use some partitioning tools (such as pqmagic) to make some free space on your hard disk (meaning the space has not yet been partitioned, neither specify the file system nor assign the letter), and the size of the space depends on the installation of the redhat you choose, The general 5G is enough;

3. With Redhat installation CD-ROM guide system, according to the prompts to configure the language, keyboard, mouse, upgrade check, installation Type page;

4. After entering the disk partition Setup page, select Auto Partition, and in the next page, select "Save all partitions, use free space"; Click "Next" and the installer will create all the partitions (including a/boot partition, a root partition, and a swap area) that you need for your Linux system. Generally do not need to modify the direct access to the following settings;

Note: On the disk partition Setup page you will see a list box with a list of your hard drives-

The way Linux identifies a hard disk is different from Windows, and if you're using an IDE hard disk, your first hard drive is identified as/dev/hda the second block is/dev/hdb, and so on; and the first partition of the first hard disk is identified as/dev/hda1 the second partition is/ Dev/hda2 and so on; if it is a SCSI hard drive, it is the/DEV/SDA,/dev/sdb form.

5. Next is the key to the coexistence of the two enemies--the Bootstrapper Settings page, the installer provides you with two programs to boot the system--grub and Lilo, the default is grub, you do not need to change the boot program, choose Grub, and select "Configure Advanced Options"; Go to the next Advanced Options page.

Note: GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader) is a powerful boot program. GRUB is able to boot Windows--grub load windows through a chained load mechanism, and then the Windows Bootstrapper is loaded into Windows.

LILO (Linux LOader) is a flexible, versatile boot loader for Linux. It does not rely on a particular file system to boot a Linux kernel image from floppy disks and hard disks, and even to boot other operating systems.

6. On the Advanced Option page, determine the installation location with the master boot Record (MBR) selected;

7. Follow the prompts to complete the page after the setup, restart you can see a beautiful guide interface, choose a different entry can be entered into two operating systems respectively!

[--ntfs--]

If your Windows XP system uses an NTFS partition, it's a bit of a hassle, because neither Linux nor Grub can understand NTFS; the steps mentioned above are the same, but in step 6th you select the first sector of the boot partition and note the identity of the installation location (here with/dev /hda9 as an example) in addition, at the end of the installation to be prompted to do a boot floppy disk; so that you can enter Linux after the installation is complete, you need to do the following steps:

1. Boot into Linux with floppy disk;

2. Insert a blank floppy disk;

3. Enter in the shell:

Mount-t msdos/dev/fd0/mnt

DD if=/dev/hda9 Of=/mnt/bootrec bs=512 count=1

Umount/mnt

4. Restart into Windows XP, copy the Bootrec file on the floppy disk to the C disk, modify the Boot.ini file, and add c:ootrec= "Linux" line to the [operating systems] section

The modified Boot.ini form is as follows:

[boot loader]

Timeout=30

Default=multi (0) disk (0) rdisk (0) partition (1) WINDOWS

[Operating Systems]

multi (0) disk (0) rdisk (0) partition (1) windows= "Microsoft WINDOWS XP Professional"/fastdetect

C:ootrec= "Linux"

5. After the reboot will appear the selection menu, select the Linux entry can enter Linux.