Quad Booting

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shedrock

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I currently have Win7, WinXP and another version of WinXP (black) installed and the layout is like this:

Win7 - C: drive
WinXP - D: drive
WinXP (black) - L: drive, which is really on the D: drive (partitioned)

I don't think the drive letters matter much because Terry showed me how to do it all so that when each OS boots I see the all the OS drives as Drive C:.

What I want to to is split the partition of (D WinXP and install Ubuntu 9.10 but I also want this to show up as the C: Drive. Would I need to hide the WinXP and WinXP (black) partitions and then install Ubuntu?. I think I pretty much got that, I am just lost as to what I have to d o next.


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Thanks in advance for your help.
Shedrock
 
Hey Shedrock.
Linux does NOT use drive letters at all, and any Linux partition seen from Windows will not have any either because the filesystem isn't recognized.
When you install Ubuntu, you should specify to install Grub to the Linux partition (using the "Advanced" option in the setup), so it doesn't overwrite the Windows MBR and require booting from the W7 DVD to repair it. Once Ubuntu is installed, simply use the latest EasyBCD build to get your quad boot working (make sure to use the Grub2 option though).

Jake
 
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Linux doesn't use disk letters. They're just entries in Windows registries.
Windows won't even recognize the Ubuntu partition as having anything on it.
Ubuntu doesn't see Windows letters, just the partition labels. (WinXP Data etc)
 
Well, I installed it under Windows 7 after creating an extended partition. Windows 7 automatically added it to the boot menu so I didn't have to use EasyBCD at all. All the OS's seem to be running fine.

btw: It also added Ubuntu to iReboot under Win7

Thanks for all the help guys
Shedrock
 
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Windows 7 automatically added it to the boot menu so I didn't have to use EasyBCD at all.
I'm sure it was actually Ubuntu's installer that added it to the BCD, not W7. But that is interesting...I didn't know it was smart enough to add itself to the Windows bootloader.
btw: It also added Ubuntu to iReboot under Win7
Yeah, that's because iReboot reads the BCD. So when the Ubuntu entry was added to the BCD, it was subsequently "added" to iReboot (though in reality it was actually added to the BCD, and iReboot just detected it is all).

Glad you got it working. Let us know if you have any more problems.

Jake
 
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I think the poster used Wubi, if I'm not mistaken?

That's what you get when you install Ubuntu literally from within Windows. It'll install itself to a virtual disk, and the code that NeoSmart Technologies contributed to the Ubuntu project kicks in to add an entry to the Vista bootloader :smile:
 
That is correct, I used wubi and installed it on my O: drive

Addendum:

Sorry to be a pain guys. I just realized something. I hate Ubuntu. It does not find any of my drivers for my audio, video and their support forums won't let me register and I don't have the patience for that. I have no idea why I just didn't run it from the CD. Anyway, I want to get rid of it and I know I can delete the partition. Here is the problem I have.

I deleted the partition (extended - 75 GB) but is there a way to re-add that 75GB to the original HD which in this case is my D: drive?

Thanks and sorry in advance.
Shedrock
 
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Sure. In the start menu in Windows 7, type in "Disk Management" and select the first result that comes up in the search (create and format partitions).

Right-click drive D: and press "Extend Volume."

That should do what you need.


Sorry Linux didn't work out for you :smile:
 
Am I clicking on Drive (D) or the drive with Ubuntu on it, which is Drive (O)? Wouldn't I have to extend the drive O? A bit confused here.:scared:
 
ok, here is what I see.

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and then this is the 2nd screen when I extend from the D: drive.

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So do I need to removed Disk 1 and then add Disk 2. Also, how does it know to add the free space which was Ubuntu?

Shedrock

Addendum:

I should learn to read. :lol: - I followed your instructions after reading them 10 times and I got it to work.

Thanks again mate.
Shedrock
 
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Well, I am back again. Just when I thought I had it all sorted out.

I tried to boot into my 1st WinXP and I get the following error:
Autochk file is missing and then I get the blue screen

I then tried to boot into my 2nd WinXP and I get the following:
system32/ntoskernl.exe is missing (the file is actually there when I checked)

I tried running EasyBCD again but it didn't resolve the issue.

Shedrock
 
Looks to me you would have needed to extend the K: partition, not the D, since the free space is directly following the K: partition on the disk. That is, unless you were to slide over the K: partition into the free space, so the free space comes before that partition, and after the D partition, in which case you could then extend the D partition.
I don't see how you could have got it to work extending the D: partition as it was...

Addendum:

Well, I am back again. Just when I thought I had it all sorted out.

I tried to boot into my 1st WinXP and I get the following error:
Autochk file is missing and then I get the blue screen

I then tried to boot into my 2nd WinXP and I get the following:
system32/ntoskernl.exe is missing (the file is actually there when I checked)

I tried running EasyBCD again but it didn't resolve the issue.

Shedrock
What exactly did you do to your disk...? :wtf: If the boot.ini is not pointed at the correct location anymore (likely it is not, since you're getting that error message, which usually means the boot.ini is misconfigured), that means the partition XP was on got moved in the partition table of the MBR, and so consequently the boot.ini is no longer pointing at XP.
 
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Also, why did you say Ubuntu was on Drive 0? According to your Disk Management screenshots (which I admit don't always jibe with the BIOS ordering of HDDs), it was your second drive (not your first).
You didn't happen to change the boot sequence in your BIOS at all, did you?
 
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