[luau] Dual Booting with WinXP Pro

[W. Wayne Liauh]

I am really shocked to realize how much more transparent the newly 
improved GRUB has made the task of dual booting Linux and XP to be. 
 Both SuSE 8.1 and Mandrake 9.0 now (and only NOW!) automatically 
recognize your NTFS (or VFAT) partition and configure the grub.conf file 
accordingly.

What I was interested, was whether I could reserve a non-first partition 
for a "subsequent" installation of WinXP.  After I installed XP, it, as 
well know, overwrote GRUB in the MBR.  The issue was, how to re-install 
GRUB.

This indeed is very simple.  After installing XP, you will not be able 
into boot into Linux.  So, you insert the first RH 8.0 CD, type "linux 
rescue" at prompt. Then chroot to the root partition (in my case, 
/dev/hda1--hda0 is used for /boot partition).  Type /sbin/grub-install 
/dev/hda, this will write grub to the MBR (and erase/overwrite the NT 
bootloader).

Now, re-boot into Linux.  Su to root, and open the file 
/boot/grub/grub.conf with any editor.  In the section titled "DOS", 
insert the following two lines:

hide (hd0,0)
unhide (hd0,2)

before the line:

rootnoverify (hd0,1)

and a third line:

makeactive

thereafter.

Save the grub.conf file, then reboot.  (Unlike LILO, you don't need to 
do anything.)  Of course, you can remane "DOS" to "Windows XP".  But I 
don't bother.
 



W. Wayne Liauh wrote:

> Actually, Windows (including NT or XP) will always look in the first 
> partition of the first drive for the boot sector.  Thus, using GRUB as 
> an example, if you install XP in the second partition of the first 
> drive, you have to insert the following two lines in the part of the 
> grub.conf file reserved for XP (may not be exact, I am writing from my 
> memory):
>
>
>
> before the line
>
>  
>
> What I am not sure is that, I don't know whether is it possible to 
> boot NT/XP from a slave (i.e., hd1,0)?
>