Dual-boot Windows and Linux

[zylander]

Will I run into any problems with dual booting ubuntu 6.10 and XP pro? Ive had a couple friends say that dual booting windows and linux can cause problems, but they didnt explain why. Ive searched around here and found a few posts with people suggesting dual booting xp and linux.

1. Is there anything wrong with running a dual-boot with linux and windows?
2. Can this cause any problems with either linux or windows?
3. Would I need to install the OS's in a certain order?
4. Will I need to do anything special to either OS to prevent any problems from happening?
5. Anything I need to know about setting this up?

Ive done dual boots in the past with different versions of windows, but Ive never done anything like this, and with the few people cautioning me against it, Im a little skeptical.

 

[drag]

Install XP first, then Linux second.

Usually that's all it takes, the installer takes care of the details... most of the time.

You'll be using the Linux bootloader to load both systems. If you uninstall Linux the system won't be bootable.

You can rescue the Windows install by using fixmbr command in the recovery console to make it boot windows-only.

 

[Karot]

That about sums it up. The installer for Ubuntu will automatically resize your Windows partition if it's taking up the whole drive, or you can set it to use the unpartitioned space.

 

[Nothinman]

Dualbooting sucks, you'll find that you won't want to reboot into the other OS so you'll end up just using whichever one you're more comfortable with and ignoring the other. VMWare Server and VPC are both free now so the only reason to dualboot is if you really need full hardware access in both OSes.