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  • Dual boot Xp and ubuntu (xp installed first)

Hi Guys,
I Have a laptop that runs xp and i just wanna install ubuntu 10.10 on it.
I would be thankful if someone helps me by posting a tutorial,because i'm not really good in these things.
Thanks in advance.
Tutorials are widely available on the net. Here's one :D

It's pretty simple, all you have to do is get Ubuntu (easiest way is often to download + burn a CD). Then boot on your CD Drive, launch Ubuntu, be sure to partition your disk intelligently, and chose according file systems.

If anything I said don't make sense, please read carefully the tutorial I gave you ;)
Moderator edit: Completely off topic, if you want an answer start a new thread.
thanks for your help guys.
But i didn't understand the partitioning part. I have a 150gb local disk c. How should i partition it?
dan961 wrotethanks for your help guys.
But i didn't understand the partitioning part. I have a 150gb local disk c. How should i partition it?
Well lol, you don't know how to partition ? that's bad.
If you did a simple google search, you'll find tones of tutorial.

The above tutorial is well explained i think.
Just follow it while installing Ubuntu.
@m0ei: Your comment is useless, doesn't add anything to the discussion, doesn't help the poster, as a matter of fact it does nothing but saying you like to show off. There's absolutely no shame in not knowing what partitioning a hard drive means, everybody got to start somewhere.

@dan961: Ok I'm going to give you a small tutorial on hard drive partitioning. Here goes:

What is a partition?
A partition is a "logical storage unit" laying on a physical disk. You can think about it as a "virtual hard drive". If you have worked on Windows, you are probably famniliar with C:[/b] and D:[/b] Each one of these is a separate "partition" although generally running on the same physical disk.

How many partitions can I install on my disk?
All the files in your disk belong to one (and only one) partition. Your disk could have one or many partitions installed at the same time.

Actually you are limited to a certain amount of partitions, but we won't go into that for now

Why do we need many partitions?
If you want to install two separate operating systems on your machine (considering you only have one hard drive), you better create two partitions: One for Windows and the other for Ubuntu.

If I'm running Windows, can I access the files in the Ubuntu partition?
This is where it gets complicated. Each partition is distinguished by a file system. File systems are simply ways of organizing your data on your disk. As you can imagine, Windows and Ubuntu do not use the same file systems.

Windows still uses (until Vista, I don't know about 7) an old file system developed by Microsoft and called NTFS. One main disadvantage of NTFS is that it requires the user to do frequent "defragmenting" or the file system will be very shaky, slow and .. well fat. Another problem with NTFS is really poor crash recovery. If your computer crashes while accessing some file on the hard drive, there are a lot of chances that the file will be corrupt.

Ubuntu uses by default a file System called ext4. It's not the best file system of all time, but it's way better than NTFS. It doesn't have the same problems as NTFS (no need for defrag, ever, and far better crash recovery) but it's also a lot safer, faster, and can handle larger amounts of data.

Anyway, the point is not file systems comparison, now here's the thing: For the last 3 years, Ubuntu has been able to read and write NTFS natively without any problem. So you can access your Windows file from Ubuntu without any problem. On the other hand, Windows cannot read nor write ext4 natively. I hear there are software you can install in order to achieve this, but I'll let someone who has actually tried them talk about them.

I have one C:\ partition, I want to create a second one!
If you have only one Windows/NTFS partition that takes the whole space of the disk, your easiest solution is to delete this partition and install two new ones: one NTFS one ext4. You can do this very easily from an Ubuntu install disk.

However this method, although the easiest one, has a major disadvantage: you will loose all your data saved on the disk! Of course if you back up your data first and save it on an external hard drive, then you won't have any problem (if not loosing some time transferring hundreds of Gigabytes from one disk to another.

The second method is more recent and a little more "experimental". The idea is to take your existing partition and resize it, in order to make enough free space for a new partition. The Ubuntu installer can do that, however I would not recommend this method if it's the first time you're installing an OS.

REMEMBER: always back up your data when you're installing/editing/removing an operating system.

That's a little theory that will get you started. Read this and don't hesitate to ask any question. Once you have understood this, re-read the tutorial I gave you and everything will be clearer.
rahmu wroteThe second method is more recent and a little more "experimental". The idea is to take your existing partition and resize it, in order to make enough free space for a new partition. The Ubuntu installer can do that, however I would not recommend this method if it's the first time you're installing an OS.
A built-in tool in Win7 and possibly Vista, also allows you to shrink volumes. It's called Disk Management.

@xterm: Cool to know! However I still would not recommend shrinking volumes for anyone (especially newbies). Back up your data, delete your partition and go from a fresh install.
rahmu wrote@m0ei: Your comment is useless, doesn't add anything to the discussion, doesn't help the poster, as a matter of fact it does nothing but saying you like to show off. There's absolutely no shame in not knowing what partitioning a hard drive means, everybody got to start somewhere.

