# Installing Linux as a second operating system



## RobT (Feb 7, 2007)

Hello all ... I am currently I a running XP Pro on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with 2 Gigs of RAM and 750 Gigs on 3 hard drives. Could anyone please point me to a link that will tell me how to install Linux as a second operating system?

Thanks!!


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## Bartender (Jun 10, 2005)

http://apcmag.com/5162/the_definitive_dual_booting_guide_linux_vista_and_xp

There are plenty of others, including videos on YouTube and such, but this one seems pretty good.


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## belfasteddie (Aug 4, 2007)

Just a word to the wise, make sure that Linux is on the same drive as Windows. If you install it to another drive other than Windows you'll end up with probs.


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## shuuhen (Sep 4, 2004)

belfasteddie said:


> Just a word to the wise, make sure that Linux is on the same drive as Windows. If you install it to another drive other than Windows you'll end up with probs.


 I disagree. Having both on one drive makes thinks much more difficult. As long as the bootloader is configured correctly there should be no problems. Having both on the same drive will not get around an incorrectly configured bootloader.


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## RobT (Feb 7, 2007)

I have to say, everything I have read has said that the two operating systems should be on different drives, with the BIOS boot directory adjusted accordingly.
By the way, gr8 link Bartender. Many Thanks!!
ray:


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## belfasteddie (Aug 4, 2007)

I have never had a single bit of trouble installing to the same drive . The only trouble I have had was when installing to a second drive. So thats the reason I wrote the above, i have also seen many other people find the same thing. Having said that I don't doubt your word.


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## DumberDrummer (Oct 27, 2003)

I have problems installing to the same drive, so it seems to be a problem with different hardware configurations. 

The best advice in this particular circumstance is "do what works best for you"


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## Bartender (Jun 10, 2005)

One drive, two drives, doesn't matter -
Both are perfectly legitimate ways to dual-boot. IMO the problems stem from operator error more often than equipment incompatibility.
You may have installed Windows several times, but I guarantee the first time you are confronted with the Linux installation process you will be confused. And the confusion escalates very quickly if you're doing anything beyond "Wipe all data and install to entire drive".

sda1? sda2? What the heck is "/" and "/home" and "swap", and why would I want to "mount" them? And what's this about a grub and hd0?

If your PC's BIOS gives you the option of choosing which device to boot during startup (most relatively recent BIOS'es do) then two drives gives you the luxury of leaving the Windows drive entirely untouched. I think that's the most important advantage to the "two drives" scenario for the Linux newb.
You don't NEED to have the BIOS boot option. As shuuhen mentions, the bootloader is entirely capable of managing two (or more) separate drives. If you let the bootloader manage your OS'es then some data will be written to the first HDD, which will be the Windows HDD for most people coming to Linux.


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## lensman3 (Oct 19, 2007)

Go get vmware (the free version) and install Linux under it. You will have about a 10-25 percent loss in speed from a native version. VMware installs as a series of files under windows and if you get tired of Linux, you can just delete the files.

The vmware can access the Windows NTFS using samba so you don't loose your windows capability. Be sure to install the vmware tools package, it speeds up the mouse, keyboard, and the windows system. 

If later you decide that you want to build Linux on its own hard disk, you can. All this without laying out any money!


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## Bronson7 (Jun 2, 2006)

belfasteddie said:


> Just a word to the wise, make sure that Linux is on the same drive as Windows. If you install it to another drive other than Windows you'll end up with probs.


I have PCLinuxOS on a second internal harddrive with no problems whatsoever.
Bronson7


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