Hi Guys! Complete Linux n00b here, but we all gotta start somewhere, right?

I want to install Mandiva One 2008 on my Windows system as a dual-boot. In the Live Install setup, if I choose to install on the "Free Space in the Windows Partition," will Mandriva automatically do this? Is there any chance it will erase any information on my Windows partition? Will it partition itself a section for install and swap, or will it prompt me to do so? What's the best way to go about this, if so?

I am running a Compaq Presario F730US laptop, 120G Internal HDD.

Also, should I decide to uninstall Mandriva, I assume I could just repair the boot loader from my XP CD then format and absorb the new partitions into C: drive?


Thanks!!
Nick

Yes, I believe that is how the option is intended to work.There is always a chance of that anytime you resize a partition, no matter how you go about doing it. One way to try to minimize the chance (in my experience, the chance is quite small to begin with) is to defragment your Windows partition before resizing it. Making a backup of important data is always a good idea (really, you should do this on a regular basis anways).Yes, it should take care of that for you.Pretty much. From the XP cd fixmbr should do the trick, maybe with a fixboot to be sure. Also, booting the Mandriva CD into rescue mode should give you an option to restore the Windows bootloader.

(fyi - I took a look at your other post, but did not have an answer...sorry )

Wow! Thanks for such a great, thorough and fast response! You guys are what makes Linux a superior system.

I will need to set up my wireless drivers after install, and from what I understand that's a hairy process, so i will soon be posting again

(About the other question, that's ok. Its such a strange problem, I knew it would be difficult to diagnose. The display error unfortunately flashes too fast to read. That's ok though, since Mandriva works and I'm impressed with it.)

Depends on the wireless card, it may be easier than you think (I'm not sure what card you have).

Also, I'm going to move this over to laptops & portable devices since this is a laptop you're working on.

Hi Fizban, that's basically what I did about a year ago, though I never went back to Windows. After trying Mandriva, I ported across in about 4 months. Still finishing that port, but have made the decision to get rid of Windows, though I still have some business programs (database I'm porting to Mysql and SugarCRM, actually) I run under Windows XP in VirtualBox. (open source linux emulation tool)

Advice I found out the hard way when I installed both Linux and Windows on the same hard drive using Mandriva 2007.1:

1. Make sure you have a swap partition, or some kind of neutral ground between your Windows and Linux partitions. It may not always be a problem, but it was for me. Windows really didn't like Linux, and I wasn't writing to Windows under Linux either. Lots of things screwed up, and most of them were fixed when I put a Linux Swap partition between Windows XP and Linux.
2. defrags are really important. Do a disc defrag before resizing with your live cd, and after in Windows XP. This will help things run much smoother.
3. If I was doing this again, I'd actually consider re-installing XP, especially if you have any problems. From memory it seems XP is made to be reinstalled periodically. SOmething to consider in case you run into problems.
4. Consider installing 'Mondo' when Linux is on your machine, it's an awesome little program that can back up your windows partition as well as your linux one. If you need to reinstall ANYTHING at some point, this will make it so much easier for you, providing you've done a backup prior. I haven't tried it like this, but it should make life much easier if you do need to reinstall Windows XP as well.
5. Have fun, and don't let any of this scare you! Linux is a truly grat operating system, and I wouldn't go back to Microsoft Windows if you paid me. Also, these forums are really friendly, don't be afraid to post.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome Mitchell! I appreciate it!

So here's the update. Linux is up and running great, Windows likewise!
For the record, using the "Install on my Windows Partition" works great, except it will ask you how much of your hdd you want to retain for Windows, and will not allocate enough memory for itself to run. You have to make sure you manually choose a partition big enough for Mandriva. Thus, its not totally self-sufficient.

Problems, however, alas. As I expected, I am having network issues. I have no idea how to run ndiswrapper. I have downloaded the .inf and .sys files (bcmwl5) it prompted me for in network configuration for my wireless card. I'm not so worried about the wired LAN right now. Mandriva recognizes the device, but nothing shows up in the screen where the various local networks should be...Any help would be greatly appreciated! Here is what Windows Device Manager gives me for my wireless card (I understand its a very common device, though):

Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN.

You guys are great! Thanks!
Nick

Woot! I spoke a little too soon earlier, because I'm typing this from inside Mandriva right now!! Hooray! And WOW is it fast. Thanks for all your help guys!

glad you got this working

Ok, hmmmmmm...Got the windows driver workin great, but Mandriva forgets my wireless driver everytime I restart. Is this normal? Everytime I restart it defaults back to the Linux driver that doesn't work properly. I am running the windows driver off of the windows partition through the configure network option...

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Hi Fizban, I haven't run into that problem before, but I don't think I ran the driver through the partition. I'm not sure why it's happening, but try copying the driver from your ms windows partition into Linux. Easiest is probably to create a folder somewhere in your home user partition, so it's easy to access, move, delet, etc. Only don't delete it...lol. WHen that's done, point your configuration to that location when you're asked for it again. THis might fix your problem.

Also for the record, I've been having difficulties with my wireless connection on my Hp omnibook6000. (yes it's old, and apart from 3d effects not able to work and it running a bit slower, 2008.0 is fantastic on it!) I think I must not be configuring it properly, because one day it's working, then the next I can't connect to my network. It's not the network's fault, or my router (as far as I know), and is highly irritating. Can anyone point me in the right direction for a good tutorial about using Mandriva with wireless connections? Under 2007.1 there were major issues with support for my Belkin wireless card, which seems to be fixed now. I think my problem lies in not knowing quite what I'm doing yet. Cheers.