[LUAU] boot loaders and XP

[Michael Bishop]

On Tue, 2005-05-24 at 12:11 -1000, kilauea wrote:
> Aloha Kakou
> 
> I have some questions regarding multi-boot (Linux & XP) systems. If I
> wanted to install Linux on an existing XP machine, would Grub or Lilo
> handle this? I assume that I would need to repartition with Parted or
> add of a second drive. Should I expect problems with boot loaders (Grub
> or Lilo) and virus checkering software?
> 
> Mahalo to Wayne for concise answer to previous question!
> Kilauea

When resizing or making any major changes to a hard drive setup, it is
always wise to backup important data.

If WinXP currently takes up all available space, then you would need to
either resize it or add another hard drive. Free tools for resizing are
included on the Ultimate Boot CD (ultimatebootcd.com) or a commercial
tool called Partition Magic may be used.

Most distros use GRUB for a boot loader, which I would also recommend.
Generally they will find and setup the WinXP partition in GRUB for easy
loading. Unless you are setting up something unusual, then there should
be no problems with GRUB.

As for virus checking software, unless it can see the partition it won't
scan it. WinXP cannot see linux partitions. So you should have no
problems.

Michael