Windows and other Microsoft technologies

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This article discusses the optimal way to install Windows on a hard drive where Linux will be the main OS (of course).

Order of Installation

It is better to install on this order:

  • First partition the drive on Linux (this is cleaner). Boot on a LiveCD, then use fdisk to partition the drive. Choose the first primary partition as the Windows partition.
  • Boot the Windows install CD and install Windows on the first partition. It will write (without asking permission, of course) the Windows bootloader into the Master Boot Sector of the drive. This is not a problem as we will overwrite it with GRUB which is much better.
  • Install Linux on the remaining partitions. Then install GRUB on the MBR and use it to dual boot.

Important Notes

  • When you install Windows, be sure to install it on a system with a SINGLE hard drive, or at least with no other hard drives containing Windows. If you install it while another drive containing Windows is present, it won't write the bootloader into the partition of the newly installed Windows. Rather it will modify (without telling you anything) the configuration file (boot.ini) of where the previous bootloader is installed. You'll later encounter problems with GRUB's chain-loading (dual-booting) mechanism.
  • If you anyway made a mistake and installed Windows while another drive containing Windows was present, you can still fix the problem. Copy the files boot.ini, ntldr and ntdetect.com from the older Windows installation into the new one. These files are present on the root of the partition (although they are hidden, so you must edit settings to see them). Once they are copied, modify the file boot.ini on the new system so that it is correct.
  • On any hard drive, there can be only 4 primary partitions. Primary partitions can be used for booting; an extended partition can then contain any other number of partitions (it's in fact a placeholder). In fdisk for example, if there is an extended partition fdisk will display it overlapping with the actual partitions it contains (an extended partition is not an "actual" partition). Booting from an extended partition (in fact, a partition within an extended partition may be more correct) may be possible, but I am not sure. It may not be possible to boot directly from within GRUB into such a partition.
  • Create the primary partition under Linux, choosing NTFS as the partition type, then boot the Windows install CD-ROM and install onto that partition. As always, the less Windows does for you the better, since you do not control the process (Windows can actually create an extended partition without your knowledge!).
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