How to Dual Boot my Windows XP Laptop with Ubuntu 7.10

Hi all, I am rather new to the blogging world, but I wanted to share with you my experience with something that is getting more and more popular these days... Dual booting a computer with multiple Operating Systems.

First of all let me get this warning out of the way. I would highly suggest that you back up any needed/wanted data before proceeding. Nothing should go wrong, and all your data should be fine, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

I was very new to the dual booting experience upon beginning this adventure, but I am glad that I did, it has taught me a great deal about how computers actually work. There are several key terms I am going to use a lot so for you beginners out there I would suggest looking up these terms. Partition, LiveCD's, Defragmenting, and Ubuntu.

You will need to get the following two things before you begin.

1. A copy of Gnome Partition Editor (GParted) LiveCD. You can make your own free copy by visiting this site http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828 and burning the .iso file on to a DVD or a CD using Nero, Sonic, or whatever burning software you use.

2. A copy of whatever version of Linux you wish to install on your computer. I used Ubuntu 7.10 so that is what I will use here. You can make your own free copy by visiting this site http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download and burning the .iso file to a DVD or CD again using what ever burning software you may have.

Note: I would highly recommend having a minimum of 1024 MB (1GB) of RAM and 60 GB hard drive.

Ok, now for the hands on part... I will break everything up into two separate parts. Making room for the new OS, and installing the new OS.

Part 1 - Making room for the new Operating System

To add a new Operating System to your hard drive, it needs to be divided into two completely separate parts. This is also known as partitioning. It is likely that your hard disk is very fragmented, so before partitioning your hard drive, you need to derfag your data to the front (left side of the bar) of your disk.

Here is an example. You want the biggest contiguous white block as you can get. To get to this window on XP go to Start Menu >> All Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools >> Disk Defragmenter. Then click analyze to see how much room you have available. You may have to defrag several times in a row to see dramatic results. While you won't need a space as big as the one in the example, it is recommended you get as big of a space as possible to help prevent data loss.

Now that we have cleared up room for the partition, we can create it. Chances are, if you are like me and bought a laptop that had XP pre-installed on it, Windows XP will be installed on the entire hard drive (Usually the C:\). Go to your Computer Management window (Control Panel >> Administrative Tools >> Computer Management) and click on Disk Management. If you do not see a partition named Unallocated Space, then you will need Gparted.

So insert your Gparted LiveCD and restart your computer. Gparted will do it's thing for a little bit. It will then ask you some questions. Press Enter for Default, 33 for English, etc. etc. Finally, the screen will change from black to another color. (It was tan on my version of GParted). Now you should see unallocated space. Make the partition Windows XP is on (C:\) smaller by dragging the block for the NTFS partition to the left. Then making a new partition within the Unallocated space. Save the changes, then restart the computer with no disk in the drive.

Windows might give you some kind of error message due to the fact that the disk has changed without it's knowledge, just ignore it and go on (I didn't get an error message at all). Check your disk management again, and you should see the extra partition you made. Part 1 Complete.

Part 2 - Installing the new Operating System

Now for the easy part. Ubuntu 7.10 makes life extremely easy for you. Not only does it allow you to insert a LiveCD and experience the OS from a CD, but it allows you to install the OS right from that CD. Insert the LiveCD and restart your computer. Choose the option to load the OS from the LiveCD. There it is, Ubuntu 7.10 all nice and ready for use. All you have to do now is install it. On the first Desktop you should see the install icon. Double click it. Follow the instructions and fill out all the necessary information. The installer will actually install a program called GRUB as well, which is what will be used to choose which OS you wish to start when you turn your computer on. Part 2 Complete.

There you go. Now you have a computer with two operating systems ready to go. I hope this information helped. I will be glad to answer any of your questions to the best of my ability.