Booting from different HD partitions?

TheFlyingGerbil

I was planning to create a new disk partition on my laptop to install another OS, while still keeping Windows on the old partition. I would however want to load the second OS as default when I turn the computer on - can you choose a partition to load at startup from the BIOS or is it just physical disks you can specify? THanks,

Joe

bat999

Hi
I think it's just physical drives that you can set the boot sequence for in BIOS, not partitions.

If you dont mind me asking, which other OS were you thinking of dual booting with?

TheFlyingGerbil

Ububtu. I have to get the laptop back of my brother first though as he seems to think it is his!

Joe

GoofyGAT

If you ever get around to doing it, may I suggest Kubuntu instead. Kubuntu is basically Ubuntu with the 'better' K Desktop Environment (KDE). G

TheFlyingGerbil

Hi, GoofyGAT - how are they different? is one easier to use than the other - i tried ubuntu as the liveCD and was impressed with how everything works (even my wireless connection!) unlike a Linux I had a go of a few years!

Joe

wolfman

That's a matter of personal preference. I actually like both Gnome (Ubuntu) and KDE (Kubuntu) although find neither perfect. I currently use Gnome and find it more stable for things such as Beryl.

Ubuntu will install a boot manager called Grub, and upon install will actually set itself as the default boot option. So you don't have anything to worry about, just get installing.

epz_2

you will need to either create a boot disk floopy or have a small primary partition and install a bootloder like grub/lilo to the master boot record, have the config files like grub.conf on this small (aboot 50meg) partition, if you ar planning on a linux install you can have this partition as your boot partition.

GoofyGAT

TheFlyingGerbil wrote:

Hi, GoofyGAT - how are they different? is one easier to use than the other...

wolfman has answered that for me .

I actually had problems installing K/Ubuntu so went for Mandriva Free 2007 instead - installed it on my 2nd hard drive & set it to multiboot with WinXP Pro. Like you, I was also impressed about how everything just worked, including my NTL cable broadband connection - all I did was choose a few options during the install! It also installed so many free programs as well. G

TheFlyingGerbil

Did you try it Ubuntu as a live CD first? Did that not work either or was that when you cam to installing that the problems started? I don't want to start messing arund with my HD and then finding that I can't install the program!

Joe

GoofyGAT

TheFlyingGerbil wrote:

Did you try it Ubuntu as a live CD first?

No, I tried the install straightaway - I knew I wanted a multiboot system with an installed Linux OS, so just went for it.

I'm not sure if the problem was because the drives were SATA. The install process couldn't 'see' the pre-formatted Linux partitions (or any of the partitions for that matter!) - no harm was done. G

wolfman

Gnome and KDE are the two main interfaces for linux, that are often included in many distro's.

It's probably worth getting the live cd for both and trying each out. Generally speaking, Gnome is a lot more simplistic, easier for the user, some good themes too. KDE is more configurable, you can basically set just about anything as far as the look is concerned. It's a lot more like Windows a lot of people say too.

Gnome and KDE also come with a suite of applications. You can for example install KDE apps on Gnome, and Gome apps on KDE, but they never look quite as good (although in most cases they'll still work perfectly).

I prefer a couple of apps from each, hence liking both interfaces.


Also, did you have WEP or WPA setup with your wireless? Linux is still not quite an out of the box solution when it comes to setting up WPA and getting certain wireless cards to work. There are plenty of tutorials about though.


Also, if you miss Windows, or need certain functionality. Rather than dual booting, have a look at VMWare Server. You can run XP within Ubuntu which is very handy. There are restrictions, but it's generally very good. I use it for all my .Net development.