Can Linux or BSD install on Win boot partition?

[Gunnar]

I am wondering if I can install BSD or Linux on the same boot partition as win2k

I currently have a 40 gig harddrive that is partitioned in 10/30 gigs.

the 30 gig partition is the partition where all the junk is stored, music, movies etc.

10 gig partition is for os and programs.

Can BSD or linux, be installed onto the same partition? If so, can I install it without blowing up my win2k setup?

 

[Heisenberg]

I know Redhat used to have an option to do that. It basically put a swap and image file in the partition, and then booted from that. It was slower, but it was non-destructive. When you wanted to uninstall, you just deleted the files. Something like that is going to be specific to each distro/OS so you'll probably just have to look at each one to see if they have that option, unless someone else around here knows. You might consider something like Knoppix which boots and runs everything from the CD without needing a hard drive.

 

[cleverhandle]

Slackware used to have this option a couple years back also. It was pretty much a PITA - random things would flake out under certain hardware configs, and were really hard to track down. That may be why I haven't heard of such things lately. Maybe there's still something floating around. Try searching "umsdos" - that was the filesystem used in the Slackware version. If you really want to disturb W2K as little as possible, the easiest way is just to buy a cheap hard disk somewhere for $25.

 

[Sunner]

I did something like this a long time ago, and based on that experience, my only advice is, Don't.