Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 16:18:17 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson <cls@raggedclown.net> To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD 4.7 and Windows XP Message-ID: <20021216151817.GA599@raggedclown.net> In-Reply-To: <003001c2a503$fc39b340$1a00a8c0@HOME> References: <003001c2a503$fc39b340$1a00a8c0@HOME>
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On Mon, Dec 16, 2002 at 05:06:44AM -0800, Mike McGranahan wrote: > Hello, > > I would like to know what is the best way to dual boot FreeBSD 4.7 and > Windows XP? I found this information ( > http://www.geocrawler.com/mail/msg.php3?msg_id=7963936&list=151 ) regarding > how to use the Windows XP loader, and this information on GRUB ( > http://www.gnu.org/manual/grub/html_node/Booting.html#Booting ) though there > is no mention of Windows XP. > Grub works fine with FreeBSD and Windows XP. One of my machines does this very thing. I recommend Grub for it's ease of use, although you have to get it very clear in your mind how it defines disk names. Adter that it is a doddle, and even if you make a mistake you can dynamically edit the boot configuration :)..i.e. edit the boot entries while you are in the boot meny itself. Generally speaking Msoft has no respect for the existance of other OS'es so it should be installed first, otherwise it may zap your MBR created by Grub. Remember that Windows only really likes to be booted off of the first hard disk, but there is a little trick with Grub (and I gues with my most bootloaders) that fools it into thinking that even if it is on the second disk it is told it is on the first. This is explained in the manual for grub. The latter is in the appalling GNU Info format, so you might find it easier to convert it to html, there is a port to do this. > I have two hard drives in my system, a 20GB which currently has Windows XP, > and a 10GB which is empty. I was considering making the 10GB drive common > storage for both OS' as FAT32. I would then move my data from the 20GB > drive to the 10GB, partition the 20GB drive and install FreeBSD alongside > Windows XP. Besides setting up the bootloader, would there be any FreeBSD > problems with this configuration? In what ways could I set up dual-booting > for this configuration, and which method is best? > You can do it both ways. Decide which way you want it to be. Seperating them across the drives is probably what I would do, but it should not be that much of a big deal. > Are there any online documents that address this, or would be insightful? > The Grub manual is not very good...unfortunately. I don't know if there is an HOWTO anywhere. I can send you some example menu entries from my own setup if you wish. To re-iterate you must understand not only the syntax of grub disk definitions, but also how it numbers them. The rest is a doddle. > > Worst case scenario, I could use the alter the BIOS to control which drive > boots. No no, that will drive you around the bend :(. -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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