Newbie needs help with Install!!!!

[coutts]

Greetings all!

This is my first post in this forum, but I have been following it for quite some time. I've been wanting to install Linux on my system for awhile now but keep running into problems along the way. I was hoping that some of the seasoned Linux veterans in here could give a beginner some much-needed advice! Here goes:

I want to install Red Hat Linux 8.0 on my Dell 4550 desktop running Windows XP Home. My setup is a 60 GB IDE hard drive for Windows set to Master, and a new 40 GB IDE hard drive set to Slave. I want Linux on the second drive but don't know how to set up the boot loader and all that. How do I set it up as a dual-boot? Does the Linux /boot partition have to be on the first(Master) hard drive?

My technical knowledge is average but I don't know much about partitions and that kind of thing.

I know that some of this is kind of stupid but I don't know what else to do. Any help you can give will be much appreciated!

[saikee]

Don't be silly there are newbies in here too just like yourself. I am only a month older than you.

There are many ways to do it depending on how much risk you what to take with your XP. Actually following the main route there is no risk.

A bootloader is installed by every operating system and you only need to know their behaviour mainly.

Linux can be installed in anywhere as long as it is accessible from your boot drive, which in this case is the master with the XP in it.

My recommendation is to load the Linux onto the slave and watch out during the installation on the location of the bootloader. I got a Red Hat 9 and it permits me to select Grub or Lilo. I go with Grub because it involves less work (or nearly none).

You may consider only giving 10Gb for each distro. Even a big system like Red Hat takes no more than 7Gb. A swap partition of about 2 to 3 times your physical memory is ample and can be used by other Linux. It is just a scratch area.

In your case I would create a primary partition for Red Hat and confine its bootloader within its own partition. During installation Red Hat will search your master drive and arrange XP as a boot option.

To play save I would suggest to take up Red Hat's offer to create a boot floppy.

As the RH bootloader is in the slave and you boot to the master RH will be be available only by floppy and you XP is untouched. Try the system out. If you are happy with it and can get Windows within RH's menu then you can plant RH's bootloader into the master drive's MBR. It is just one line of instruction while logging as the root user inside RH

grub-install /dev/hda

Have fun.

PS. If you want to kick RH's bootloader out of the master MBR just use the XP installation CD, go to recovery console and issue "fixmbr" at command prompt. Like I said, it is risk free.

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Latest recommendation for any user with a Master and Slave drive but nervous about the loss of Wondows

I have just done it myself so this works fine.

Assuming the Windows in Master drive and boot up as normal to start with.

Use Bios to get CDrom boot ahead of the master so that Linux can be install into the slave

Create a primary partition for the Linux and also the swap partition.

Do not let Linux install automatically. Must insist it to go to the first primary partition you created. Donot permit bootloader install into MBR but within the Linux partition. As Linux occupies the first primary partition of the slave it is equivalent putting it into the slave's MBR once the master drive is not allowed to boot before the slave. That is the trick.

Make a bootable floppy if Linux proposes. You won't be needing it though.

After Linux installation completed reboot to ensure only Windows shows up and no trace of Linux. This is normally because there is no link between the two from Windows side.

Power down Windows and reboot. dURING postING change the order of boot sequence by putting the slave ahead of the master (usually called IDE1 and IDE0, the latter being the master).

Reboot you you get both Windows and Linux to choose from.

Anytime you don't want to see a trace of Linux just reverse the boot sequence in the BIOS.

Your WIndows is untouched like a virgin in the case.

[tcarradine]

on a side note, you can go ahead and allow Redhat 8 to install the boot loader (Grub) onto the first hard drive. This will remove the windows boot loader from the MBR (Master Boot Record) which isn't a problem because Windows doesn't use it anyway unless you are dual booting two windows systems.
It is far easier to setup and run dual boot this way as Redhat will detect and setup your Windows installation duing install. This can save you a lot of headaches and JL postings, and its easier than having to remeber the boot disk everytime you want to get into your linux system...
also, if you decide to remove linux at a later date and wish to remove the linux boot loader you can simply type "fdisk /mbr" from a windows xp command prompt to clear the MBR and go default to Windows XP again without having to worry about damaging your windows install. Hope this helps!

Tim