Installation or use of multiple operating systems on a single computer.
35
votes
11answers
8k views
Will my computer slow down if I install multiple operating systems?
Many of my friends have said that installing multiple operating systems on a single PC slows down individual OS's because the total RAM gets divided among the OS's.
Is there any truth in the above ...
28
votes
7answers
11k views
How to make a multiboot CD that will start a user-chosen ISO file
I have many CD ISOs downloaded from the Internet. They are each about 100 MB in size and consist of repair/diagnostic programs and other tools. Some of them are Linux-based; others are based on DOS ...
16
votes
13answers
5k views
Hibernating and booting into another OS: will my filesystems be corrupted?
IMPORTANT
If you came here looking for an answer to this question, please read all the answers below. There are some testimonials from people who have lost data doing this. If you plan to do this ...
15
votes
2answers
8k views
Can Grub be configured to remember the last OS you booted into?
I typically have 2-3 OSes in my boot menu:
Ubuntu 10.04
Windows 7
[Sometimes, a third option, such as Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook]
If I am in an OS other than the default choice (Windows 7 in this case), ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
Some questions regarding PXE servers and multi-booting
I currently work in a technology help desk for my college, where we fix the personal computers of all the students. We have hundreds of DVD's and CD's that we use to boot into all kinds of different ...
11
votes
5answers
35k views
How do I get Windows 8 boot loader back and also list both XP and 7?
I have a system with Windows 7 and Windows XP, today I have installed the Windows 8 Developer Preview into a spare partition (that I leave it for a few months without any important data there). When ...
11
votes
7answers
23k views
What's the best way to share files between linux and windows 7 on a dual/multi boot computer?
Just got myself a new computer and thinking of how set it up.
I have win7 HP and will probably install at least some version of Ubuntu on it shortly to have dual boot. Might come other Linux distros ...
11
votes
4answers
6k views
Sharing TrueCrypt partition between Windows and Ubuntu
I want to install dual boot with Windows and Ubuntu (Windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.04 in this case) both sharing one partition for data with TrueCrypt. Is that possible? Would that work well?
My plan would ...
10
votes
5answers
2k views
Is it better to dual-boot or run a VM?
I want to run Windows Vista 64bit (Eventually Windows 7) and Ubuntu on the same machine.
I want to play games and do graphic design in Windows. I want to write code, surf the internet, check email, ...
10
votes
3answers
4k views
Does Windows 8 allow multiboot when installing from a mounted ISO?
I just downloaded Windows 8 and am itching to install it. The installation says it will clean everything out. I assume (hope) that it only means I cannot transfer settings from my current OS and that ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Multiple OS's and GRUB chainloading
I want to have multiple OS installations and I have been advised that chain loading using GRUB is a good way to handle this. I have looked at tutorials on the web but I still have some questions ...
8
votes
5answers
4k views
Which should I install first, Windows XP or Windows 7?
I already have an existing Windows 7 installation and want to dual boot to XP. I already create a partition for the XP installation. If I proceed with the Windows XP installation, will anything bad ...
8
votes
5answers
16k views
How to fix Windows 7 boot process
OK, so I used Windows XP for years before I was able to get my hands on the Windows 7 RC which I bought a new HDD for, and then followed the process to dual-boot. About a month ago Windows XP started ...
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
2answers
37k views
Can I make USB drive bootable and install multiple OSes from it?
Is it possible to have USB drive bootable and place multiple ISOs like
Windows 7.iso
WindowXP.iso
Ubuntu.iso
RHEL.iso
so that I can choose which OS to install?
8
votes
7answers
2k views
Cleaning windows viruses from linux
In a dual-boot system, does anyone have experience dealing with viruses that hit windows from linux? (disambiguation note: dealing with them from linux .. )
The C:\ in windows is mounted to ...
8
votes
5answers
8k views
How to chain GRUB2 for Ubuntu 10.04 from Truecrypt & its bootloader (multi boot alongside Windows XP partition)?
I want Truecrypt to ask for password for Windows XP as usual but with the standard [ESC] option, on selecting that, i.e via Escape key, I want it to find the grub for the (unencrypted) Ubuntu install.
...
