A dual boot configuration allows for two or more operating systems to be installed and used on a single system.
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8answers
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Is it possible to dual boot two OS's at the same time?
Is it possible to dual boot two OS's at the same time?
For example: I'm currently dual booting Ubuntu 11.04 and Windows 7. Ubuntu is running on a single 500gb HDD, Windows 7 is running on 1TB RAID 1 ...
15
votes
10answers
2k views
Software to switch between OS
My question might sound too weired and tricky, but is there any way (software/hardware) that I can use to switch between 2 OS without restarting my PC?
Actually I have Windows 7 and Ubuntu installed ...
11
votes
3answers
4k views
How to boot to Windows 7 from Windows 8 boot menu without a restart?
I have a dual-boot system with Windows 7 and 8. When I start the machine it takes me to the new Windows 8 boot menu with the blue background. Basically it looks like this:
If I select Windows 7 ...
9
votes
2answers
552 views
Dual-booting Windows 7 and Windows XP — why does Windows 7 boot time differ?
I've noticed some weird behavior when dual-booting Windows 7 and Windows XP:
As long as I'm rebooting from Windows 7, everything is normal.
However, if I boot into Windows XP and then boot back from ...
8
votes
1answer
18k views
How can I add Linux to the new Windows 8 boot manager?
Which OSes can be put into the new Bootloader that Windows 8 provides? It seems to be quite pretty and consistent with the rest of the new Windows 8 design so it would be cool to put Linux (Ubuntu) ...
8
votes
4answers
23k views
How to install Ubuntu on a Mac running OS X Lion?
Anyone tried to install Ubuntu dual-booting on Mac OS X Lion 10.7? I know it is doable with Leopard and Snow Leopard.
I heard that the Ubuntu installer will write the first 446 bytes from the ...
7
votes
2answers
441 views
Dual boot a headless machine?
I wondering whether it is possible to set up a headless machine (application server) in a dual boot configuration. The goal is to have linux (debian lenny or sid) and windows (XP pro, no use upgrading ...
7
votes
3answers
825 views
Is it possible to share installed programs between Windows 7 and Windows 8?
I am planning to dual boot Windows 7, Windows 8 and Ubuntu, and the problem is that i may be running a little low on disk space.
So the question is:
Can I share installed programs (including ...
7
votes
1answer
6k views
Preinstalled Windows 8 and Linux UEFI dual boot on a laptop
I am trying to set up Windows 8 and Arch Linux on a new Sony Vaio E14 with preinstalled windows 8.
So far:
installed W8 to my new SSD (switched for the original HDD) using Recovery Media
shrunk the ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
How to copy VirtualBox VDI contents to a partition and dual boot the OS from it?
I'm a Linux user but I keep a compressed Windows XP ISO with me on a pen drive for the case I absolutely need Windows to do something. This works in VirtualBox most of the time.
But now I want to ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
How is Wubi different from dual-booting or a VM image?
The only difference that I see between regular dual-booting and Wubi is that the latter has a more user-friendly installation process, but otherwise it seems to be the same. Am I missing something ...
6
votes
2answers
163 views
Should I run Chkdsk at all?
My 6 year old Lenovo laptop running Win XP Home is taking lot of time to boot up. It complains every time I boot that some part of hard disk has been corrupted and asks me to run Chkdsk. I can ...
6
votes
3answers
5k views
Finding Bluetooth link key in Windows 7, to double pair a device on dualboot computer
How can I dig up the Bluetooth link key for a paired device in Windows 7? Is this something that is dependent on the Bluetooth stack I'm using (Toshiba), or is there a generic place to store these in ...
6
votes
3answers
624 views
5 Primary Partitions?
I have a compaq laptop with an ide hard drive in it. I try a lot of different OS's and I'm currently switch between Ubuntu, Windows7, and JoliOS(another linux distro). However in Win7 the partition ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Linux and Windows 7 dual boot on SSD with data HDD
I'm soon about to purchase a new desktop (for gaming, programming etc), and I'm trying to figure out a good setup for a dual boot with Linux and Windows 7.
I'm thinking of getting a SSD for storing ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Linux mint 10 seems to corrupt ntfs filesystem
I have linux mint 10 and windows 7 installed on the same hd. First partition is linux, then swap, then the windows system partition and finally an NTFS partition for commonly used
data i would like ...
6
votes
2answers
9k views
How do you install linux alongside Windows 8 without corrupting Windows 8 boot configuration?
