Advise to reinstall XP with Linux

[Collins Richey]

On Mon, 01 Nov 2004 11:27:55 -0500, Jean Sagi <jeansagi at uniweb.net.co> wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> This might be not very common, but I finaly manged to crash my WindowsME
> on the first disk I have (/dev/hda), by resizing the partition where it
> reside with Diskdrake.
> 
> Luckyly, all my linux partions where on my second disk (dev/hdb), and I
> can boot'em without any problem, so as you may guess the lost was not much.
> 
> So, now, I want to install XP in my first disk (yes... I like to play
> with the devil), but leaving my linuxes on second disk _intact_ and I'm
> not very sure on how to proceed and maybe someone here want to share
> some ideas on how to acomplish this.
> 
> I think that:
> 

I'm assuming from the above:

1. Your first disk is toast, ready to reinstall
2. You can boot the linux on the second disk with CD or floppy

Here's what to do:

1. Boot linux and partition the first disk the way you want it. I
wouuld recommend enough space for WinXP as ntfs (primary, bootable), a
small partition as vfat (primary) to allow transfer of files between
linux and WinXP, and the rest (or none) as an extended partition to
subdivide however you like. BTW, the WinXP install may format your
small vfat partition as ntfs, so you'll need to reformat it as vfat
after the fact.

2. Install WinXP to the first partition. on the first disk WinXP will
not see your linux partitions. After install, only WinXP will be
bootable from disk. If this step fails, you're sol from my standpoint.
I've never actually installed WinXP.

3. Boot linux and reinstall lilo or grub with the proper stanzas to
boot WinXCP and linux. If you need help with this step, ask again.

4. All done.

Good luck,

-- 
 /\/\
(CR) Collins Richey
 \/\/        "I hear you're single again." "Spouse 2.0 had fewer bugs than
              Spouse 1.0, but the maintenance ... was too much for my OS."
                  - Glitch (tm)