Fresh install w/ dual boot

[SeTeS]

I'm about to do a fresh os install of windows and want to leave some space for a linux partition...

My basic partition scheme is:

p1 20g windows
p2 10g linux
p3 130g ntfs storage

I'm assuming that I should install windows first... so:

1. is it best to have the linux partition in the p1 position?
2. do I also need an even smaller partition (eg p0) for the bootloader?

 

[frogger9]

Yep, you'll want to install Windows first. Then when you install Linux it should install the bootloader for you (and most likely automatically detect your Windows install and add an entry for it).

1. Linux is perfectly happy booting from anywhere on the drive (primary or logical partition), so it doesn't matter where you put it.

2. You don't need a smaller partition for the bootloader. It will be installed in the MBR on the drive. You may want a small /boot partition for your Linux install, but again, this is optional.

One more note:

You are using 130 GB for NTFS storage. Linux doesn't have very mature NTFS write support (although read support works fine). You may want to make this shared storage partition FAT32 (which Linux supports well).