installing windows after linux

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blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 5:32 pm

for the last few days, i've been wanting to make flash movies. i downloaded flashmx demo but i couldn't get it to work in wine. so, i decided i'd put windows xp on it so i can run flash mx. but, as i already have gentoo on my system, i don't think windows will play nice with the partitions, bootloader, etc. in my fdisk, i have 30 gb of space labeled as an ntfs.

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# fdisk /dev/hda

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 7297.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
   (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/hda: 60.0 GB, 60022480896 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7297 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1           5       40131   83  Linux
/dev/hda2               6          68      506047+  82  Linux swap
/dev/hda3              69         677     4891792+  83  Linux
/dev/hda4             678        7297    53175150    5  Extended
/dev/hda5             678        2502    14659312   83  Linux
/dev/hda6            2503        3719     9775552   83  Linux
/dev/hda7            3720        7297    28740284+   7  HPFS/NTFS

will windows xp just do the 30 gb or will it ignore the mbr and reformat the whole disk? is there any way i can partition it in fat32 or somthing through linux so windows won't mess with my linux stuff? also, will i have to run the grub setup again through the livecd?

Fitzsimmons · Post by **Fitzsimmons** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 6:38 pm

If you want to go with XP I can assure you it won't partition or overwrite anything unless you directly tell it to (aside from the MBR, which you'll need to use grub/lilo on again, but your data/partitions will be safe). However, if I remember correctly, the Windows XP installer wants to be able to write to the primary partition of the first disk. I'm not sure on this, but when I wanted to do a dual harddrive install with Linux already installed on one drive, I had to physically change the harddrive settings so that XP's installer would let me continue.

My reccomendation: throw in the XP CD and see if it works. It may not let you install, but it also won't overwrite or change anything unless you ask it to.

eelke · Post by **eelke** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 6:43 pm

You have one problem, the NTFS partition should be a PRIMARY! So you will have to fix that first then you can install Windows and then you have to reinstall grub from a live-cd.

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:57 am

will i be able to make the ntfs partition primary just through fdisk without reformattting anything but the mbr?

y3t39 · Post by **y3t39** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:25 pm

eelke wrote:You have one problem, the NTFS partition should be a PRIMARY! So you will have to fix that first then you can install Windows and then you have to reinstall grub from a live-cd.

Actually, you can put your XP partition anywhere on the disk as long as windows can write to the first partition.

For example, I used to have a 15 GB XP installation at /dev/hda8 (a way logical partition), then a 15 MB VFAT at /dev/hda1 (I split it off from the beginning of my /boot) for it to stick ntldr and a few other things into.

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 12:23 am

ok, i inserted the wincd without changing everything and it seemed to go alright (have they even heard of framebuffer? come on, mandrake's installer even has aa fonts!) and i got this at the partitioning scheme

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F:Partition1 [unknown]               39 mb [39 free]
G:Partition1 [unknown]               494 mb [494 free]
H:Partition1 [unknown]               4777 mb [4777 free]
I:Partition1 [unknown]               14316 mb [14316 free]
J:Partition1 [unknown]               9546 mb [9546 free]
K:Partition1 [unknown]               28067 mb [28067 free]

i could select any partition. i didn't go past selecting on though. they seem to correspond as

/dev/hda1=F
/dev/hda2=G
/dev/hda3=H
/dev/hda5=I
/dev/hda6=J
/dev/hda7=K

so it doesn't seem to mind that. but before i go and install it, should i back up my boot partition or anything? or is /boot different from the mbr?

P.S. offtopic, but why when i search for the string "installing windows after linux" in the search box for this forum, this thread is nowhere in the search results?

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 1:54 am

actually, is there a good flash clone for linux that i could use so i don't have to have windows in any way, shape, or form on my computer?

grover · Post by **grover** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 3:36 am

y3t39 wrote:
eelke wrote:You have one problem, the NTFS partition should be a PRIMARY! So you will have to fix that first then you can install Windows and then you have to reinstall grub from a live-cd.
Actually, you can put your XP partition anywhere on the disk as long as windows can write to the first partition.

For example, I used to have a 15 GB XP installation at /dev/hda8 (a way logical partition), then a 15 MB VFAT at /dev/hda1 (I split it off from the beginning of my /boot) for it to stick ntldr and a few other things into.

Not quite true. Windows can't install to a partition if it is past the 137gig mark. I left 15 gig free at the end of the my 160gig drive in case I needed windows for something but Windows won't install to it.

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:22 am

as i only have 60 gbs, that shouldn't be a problem

vdboor · Post by **vdboor** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 7:56 am

blendmaster wrote:should i back up my boot partition or anything? or is /boot different from the mbr?

