questions about dual-boot install Ubuntu 10.04 and Windows 7 on same hard drive
- by Tim
I'd like to dual-boot install Ubuntu 10.04 on the same hard drive as Windows 7 which has already been installed.
As to sources on the internet:
I found a website iinet about
dual-boot installation of Ubuntu
10.10 and Windows 7 on the same hard drive, which I think more specific
than the one on Ubuntu
Community without specific
version of the OSes. Since I am
installing Ubuntu 10.04 instead of
10.10, my question is whether their installers are same or almost same
and if I can follow iinet for
my dual-boot installation?
Or are there better websites for
information about dual-boot
installtion of Ubuntu 10.04 and
Windows 7?
As to shrinking Windows partitions
to make free space for Ubuntu
partitions:
iinet uses the partition
software in Ubuntu's installer to
shrink the Windows partition.
But I saw in many website that the
partition software in Ubuntu's
installer cannot guarantee shrinking
Windows 7 partitions successfully,
so they recommended in general to
shrink Windows partitions under
Windows itself using its softwares.
For example, in Ubuntu
Community, it says:
Some people think that the Windows
partition must be resized only from
within Windows Vista and Windows 7
using the shrink/resize option. ... If you use GParted Partition Editor in the Ubuntu Live CD be careful.
So I was wondering which way to go
in my situation?
As to partition for bootloader
files:
In iinet, I don't see there is
a partition created and dedicated to
boot files (i.e. Grub files).
However, I saw in many websites
strongly suggesting using a boot
partition for Grub files, especially
for the purpose of separation and
protection from installed OS files.
I was wondering which way I should
choose and why?
As to installing bootloader Grub,
in iinet, I see that to install
Grub it only needs to specify the
hard drive device for bootloader
installation.
However, in ubuntuguide(for
more than 2 OSes and Ubuntu 9.04),
some commands are needed to run in
order to put Grub configuration
files in MBR, and OS partition, for
the chain-load process (where to
find the files for the next stage).
In Ubuntu Community, there are
some related sentences which I don't
quite understand how to do in
practice:
the only thing in your computer
outside of Ubuntu that needs to be
changed is a small code in the MBR
(Master Boot Record) of the first hard
disk. The MBR code is changed to point
to the boot loader in Ubuntu.
If you have a problem with changing
the MBR code, you might prefer to just
install the code for pointing to GRUB
to the first sector of your Ubuntu
partition instead. If you do that
during the Ubuntu installation
process, then Ubuntu won't boot until
you configure some other boot manager
to point to Ubuntu's boot sector.
Windows Vista no longer utilizes
boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr when
booting. Instead, Vista stores all
data for its new boot manager in a
boot folder. Windows Vista ships with
an command line utility called
bcdedit.exe, which requires
administrator credentials to use. You
may want to read
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=112156
about it.
Using a command line utility always
has its learning curve, so a more
productive and better job can be done
with a free utility called EasyBCD,
developed and mastered in during the
times of Vista Beta already. EasyBCD
is user friendly and many Vista users
highly recommend EasyBCD.
In what is quoted above, I was wondering how
exactly I should change the MBR code
to point to the bootloader in
Ubuntu? if I fail to change MBR
code, are the other suggested boot
managers being bcdedit.exe and
EasyBCD in Windows?
With the three sources above, which
one shall I follow?
Thanks and regards
