Dual Booting Linux and XP

[James Marcinek]

General Red Hat Linux discussion list <redhat-list at redhat.com> wrote: 
> Hi,
> 
> I have been trying to configure my HP ze4400 laptop for dual booting XP
> and redhat 9.0  and have been facing quite a few problems.
> 
> Here is what is the problem. After the installation, it asks whether I
> want to make a bootable floppy. My laptop does not have a floppy drive
and
> the installation gets stuck over here. So I reboot the system and it
> directly boots into XP without showing an option for linux.
> 
> Can anyone give some advice how to work around this problem.
> 
> Thanks,
> Rahul.
> 
> 
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I've got a duel boot system with XP and linux right now (actually going
to setup duel boot on my HP ze4325us). Usually grub could actually
configure your duel boot feature by selecting an option during the boot
loader configuration during install. By selecting a boot disk type
install allows you to simply boot up your linux when you have a
bootable floppy. Your MBR(Master Boot Record) wasn't overwritten so
your still using the bootloader that comes with XP. I would recommend
re-installing and have the installation overwrite your MBR with
GRUB(GRand Unified Boot Loader) which supports multiboot operating
systems. The /boot/grub/grub.conf file can be modified (if it doesn't
put it in there during installation). Under the linux information you
can add the following:

title Windows XP
        rootnoverify (hd0,0)
       chainloader +1


When you reboot you should have the selection to choose which O/S you
want. Mind you that the hard drive an partition number could be
different if you have your MBR located in a different location (from
the normal default).

HTH-

James