Quite a lot. The MBR is the first data block on your disk, before any partition (like /dev/hda1) starts. Afaik, it's the part that is loaded by your bios to start your computer.

windows installs a small program there redirecting the cpu to NTLDR.exe
If you run lilo, it will install a different program there.

After you've installed linux, the mbr will be overwritten, but don't worry. From a live-cd, run these commands:

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mkdir /disk
mount /dev/hda3 -t ext3 /disk
cd /disk
chroot /disk
source /etc/profile
lilo
exit

this mounts your root partition, opens a new shell with the mount point as new root, and runs lilo from there.

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Sun Oct 10, 2004 5:06 pm

i use grub, so after i install windows, i should put in the livecd, chroot to my partitions, and run grub-install? is there anything else i should do?

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:30 am

actually, i think im going to wait till i get a new motherboard for decemberween(hopefully). that way, i can install windows before linux.

vdboor · Post by **vdboor** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:29 pm

blendmaster wrote:i use grub, so after i install windows, i should put in the livecd, chroot to my partitions, and run grub-install? is there anything else i should do?

NO

nfc5382 · Post by **nfc5382** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:41 pm

vdboor wrote:
blendmaster wrote:i use grub, so after i install windows, i should put in the livecd, chroot to my partitions, and run grub-install? is there anything else i should do?
NO

your /boot partition will not be effected correct? I'm in the same boat (gentoo is up, installing windoze next). So I dont have to backup my /boot? Just rerun grub-install after windows install?

here is my partition scheme:

hda1 * /boot 50MB
hda2 /swap 512MB
hda3 windows ~30GB
hda4 /linux ~30GB

cptmorgan · Post by **cptmorgan** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:11 pm

why dont you just install xp on the new partition, boot off the live-cd when done, chroot and fdisk to change bootable flag on linux boot partition and reinstall grub to the mbr ??? ive done it 100x

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:48 pm

its not imperitave that i get windows on my box. and, im hoping for an asus 87n7x(i think) nforce2 ultra mobo for decemberween. since i'll reinstall gentoo anyway(for new optimizations and such) ill just install windows first that time.

nfc5382 · Post by **nfc5382** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:16 am

cptmorgan wrote:why dont you just install xp on the new partition, boot off the live-cd when done, chroot and fdisk to change bootable flag on linux boot partition and reinstall grub to the mbr ??? ive done it 100x

worked great, dual booting with no probs

cptmorgan · Post by **cptmorgan** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:27 am

nfc5382 wrote:
cptmorgan wrote:why dont you just install xp on the new partition, boot off the live-cd when done, chroot and fdisk to change bootable flag on linux boot partition and reinstall grub to the mbr ??? ive done it 100x
worked great, dual booting with no probs

good to hear

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 1:11 am

cptmorgan wrote:why dont you just install xp on the new partition, boot off the live-cd when done, chroot and fdisk to change bootable flag on linux boot partition and reinstall grub to the mbr ??? ive done it 100x

sigh, no new motherboard. what do u mean by changing the bootable flag?

Xaid · Post by **Xaid** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:57 am

hmm, I have a 200 gb hd, I installed linux first and left around 20 gb for wins to be installed later if i ever need it...so this means I cant do it since the partition for wins is /dev/sda6 and way beyond the 136 gb mark

? (it doesnt have to be XP, win2k will do just fine (if it actually makes a diff)), and I wont use NTFS, since vfat is good enough for what I need (I need to be able to rw to it from Linux).
if thats not possible then hell with it, i'll reformat that idle vfat partition to ext3 and use it for something constructive.

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:16 am

well, i tried installing winxp professional today. i got to the point of choosing a partition to install on. since the 30gb left over was specified as a partition, i deleted it to make it "unpartitioned space", and pushed C to create a new partition. it then was labeled

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Partition 6 [New(Raw)]

i selected it and pushed enter but then it gave me a message that said somthing like

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The disk has no windowsxp compatible partition please go back and select another partition

i tried deleting it and remaking the partition, but it gave the same message. i then tried just deleting the last partition and selecting to install it on the "unpartitioned space" but it just created another "New(Raw)" partition and gave the same message. a strange thing though was at the create new partition screen it didn't give me any options except the size. isn't it supposed to ask u whether to make it ntfs or fat32 or does it ask that later?

blendmaster · Post by **blendmaster** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:21 pm

it seems that ellke is right and its not working because it cant write to the first partition. so now, how do i split of my boot partition?

UPDATE: damn, i cant split it because then id have 4 primarys, which isn't possible. what im thinking now is if i convert my /dev/hda1 to fat32 and use it for windows, can make a new boot partition just before my windows partition. does the boot partition have to be primary or anything?