In order to install Linux Mint 14 alongside Windows 8 I disabled UEFI and booted to a flash drive with the Linux image. I installed linux, restarted the computer, and the grub boot loader appeared. ...
6
votes
3answers
509 views
Is there a way to prevent Windows 8 upgrade from erasing the bootloader?
Is there a way to tell the Windows 8 installer not to erase the grub bootloader? For example, changing something in the OEM folder or some kind of slipstream technique similar to how it is possible to ...
6
votes
2answers
7k views
Windows 7 + Ubuntu dual boot + UEFI BIOS
I received a new Lenovo T420 laptop with Windows 7.
The disk now contains:
a hidden SYSTEM_DRV boot partition (1.17GB, 400MB used). I'm guessing this is the UEFI partition; the laptop comes with ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Dual-booting Windows and Linux: Why install Windows first?
I've read that, when configuring a dual-boot system, you should install Windows first to avoid any issues. However, I have not read an explanation that makes sense to me. Some questions:
I'm ...
5
votes
3answers
539 views
Dual-Virtualization vs. Dual-Boot vs. Single-Virtualization
A friend of mine recently suggested something that intrigued me: in the case of needing multiple Operating Systems simultaneously, instead of dual-booting or using multiple computers, one could use a ...
5
votes
2answers
667 views
What do I have to take care of when hibernating both Ubuntu and Windows (dual-boot environment)
I've got both Windows 7 and Ubuntu (finally) installed on my laptop.
For the sake of comfort, I usually hibernate Windows instead of shutting it down. And I think when using Ubuntu regularly, there ...
5
votes
2answers
182 views
Dual boot win7 after upgrading to win8
I'm quite happy with the upgrade to Windows 8, but there are a couple programs I'm going to need to use soon that will only work under Windows 7. I only need them temporarily, so I don't want to ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Is it possible to install Windows 8 in only one partition?
I am trying to install Windows 8 on a blank drive. It asks for and creates a small partition of about 350 MiB named System Reserved instead of installing only in the partition I would like it to be.
...
5
votes
2answers
627 views
Dual boot OSX and Windows 7 natively
I'm considering getting one of those new fancy Mac Book Pro's with the fancy screens, but after reading some stuff on the internets about running Windows 7 with bootcamp:
...
5
votes
2answers
590 views
Windows boot menu doesn't appear when booting
I have installed two versions of Windows, Windows 7 and Windows 8. At the beginning it showed both entries and I could select which one to use (either Windows 7 or 8), but since 3 weeks this menu ...
5
votes
2answers
520 views
Use one home directory for more than one operating system
I want to configure the same user account across multiple operating systems. Right now, I'm set up for general use in Mac OS 10.6.6 "Snow Leopard," and I have about 200gb of files in my home directory ...
5
votes
2answers
4k views
How to bring back Ubuntu after Lion install using rEFIt
Upgraded to Lion this morning which went mostly smoothly, but when I tried to boot back into Ubuntu (I do most of my work in Linux) I was only able to get as far as the grub command mode.
I spent a ...
5
votes
4answers
4k views
Windows 8 installer: Something Happened
My school provides Windows 8 through MSDN. My system specs seem to fit the minimum system requirements for Windows 8. I ran the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, and it seems to indicate that my computer ...
4
votes
5answers
23k views
How to dual boot when Windows XP was installed after Windows 7?
It seems pretty straightforward to dual boot those versions of Windows when the newest is installed after Windows XP. But the inverse isn't happening on my machine. I tried even editing the BOOT.INI ...
4
votes
4answers
4k views
Help: Just installed Ubuntu and now can't boot into Windows 7!
I just installed ubuntu, during installation I chose the side by side option so I will have windows and ubuntu installed on the same computer. But now every time I turn on the computer it boots into ...
4
votes
2answers
105 views
Shared desktop for multiple Linux installations
Is it possible to set up a single shared desktop folder for multiple linux installations on a dual-boot computer? I'd like multiple Linux installations on one computer to share a single desktop. I'm ...
4
votes
2answers
761 views
Can I boot to a different Mac OS X partition from the command line?
I need to test some software (nightly) on 3 Mac OS X versions: 10.4, 10.5, 10.6 -- the software interfaces with the hardware, so non-native solutions (like virtualisation) are not ideal.
So I figured ...
