Howto: CAELinux09 Dual Boot with Vista

I have taken a very similar approach to achieving dual boot with Vista and CAELinux08. I reused the existing partitions but back in 08 the space for them (/ and swap) was created in Vista using the disk manager. I defragmented the hard drive and then resized the main Vista partition to make some room.

To install Linux I just used the live DVD. First I checked the integrity (might as well save yourself some possible hassle). Then I just went into the live mode, ran a few programs to see how it worked, and then ran the installer on the desktop.

The installer is pretty straightforward but there is a good guide that while not exactly the process you need to go through it is sufficient. In fact, the installation covered is fairly complex and you only need to reference bits and pieces.

members.iinet.net.au/%7Eherman546/p23.html

As with PCLinux I created just a swap partition (virtual memory) and a / partition in the free space created in Vista. Some recommend sub partitions but to each his own.

The most important part would be to check the advanced settings in the dialog box following the creation of user accounts. This dialog box is basically a review of the setup process and the decisions you have made. However, the advanced button brings up a dialog box that covers the installation of a boot loader. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. You risk taking out Vista if you write over the master boot record (MBR) which is the default option. A safer route is to put the suggested boot loader ( GRUB ) in the / (Linux) partition. You can then use a program called EasyBCD to add an option in the Vista bootloader to use GRUB to load Linux.

There is a guide on the use of EasyBCD here:

pclosmag.com/html/Issues/200708/page03.html

Good luck,

- Matthew Bondy

P.S. Written while running CAELinux09. I had never used or even seen Ubuntu. Pretty slick. Kudos to all the contributors (Ubuntu, CAELinux, etc.).

Post edited by: Matthew Bondy, at: 2009/06/20 23:48

Post edited by: Matthew Bondy, at: 2009/06/21 00:48<br /><br />Post edited by: Matthew Bondy, at: 2009/06/21 00:49

Matthew Bondy wrote:

... However, the advanced button brings up a dialog box that covers the installation of a boot loader. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. You risk taking out Vista if you write over the master boot record (MBR) which is the default option. A safer route is to put the suggested boot loader ( GRUB ) in the / (Linux) partition. You can then use a program called EasyBCD to add an option in the Vista bootloader to use GRUB to load Linux.
...

As a matter of fact, GRUB (boot loader) neatly takes care about this and automatically detects other operating systems installed on your computer, and includes them into the generated selection menu appearing by default upon system boot. The time when you should BE REALLY CAREFUL is when you reinstall Windows, since it just writes its own boot loader in MBR without any questions, and does not care about other [non-Windows?] systems, which might be already installed.

It is possible the version of GRUB included in CAELinux2009 will do this but I am not brave enough to experiment. The GRUB included in CAELinux08 attempted to create a bootloader for Vista for me and failed miserably. At the time that was a fairly common experience so I would not be surprised if it has been fixed but I cannot recommend that route with my lack of experience with it.

I intend this to be a source for the links to documentation to guide one through this installation. I wouldnt be surprised if there are quite a few like me that were/are engineering students/professionals without prior Linux experience stumbling upon this software, finding it useful, and debating installation as a second OS.

No one goes BACK to a Microsoft product after using Linux! Well, there might be the odd masochist or two out there...<br /><br />Post edited by: Matthew Bondy, at: 2009/06/22 05:24