XP Home & Peanut Linux Dual Boot

[EvilCrow]

Hi, I just burned a copy of Peanut Linux on a CD-R, and would like to install it on my HDD as a seondary OS, and to try out Linux for the first time.

Can anyone explain how to go about making a new partition for Linux, what program to use, and how to be able to choose to boot either XP Home or Peanut Linux.

Thanks.

[CMonster]

Try Linux without installing -run from CD Knoppix





1. backup any information in XP that you deem valuable

2. use a non-destructive partitioning tool like "Ppartition Magic" (the latest version) that is able to resize the Windows partition without loosing data, make the partition smaller to create as much free space as you need to install your Linux distribution -do not create any partitions in the free space

3. during Linux install there will be some kind of tool to create partitions in the free space -you will need at least a "swap" partition (1-2x the size of your RAM is usually okay) and a "/" root partition

Install your Linux bootloader on a floppy and boot Linux with that -the safest bet, or you could take a chance and install the Linux bootloader on the MBR of the drive, but be sure your Linux distro's bootloader supports booting an NTFS partition -and be sure to add the Windows boot option if it is not already done for you.

an alternate methood: install a second hard disk and install Linux on that.

Before you leap -look- checkout the online documentaion for your distro, checkout the help files at linux websites etc.

Peanut Linux has a good support forum, which has some n00b friendly folk in it.

A useful thing to do, once you've partitioned your drive and got ready to install Peanut Linux, is to make a boot floppy first. Instructions are on the CD, under DOS dir I think.

That way, if you muff the install, you can still boot with the floppy and fix it.

Peanut is a nice, light distro that works well for basic functionality, I found.

Cheers
Mick