4
votes
5answers
407 views
How to prevent dual booted OSes from damaging each other?
For better compatibility and performance in games I'm thinking about installing Windows additionally to Linux. I have security concerns about this, though.
Note: "Windows" in the remaining text ...
4
votes
4answers
5k views
Windows 8 fails to load after Boot Repair
I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question since I don't know if my problem comes from Windows or Ubuntu or Boot Repair. But I'm sure you guys can help me with it. :)
I've got a Sony ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views
Removing Windows XP from dual boot
I installed Windows 7 on my D: drive but still have my old Windows XP on the C: drive.
Is there any way of removing Windows XP from that drive? I really need that space freeing up.
In short, how can ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
How do I install GRUB to a partiton and not MBR?
I am trying to dual boot Windows and Linux. I would like to continue using the Windows bootloader in my MBR.
I installed Windows 7 first. During the install I left some unallocated space that I ...
4
votes
1answer
379 views
How to multiboot ubuntu 11.10 with another linux?
I have installed centos on my /dev/sda9.
There is windows 7 on my first partition.
Now I try to install ubuntu on /dev/sda11
While installing,it shows the following error.
migration-assistant ...
4
votes
3answers
361 views
Which built-in windows group should I use for NTFS permissions on dual boot Win7?
I am still using dual-boot on some of my computers, so I have two Windows 7 installations running. Most data is on a partition on a separate hard drive that both installations use.
For certain files ...
4
votes
1answer
207 views
How to transfer my system to a new laptop harddrive?
So I bought a brand new 500GB SSD Hybrid drive for my laptop. I would like to start using it.
How do I go about mirroring my current 200GB hardisk on to there in such a way that I can just swap out ...
4
votes
4answers
598 views
How can I install Ubuntu on my MacBook?
Will Ubuntu 10.10 run out of the box on my MacBook 7,1?
What steps must I follow to get Ubuntu 10.10 running as a dual/triple boot with Mac OS/ Windows?
4
votes
1answer
42 views
Recovering a dual boot
My system at home used to have a dual boot of
Windows 7
Windows 7
Due to some requirements I have had to blow away my primary partition and make it XP. So I now have;
XP
Windows 7
However, ...
4
votes
3answers
14k views
How to install Windows 7 alongside Windows 8?
I bought a new laptop (HP 4540s) and also a Windows 8 DVD. I installed Windows 8 but it's not user friendly. Now I want to install Windows 7 on the same laptop while keeping Windows 8 also (multiboot) ...
4
votes
2answers
7k views
MacBook Pro and Backtrack 5R1 Configuration
I have a Macbook pro Quad core (2.2/8gb ram/750gb hdd). I have went through tons of forums on the Internet, but none of them seemed to be updated for the current Backtrack 5R1, or the question of ...
4
votes
2answers
6k views
Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't boot after installation, only boots into Windows 7
Windows 7 was pre-installed on my machine. Ubuntu 11.10 doesn't boot after I installed it. Once Ubuntu finished its installation, I restarted.
After that, it just boots straight to Windows 7, no ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Can Bitlocker be used in a dual boot system with Windows on one drive, Linux on another?
My workplace allows for remote logins to the company network, with certain prerequisites for securing a computer before making the connection, one of which is that Windows must be used to make the ...
4
votes
1answer
420 views
Dual-booting Mac OS X and Windows: any way to avoid closing all my applications in Mac OS X?
I have a MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.6 and a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition. If I'm on Windows, I can easily go back to OS X without losing any of my open applications by using Hibernate. Mac OS X, ...
4
votes
3answers
4k views
I want to dual boot Windows 8 on a Macbook Pro that doesn't already have Windows. Do I have to buy Windows twice?
My girlfriend just bought a Macbook Pro, and she wants to to dual boot OSX with Windows. Specifically, she would like to use Windows 8. What I already know is the following:
Windows 8 discs are only ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
How to get full write permission on my second drive after dual boot?
I had a WinXP installation on my hard drive. Then I bought a 2nd drive and installed Win7. Dual boot working fine. But when I'm in the Win7 environment, it appears that I don't have full admin ...
4
votes
1answer
937 views
Triple boot WIndows 7, Windows 8, and Mountain Lion on Macbook Pro
Ok, So I have a bit of a unique situation here I could use some help on.
I've modded my summer 2011 MBPro to have 2 harddrives by replacing the optical drive. OSX Mountain Lion is installed on a ...
