[NTLUG:Discuss] Adding RH 8.0 to my Windows system

[Steve Baker]

jay linux wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have Windows 2000 on my laptop. I want to do a LILO boot. I guess it's 
> GRUB now. I want to be able to select 2000 or Linux at boot time. I have 
> Redhat 8.0. In previous revs the installation doc talked about 'FIPS'. A 
> program to put Linux on after 2000 is already on. I don't see that 
> anymore though.

I did that with a friends laptop - it worked just fine (using GRUB to boot
and FIPS to restructure the disk partitions) - however BEWARE!!!!  what I
didn't know is that this particular Fujitsu laptop used a "hidden" partition
to store a backup of Windoze.  When I repartitioned, this hidden partition
didn't show up as a properly labelled partition and FIPS just overwrote
it.

SuSE Linux installed by the book with no problems, GRUB dual-booted without
problems, Windoze worked just fine (well - no - it worked just as well as
Windoze ever works - which isn't "just fine").

With everything humming along nicely, neither me or my friend knew
that I'd done anything wrong.  But a couple of months later when the guy
screwed up something under Windoze, he tried to reinstall it using the
Fujitsu instructions and found that he couldn't.  He asked me to help
(and I know *NOTHING* about Windoze) - so I told him: "Just re-install
from the Windozs CD" - but he doesn't *HAVE* any Windoze CD's!!   We
knocked it back and forth with the Fujitsu helpline and ended up having
to ship the laptop back to them to have Windoze re-installed...which
of course re-installed the Windoze backup partition and crapped over
Linux.

<sigh>

> If I want to do this does anyone have any recommendations about how to 
> put Linux on my current Windows machine safely?

Evidently, I'm the wrong person to ask since I screwed up...but just
beware!  If you don't have a set of Windoze install CD's, you'll probably
have one of these hidden partitions - and because (at least in the Fujitsu
case) it wasn't properly labelled, it's very easy to accidentally blow it
away.

---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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