Win Xp / Linux Ubuntu Dual Boot Observations

[deniro0311]

I recently did a fresh install of win xp and ubuntu linux on my x60. I figured I would post a little info from my experience, incase someone is planning on doing the same.

1. Ubuntu 7.04 is simply amazing. The only problem I had was with my thinkpad abgn nic, but I got it solved. If anyone needs help, let me know. If it wasn't for adobe/macromedia software I would ditch windows all together.

2. If you try ubuntu get beryl (window manager) and automatix (package manger).

3. Dual booting is a breeze with the new version of ubuntu. It almost does it all for you. Another words, you don't have to worry about where to install the boot loader, etc.

3. Get ext2ifs for windows. It enables you to read/write to all ext3 partitions. There is also a program form automatix that does the same for ntfs. Another words, all you need to do is make /home ext3, and now you don't need to make a data partition in windows, or make a data partition fat32. You will have a /home (data) that is accessable from both os's.

4. Doing a clean install of windows can be a pain. If you go to the lenovo site you will get lost in all the drivers/software that you can download. This is what you need to....

a. Get a copy of windows xp oem, any oem version. You probably have one laying around. The key on the laptop will not work with a retail version. Some say this is illegal, but since they decided to save money by not giving us a cd, you have to do what you can. There is no other way to do a clean install.

b. Go to the lenovo site and get the bios update utility, and the regular update utility. I forgot the actual name, but it will install a program called PkgMgr in \program files\lenovo\pkgmgr.

c. Go ahead and update your bios. Then go into the bios and reclaim the partition that is set aside for recovery. The setting is in the security section. You won't need this if you plan to make your own backups (ie ghost, acronis). I personally don't trust the recovery tools that come with computers. Why not trust the experts for tasks like this, again ie ghost, acronis. You may need to set your sata drive to compatibility mode in the bios as well.

d. Install windows first. Make one partition. I made mine 35 gigs. XP sp2 bloats, plus I have a lot of web design apps. This next step may seem a little messed up, but it worked out well. Launch the pkgmgr utility. It will download and install all the drivers/software you need. If you know you don't need something, don't select it. When it's all done, go into add/remove and remove the things that got by you.

5. Installing Linux is so easy with ubuntu. The partitioner is the easiest I have ever used. Since you are doing a dual boot, you should want to set up /home so both os's can access it, like I mentioned earlier. This means you have to manually partition it yourself. It's easy, don't worry. Make 3 partitions. / , swap, and home. Make them all ext3. / needs to be a decent size. I just made mine about 25 gigs to be safe. Swap size doesn't matter too much if you have 1.5 - 2 gigs of ram. Home will take the rest. Everything else is done for you.

I hope this helps someone out.

[truk]

Just wanted to add a couple things and give some opinions:

#1-I personally find it easier to partition from the live CD, and then install windows first.
#2-Synaptic (my personal favorite) is included on Ubuntu and lists #3
#3-NTFS3g is widely cosidered the current best read/write NTFS driver. Remember that your can't use NTFS while windows is hibernated.

[K0LO]

#3-NTFS3g is widely cosidered the current best read/write NTFS driver. Remember that your can't use NTFS while windows is hibernated.

Not trying to be a smart a**, but you can read files from a hibernated NTFS filesystem all you want; just don't try writing to a hibernated NTFS filesystem. I know this from firsthand experience, and was lucky enough that chkdsk fixed all of the errors caused by my little oversight.

Thanks for the reminder.

[deniro0311]

I figured I would expand a little on using the live cd to partition, for those that may be interested. If you are in the market for a good application to help you partition/re-partition (windows and linux), don't spend your money.

Do a search for gparted live cd. I recently used it to re-partition my dual booted x60, and it worked flawlessly. It has a similar setup to partition magic, but it's free. Check it out.

[snessiram]

I agree with deniro0311. I always use gparted (using (x)ubuntu live cd), it's free and it works.

[truk]

I understand k0lo, but it does mess up things like boot screens (I know from experiance.) Thanks for mentioning the name gparted (that is what I was talking about.) It is available from the system menu, but I would not recommend using it with less than 512 megs of memory, as it is really slow (in liveCD mode, not once it is installed.)