7
votes
6answers
8k views
How to install Ubuntu, Windows XP and Windows 7 from scratch as triple-boot system
I'm currently running Windows XP, but have ordered Windows 7. I want to keep Windows XP on a separate partition, and install Ubuntu as well.
In which order should I install the OSs, and is there ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Dual-booting different versions of Mac OS X
Is it possible to have two partitions but each one has Mac OS X ?
How else would someone do system type development?
7
votes
3answers
3k views
How do boot sectors and multiple drives works?
I don't fully understand the concept of a boot sector, I was hoping someone could clear this up for me.
If you have two hard drives, with an OS installed on each, does each drive have its own boot ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
Is dual boot worth-while?
I'm a genetics PhD student. The word-processing and referencing software available for windows is more suitable (and more compatible with computers in the library etc.), but there's some genetics ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Best way to Duplicate a Laptop's Hard Drive One-to-One
I have a Lenovo X61 Tablet computer, with a plain SATA drive inside. I have windows 7 and Ubuntu 9.10 dual booting on the computer. I want to back up both of these OS's, and their special partitions ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
Does Mac OS X's “Time Machine” back up all partitions on a dual-boot machine?
I have a dual-boot MacBook Pro with multiple partitions - of which most are not MacOS partitions.
I'd like to have a backup program that backs up the entire drive including all partitions.
Can Time ...
6
votes
2answers
42k views
How do I move the Windows 7 Boot Files (bootmgr, …) to a different drive?
I wanted a dual-boot setup. So first I installed Windows 7 on the 1st partition of one hard drive (we'll call it HDD1), and then I went to install Ubuntu 9.10 on the second partition of HDD1. ...
6
votes
2answers
7k views
Removing old Vista partition, but it's the active, system partition
I originally had Vista installed on my laptop and installed Win7 as a dual boot option. Now I've moved everything from Vista, I have removed the dual boot option via msconfig.exe. Finally, I want to ...
6
votes
4answers
5k views
Invalid BOOT.INI (dual boot XP with 7)
I had Windows XP x64 as my main system, and i also had a second partition with Windows XP x64. Both booted from first partition (C:)
I then installed Windows 7 Ultimate on the first partition. I've ...
6
votes
1answer
155 views
Returning from Dual-boot to just Windows
I installed Ubuntu sometime back along side Vista, but later found that I rarely (if ever) use Ubuntu. How easy is it to return my computer to its initial state of having only one OS, and freeing up ...
6
votes
2answers
14k views
Install Windows 7 after Ubuntu
I've Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 installed in my HDD.
My parents can't get used to it, so I must install Windows 7.
I'm afraid of this: Windows boot must be on the first hard disk/partition in order to ...
6
votes
2answers
196 views
Multiboot on usb with syslinux
I'm trying to make a multiboot usb with Ubuntu, Backtrack and Mantra-OS on it (all ubuntu as you can see). Those are the steps I've done:
sudo su
unmount /dev/sdb1 # unmount ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Is it possible to get rid of GRUB?
I have a Windows XP box with Ubuntu 8.04 installed on a separate partition. GRUB is defaulted to Ubuntu, which is annoying because most of the time I need to boot to Windows. I want to get rid of ...
5
votes
5answers
486 views
Dual boot Windows 7 / 8 is one Antivirus software enough?
I have a dual boot setup with Windows 7 and Windows 8. In Windows 7 I have Antivirus / Internet security Software from Symantec. Is it enough if I scan the Windows 8 partition lets say once a week or ...
5
votes
3answers
4k views
Can a Virus Enter via Ubuntu and affect Windows in dual boot?
I have a Windows XP Pro dual booting with Ubuntu Jaunty Jackelope on a single hard drive.
On Windows XP I have a Eset NOD 32 while on Ubuntu I have no antivirus installed.
While working on the ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
How do I load Ubuntu into RAM and boot from it?
The Problem
I have a USB flash drive which, among Windows PE and other things, has an Ubuntu 11.04 system on a virtual (file-based) partition:
<drive>/ubuntu/disks/boot.disk mount point ...
5
votes
3answers
232 views
Why does PC needs to reboot when in the case of tri-boot with Win XP, 7 and 8 I choose to load i.e. Win 7?
I've got a tri boot system with Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 - all on different HDs. The boot menu is the one that Windows 8 loads and it displays all the OSes correctly. Whenever I choose a ...
