[GLLUG] Knoppix Dual boot install

[davefff]

Michael Rudas, Et Al,

Thank you for this very informative posting. Am saving it for when I 
attempt my Knoppix dual boot install.

Could try it now, but with so many things that can go amiss, will wait 
until my 2nd internal HD with SATA to IDE adapter is installed.

Couold try it on my 40 Gig exteranl, but just afraid something wouldn't 
work right...
Dave, KB2MVF


> I post this because others might find it useful.
>
> My main system is down -- the hard drive smoked, the power supply has
> fried, the motherboard needs the CPU capacitors replaced -- in short,
> a fixable-but-funky mess.
>
> In the interim, I'm using a Compaq P4 system I got from a computer
> recycler.  He puts a corporate install of WinXP Pro on 20 GB drives
> when he sells them -- but I wanted to make it dual-boot with Linux and
> 20 gig just ain't gonna cut it.  Reinstalling WinXP on a new drive is
> out of the question when I already have it working fine.
>
> So I picked up a 400 GB drive and partitioned it with a 20 GB boot
> partition, a Linux partition, and an NTFS partition.  I used PartImage
> via Knoppix to back up the 20 gig drive to a partition on the 400 gig
> drive, then restored the image files to the boot partition of the new
> drive.  I rebooted, hoping all was golden -- oops, not so much.  It
> would boot to "Loading Personal Settings" -- then go to "Shutting
> Down" and never quite make it to "off."  Safe mode didn't work, either
> -- a Google search on the problem produced nothing useful.
>
> On a hunch, I went searching for a freeware tool to tweak the Master
> Boot Record, and found a GREAT one for Windows (there's a Linux
> version, too) called "MBRWizard" (MBRWiz) -- most tools of this type
> can only access drive 0 in a multi-drive setup, but MBRWiz was able to
> backup and repair the MBR on the new drive even when it was in a USB
> external case.  Comparing the backups of the original MBR and the
> repaired one showed differences, so I crossed my fingers and rebooted.
>
> It worked!  I now have a 400 GB drive that will soon dual-boot both
> Linux and Windows, Windows works fine, and I won't be forced to use a
> live CD to boot Linux anymore.  It just goes to show that a mixed
> environment CAN be useful -- I'm forced to use Windows because I'm
> expected to support it, but I certainly prefer Linux when I can use
> it.
>
> Woo-hoo!
>
> ~~ Mikey