Public SourceMage Discussion List

["Eric Sandall" <eric AT sandall.us>]

Doubletwist said:
> Actually this may be a Bad Idea(tm)...
> While for YEARS I had no problem using lilo on the MBR, that all changed
>  with WinXP.
> If I have WinXP and the install linux and use lilo in the MBR, it hoses
> my WinXP partition.
>
> It may have something to do with the way WinXP partitions the disk. I
> remember reading somewhere about the fact that when DOS partitioned the
> disk, it didn't start on the first sector. It left the first cylinder
> empty. In addition to the MBR, things like Lilo use that first cyl. Some
> non-MS OSes may not leave that cyl open, and it's possible [not  sure
> though] that with XP, windows has started to use that as well.
> [Possibly on purpose, who knows].
>
> Anyway, I think the best option would be for a menu item to choose if
> the user wants it installed in the MBR or on a bootable linux partition,
>  with good descriptions of the pro's and con's of each.
>
> DT

I've had no problems with LILO+WinXP on my laptop (Dell), and on my main
(a.k.a. gaming) machine, GRUB+WinXP works fine as well.  However, a friend
of mine couldn't get either LILO _or_ GRUB to work on his laptop (Compaq),
not sure if it had something to do with WinXP or not, but we're going to
try again this semester.

-One of Four
a.k.a. sandalle

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Eric Sandall                      |  Source Mage GNU/Linux Developer
eric AT sandall.us                   |  http://www.sourcemage.org/
http://www.sandall.us/~sandalle/  |  SysAdmin @ Inst. Shock Physics @ WSU
http://counter.li.org/  #196285   |  http://www.shock.wsu.edu/