@dan961: Ok I'm going to give you a small tutorial on hard drive partitioning. Here goes:

What is a partition?
A partition is a "logical storage unit" laying on a physical disk. You can think about it as a "virtual hard drive". If you have worked on Windows, you are probably famniliar with C:[/b] and D:[/b] Each one of these is a separate "partition" although generally running on the same physical disk.

How many partitions can I install on my disk?
All the files in your disk belong to one (and only one) partition. Your disk could have one or many partitions installed at the same time.

Actually you are limited to a certain amount of partitions, but we won't go into that for now

Why do we need many partitions?
If you want to install two separate operating systems on your machine (considering you only have one hard drive), you better create two partitions: One for Windows and the other for Ubuntu.

If I'm running Windows, can I access the files in the Ubuntu partition?
This is where it gets complicated. Each partition is distinguished by a file system. File systems are simply ways of organizing your data on your disk. As you can imagine, Windows and Ubuntu do not use the same file systems.

Windows still uses (until Vista, I don't know about 7) an old file system developed by Microsoft and called NTFS. One main disadvantage of NTFS is that it requires the user to do frequent "defragmenting" or the file system will be very shaky, slow and .. well fat. Another problem with NTFS is really poor crash recovery. If your computer crashes while accessing some file on the hard drive, there are a lot of chances that the file will be corrupt.

Ubuntu uses by default a file System called ext4. It's not the best file system of all time, but it's way better than NTFS. It doesn't have the same problems as NTFS (no need for defrag, ever, and far better crash recovery) but it's also a lot safer, faster, and can handle larger amounts of data.

Anyway, the point is not file systems comparison, now here's the thing: For the last 3 years, Ubuntu has been able to read and write NTFS natively without any problem. So you can access your Windows file from Ubuntu without any problem. On the other hand, Windows cannot read nor write ext4 natively. I hear there are software you can install in order to achieve this, but I'll let someone who has actually tried them talk about them.

I have one C:\ partition, I want to create a second one!
If you have only one Windows/NTFS partition that takes the whole space of the disk, your easiest solution is to delete this partition and install two new ones: one NTFS one ext4. You can do this very easily from an Ubuntu install disk.

However this method, although the easiest one, has a major disadvantage: you will loose all your data saved on the disk! Of course if you back up your data first and save it on an external hard drive, then you won't have any problem (if not loosing some time transferring hundreds of Gigabytes from one disk to another.

The second method is more recent and a little more "experimental". The idea is to take your existing partition and resize it, in order to make enough free space for a new partition. The Ubuntu installer can do that, however I would not recommend this method if it's the first time you're installing an OS.

REMEMBER: always back up your data when you're installing/editing/removing an operating system.

That's a little theory that will get you started. Read this and don't hesitate to ask any question. Once you have understood this, re-read the tutorial I gave you and everything will be clearer.

Well ye, I'm sorry.

Ext2Read can read ext4 from windows 32 bit ONLY, 64 bit is not supported yet.
And currently it's the best till now between all.

download link :http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2read/
@m0ei: Thanks ^^! Can you write on ext with Ext2Read or is it only read?
xterm wrote
rahmu wroteThe second method is more recent and a little more "experimental". The idea is to take your existing partition and resize it, in order to make enough free space for a new partition. The Ubuntu installer can do that, however I would not recommend this method if it's the first time you're installing an OS.
A built-in tool in Win7 and possibly Vista, also allows you to shrink volumes. It's called Disk Management.

http://i51.tinypic.com/syvyqf.png
Disk management is available in XP too.
Start ----> Run -----> compmgmt.msc
then click Disk management.

an extra because he's using windows xp.
rahmu wrote@m0ei: Thanks ^^! Can you write on ext with Ext2Read or is it only read?
Ext2Read is an explorer like utility to explore ext2/ext3/ext4 files. It now supports LVM2 and EXT4 extents. It can be used to view and copy files and folders. It can recursively copy entire folders. It can also be used to view and copy disk and file.
np, you can only read.
thanks rahmu. What about GParted? I found this software in a tutorial on ubuntu's homepage.
GParted is a software that is part of the Ubuntu installer. The easiest way to use it is to get a Ubuntu Live CD.
Ok thanks ! But i need an explanation for the first method of partitioning.would i have to reinstall windows after using this method?
dan961 wrotethanks rahmu. What about GParted? I found this software in a tutorial on ubuntu's homepage.
Well i think it's better to follow what Rahmu explained.
or to use Disk management as Xterm said.

To use Gparted, either from Gparted Live Cd, System rescue Disk (live cd) comes with Gparted or Ubuntu Live Cd.
m0ei wroteDisk management is available in XP too.
Start ----> Run -----> compmgmt.msc
then click Disk management.

an extra because he's using windows xp.
You can't shrink with windows xp disk management.