Dual booting Fedora Core 3 with Windows XP

RIgnazio · #1 8th April 2005, 10:58 PM

Hi. I currently am running FC3 and GRUB as a bootloader. What I was wondering is if I wanted to dual-boot Windows XP, could I make FC3 use the Windows Boot Loader? Or could I make Windows use the GRUB bootloader?

Someone please offer assistance

thlsmith · #2 8th April 2005, 11:13 PM

Hi, i currently have a dual boot configuration with win2K using the grub boot loader although I think the windows boot loader can be used as well.

After installing windows, the master boot record generally gets clobbered and replaced by their boot loader (but a boot record still gets installed onto the boot record of the disk that you install windows to), so all you have to do after installing windows is go back into fc3 (using the rescue mode of the install disk) and reinstall grub and make an entry for windows in the /boot/grub/grub.conf file.

I think i have had a dual boot configuration before using the windows boot loader but I can't remember how I managed it (or why I wanted to!).

baz2a · #3 8th April 2005, 11:15 PM

can make windows use grub...get your hard drives setup/partitioned like you wish. then either install/keep your existing copy of win xp. once you have win xp fully tended to install fc3 to an extra hard drive/partition. when fc3 finishes installing and you reboot grub will have a listing for other (during install, grub will detect win xp and will list it as other).

if you are have linux in place and you want to install win xp to a partition, start your win xp install, reboot and get to desktop. restart computer with your fc3 install disk. at install prompt type "linux rescue". this will start a rescue mode that boots off of cd...i've followed the prompts and when you do get to a shell type "chroot /mnt/sysimage" (specific command is listed during rescue startup). once you do the above chroot /mnt/sysimage...type "grub-install /dev/hd#" # = where ever bootloader is...i have 2 hd's...hda is windows hdb is fc3 so on my machine i have to type "grub-install /dev/hda" after that i reboot and grub is restored and you should have listings for both FC3 and windows.

this is condensed, as i have 5 minutes to clock out and leave work, but should get you up and going...if i've missed something, feel free to ask and i'll try to clarify

RIgnazio · #4 8th April 2005, 11:16 PM

Windows boot loader: C:\boot.ini wow, can't believe I remembered that...
reason for asking is I actually have hardware that isn't working well with linux

so I need an instance of XP.

Longhorn looks to be promising, but I am not expecting much, considering it is from the World Champion of Monopolies, Microsoft

mick · #5 8th April 2005, 11:41 PM

My curiousity is piqued - do you run Linux as your first-choice system and XP just 'sometimes'?

The reason I ask is that, after being M$ free for quite some time, I put a minimal XP install on a second (real small!) drive, and only boot into it when my mom needs work done on her 'puter. Repairs and maintenance by remote are much faster than trying to walk someone through it over the telephone while trying to remember the screens.
Anyhow, XP was installed to the first partition of the second drive - jumpered as master - after unplugging the FC3 drive, and, after the configuration was perfect, rejumpered as slave, and the Linux master drive plugged back in again.

After booting into FC3, the grub.conf is changed (with thanks to 'imdveemp' for the lesson in mapping) to make the XP drive think it is the master when chosen:

title Fedora Core (2.6.10-1.770_FC3)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-1.770_FC3 ro root=LABEL=/ acpi=force quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.10-1.770_FC3.img

title WinXP
map (hd0,0) (hd1,0)
map (hd1,0) (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

I used to use a seperate bootloader, but this just seems to be a little less messy...

Mick

tista · #6 11th April 2005, 07:43 PM

hmm i had the same headache when i first install fc 3 and the config was windows xp installed first and then fedora afterwards...what i did was booting linux with xp's bootloader, it's much simpler than having to understand to map the hard drive...

anyways here are the steps to dual boot my pc...

in ur console type in the following:

dd if=/dev/hd?? of=/fedora.bin bs=512 count=1

replace the question marks with ur specific boot partition for grub, it is compulsory that the /boot partition is not the same partition as the main partition for linux cos it won't work if it is...the fedora.bin file output using that command will be created in the / directory of ur linux partition...copy this file to a floppy disk or any medium accessible by xp...

next go to windows xp's recovery console by booting from xp's installation cd and pressing R when the option to install or recover shows up...

in the console, type in:

fixboot c:

it'll then erase grub as the boot loader and install xp's...type exit to reboot...

copy fedora.bin to c:\

afterwards launch windows explorer and go to your c:\ drive...show all hidden and system files, open up boot.ini and append this command on the last line:

c:\fedora.bin="Fedora CORE 3"

save the file and restart...hope that can help...

by the way, the file name is all up to u for the fedora.bin file...good luck...