5
votes
3answers
874 views
Partition disk for dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7 (shared documents)
I wish to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7.
I wish to have my documents available from both OSes.
Do I create a single partition and it just works?
2 partitions, one for each OS?
3 partitions, one ...
5
votes
1answer
9k views
Can the Windows 7 system reserved partition be deleted without problems?
Ok, I recently got this netbook that came with Windows 7 and wanted to install Linux on it as well for a dual-boot. It came with four primary partitions on a 250 GB HDD, those being:
15 GB recovery ...
5
votes
3answers
94 views
Mount hibernated windows paritition
I am trying to mount my windows partition at boot. It works fine when windows in shutdown, but when windows is hibernated, it can't be mounted as rw and I am sent to the root shell at boot. I tried to ...
5
votes
4answers
5k views
How to fix GRUB after Windows breaks it, and how to edit the GRUB menu
I had Windows XP and Ubuntu both installed. I could easily boot into either until Windows "fixed" the bootloader so that it now only boots into Windows.
I guess there is no way to prevent Windows ...
5
votes
5answers
6k views
What is the best drive format to share data between Mac, Linux and OS X?
Note: I'm not asking how... I know that. I'm currently using Paragon Software's drivers which let you access all drive formats from all OSes (e.g. the Linux drive from OSX or the OSX drive from Win7, ...
5
votes
6answers
585 views
after installing linux in dual boot many of programs crashes on windows 7 64
Few days ago I've installed Linux Mint on my laptop and it runs great in dual boot with Windows 7 64.
But there are programs on Windows which started to crash after installing Linux!
I have no idea ...
5
votes
3answers
4k views
PXE Boot Server without DHCP, for many different computers?
I work at a helpdesk for a university where it is very common for us to reformat people's computers using XP, Vista, and Win7 CD's and DVD's. Of course, the discs get scratched and lost a lot.
It is ...
4
votes
3answers
261 views
Time changes when using two OSs
I have a dual boot machine. Ubuntu and Windows Vista.
After rebooting from Ubuntu to Vista, i see that the time has changed in Vista and vice versa.
Why does this happen??
The time zones on both the ...
4
votes
7answers
385 views
Dual Booting Linux and Windows XP
To start off, I am strictly a Windows user. I've used a Mac, and especially never used Linux before. However, I would like to learn more about Linux in general, and I figured the best way to do this ...
4
votes
4answers
258 views
How to use the Windows 8 boot screen with a keyboard?
The 'Choose an operation system' screen on Windows 8 allows you to use the cursor keys to choose between the different operating systems, but I couldn't find a way to select:
'Change defaults or ...
4
votes
4answers
187 views
Simplest way to dual boot Linux on a Vista laptop
I have a 64bit Vista laptop with no CD drive (and no intention of buying one).
What is the simplest way (if any) for me to dual boot Linux (I don't care what version as long as it's not too old...and ...
4
votes
4answers
56k views
Why do I get a GRUB error after deleting the Linux partition?
I had a dual-boot setup with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. I used Easus Partition Manager and shrank my Windows 7 partition. In the empty space, I installed Linux Mint. I decided I didn't want it ...
4
votes
3answers
2k views
Will Bitlocker make it impossible to read my files from my dual booting Ubuntu OS?
When I activate BitLocker, I imagine that will make it impossible to read any files on my Windows partition from my Ubuntu installation. Is that correct?
Any way to not encrypt certain directories ...
4
votes
3answers
248 views
Windows XP ruined my Windows 7 bootloader and rescue disc doesn't works, what do I do now?
I have 3 HDDs, one for Windows 7(x64), the other for Ubuntu(x64 too) and XP, and the 3rd for Ubuntu's SWAP and storage.
XPs bootloader copied itself on top of both 7s and GRUB. No biggie at first, I ...
4
votes
5answers
3k views
64 bit Windows 7 + 32 bit windows XP dual boot?
I have purchased an i7 based PC pre-installed with 64 bit windows 7 (home premium). Unfortunately some third party 32 bit software that I need to use is not working properly (see stackoverflow.com for ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Windows 7 boot manager
I have Windows 7 installed as my main operating system on my machine and recently installed Hyper V Server on a separate hard disk. Now I have realised that I don't use Hyper V as much as I thought I ...
