Dual Boot

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Hi

I’ve been using Fedora 8 for a while and want to try a differnt Linux distro. Guys at university like openSuse, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m still a noob with Linux.

I have a Dell Latitude D830 laptop, with three partitions: Windows XP, a Linux partition (with Fedora) and a data partition, which both Windows and Fedora access.

I don’t mind openSuse overwriting Fedora but I can’t lose Windows. the data is all backed up, but I’d prefer not to have to reinstall it. My question is: if I accept the openSuse deafults when I use the installation CD, will my Windows OS and data partitions be OK - i.e. will openSuse automatically use the Linux partition?

Thanks

#2

@aescott;

Pls do not use the defaults offered by openSUSE.You have to make few changes in the options/choices and then only proceed with installation.

Cheers

#3

Also, when you select your choices, make sure you mount /windows/c and /home because SuSE won’t automatically do it for you except in automatic mode - which you don’t want.

#4

OK, I’m a bit confused here. The deafault options gave me windows mounted as Windows/c and Windows/D - I only have one version of Windows.

Is there somewhere I can get a dummy’s guide to what all the installation options mean, and what each one will do?

#5

Those mountpoints for windows (C and D) are where the system will mount your two windows partitions so you can access the data.

Check the bootloader options while installing to make sure there’s an option to boot Windows.
If there’s not, you can solve that during install or later.

#6

> Is there somewhere I can get a dummy’s guide to what all the
> installation options mean, and what each one will do?

new to SUSE? read before you install:
http://tinyurl.com/3vwrzl

these MIGHT HELP (i’ve not used then because i have only X, that is i
don’t have any MS-Windows[tm])

Partitioning/Install Guide
http://tinyurl.com/6mu7rm

HowTo Boot / Multiboot openSUSE and Windows (2000, XP, Vista - any mix)
using the GRUB bootloader
http://tinyurl.com/5eqy8k

–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315)
A Texan in Denmark

#7

Even better solution - I’ve got rid of the Windows partition completely and now run it under VirtualBox when I need to.

#8

aescott wrote:

> Even better solution - I’ve got rid of the Windows partition completely
> and now run it under VirtualBox when I need to.

Same here. It has several advantages over the dual boot approach. For one
thing, I do not have to create a special FAT32 partition to put files I
want to share between Linux and windows. I put them in a normal directory
on an ext3 partition (/home for example), and access it in windows as a
shared folder.

Even more significant, I can continue to get useful work done on the Linux
desktop even after windows (or the winapp) crashes. I may be wrong, but I
kinda think windows even re-boots faster in VirtualBox than it does native.