Hello,
I want to turn my current WinXP box into a dual-boot WinXP/Slackware system.
I have a brand new 160GB hard drive that I can install and configure as the Slave drive and load Slackware upon, but I have some questions about configuring for dual boot.

Here's my Questions:

1. Can I install and parition the 160GB harddrive in WinXP under the WinXP DIskManager?
(then I assume I'd reboot and install Slackware via CDROM to a partition on this new drive, right?)

2. How do I set up a dual-boot system without ruining the MBR on the Master hrd-drive.

3. Will either XP or Lnx have any issues due to >132GB, when installing/using the 160GB drive

Thanks!
--Dave

first of all, BACKUP ALL IMPORTANT DATA!

i'm not sure about the xp diskmanager, but i know you can partition and format the new hdd in the slack install, you just have to be a little familiar with cfdisk.

you can overwrite the mbr in the slack install, and do an expert lilo install. create the new lilo header file, add the linux partition, add the xp partition, and hit install. this should make it possible to boot to either os at the lilo boot screen, but don't take my word for it cause i've never done slack/xp dualboot, but i've done other linux dualboots and i'm familiar with slack install - anyways, that's the way i'd do it

Not exactly. You can create partitions in Windows, but you can't put a linux filesystem on it from within Windows. So don't bother doing it from Windows because you'll have to do some of it over anyway.

I assume you mean you want to use the Windows boot loader. It's a pain in the ass to do so, but if you just like the look of it better it can be done. When you're doing the Slackware install tell it to install the bootloader onto the second disk. Then you can use dd to copy out exactly 512 bytes from that disk to a file that you then copy over to your NTFS partition and use as a parameter for the Win boot loader. You'll have to dig a little deeper for specific instructions. Personally, I just use Grub. You don't spend much time looking at the bootloader anyway, so why makes things difficult?


Assuming your IDE interface can work with large volumes (it should unless it's quite old) you should be fine. Linux shouldn't have any problems because it bypasses the BIOS for disk access. Windows XP with up-to-date service packs works fine with large volumes also.