[lug] RE: Dual Boot with Windows XP (J. Wayde Allen)

[Timothy C. Klein]

* Joe Betts (joebetts at wiser.com) wrote:
> Dual boot with XP is a problem. I've heard it said that XP wants to own the 
> boot partition.
> 
> I have a Linux desktop that came with XP on it (as all machines do these days 
> I suppose).  Although GRUB installed and I can get to Linux, I can't get back 

Au contrair, when I buy all the parts and put a machine together myself,
there is no XP on it :-)  A little hard to do for a laptop, though.
Which is a shame.  The laptop market went the wrong way, as far as
consumers go.  Closed, proprietary parts is why they are so expensive,
if you ask me, not the difficulty of squeezing a desktop into a small
package.
 
> to XP.  I suspect a third party boot controller, such as System Commander, 
> (http://www.v-com.com/)  may be necessary.  But be sure to get the latest 
> version -- version 7.  I have a copy but I haven't used it yet.  If you can 
> wait a few days, I'll try it and post the findings here.
> 
> As far as the other partitions are concerned, they are probably done by the 
> manufacturer.  But also, I think XP has a built in capability for remote 
> troubleshooting, diagnostics, and repair.  I'd leave them in place just in 
> case something needed to be done in that fashion.  For example, if a new BIOS 
> load is needed, chances are you'll have to boot in XP to install it.  I 
> haven't heard of anyone providing that capability in Linux just yet.
> 

I have had luck installing a new laptop BIOS using FreeDOS.  It is GPL,
and plays nice with Linux (via DOSemu).  Using it made me realize just how
brain-dead DOS really is.  I don't know what gives the author the
satisfaction of recreating such a junky system, but hey, it came in
handy.

Tim (Who gets rid of Windows no matter what it takes!)
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== Timothy Klein || teece at silverklein.net   ==
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