Joined: Wed Feb 28 2007, 12:14am
Location: Under Your Mom's Meat Flaps!
Posts: 14373
There's been a lot of speculation in how to do it ... I've figured it out ...
It's simple, when you load Vista it kills GRUB, when you overwrite the MBR with GRUB it kills the Vista loader ...
I'll post the details in the next post on how I did it, just know that I've done it and am using FreeSpire to post right now ... (I want to learn both systems)
Joined: Wed Feb 28 2007, 12:14am
Location: Under Your Mom's Meat Flaps!
Posts: 14373
Ok, the program I used was EASYBCD (Ver 1.7, 1.71's out now though) ...
When you install LinSpire/FreeSpire/Etc onto a hard drive, install VISTA FIRST onto the main partition ... Set this up with a partition manager, not the one in FreeSpire ... (Another way to do this is to set up the whole partition for Vista and then in your Disk Manager, shrink the Vista partition; either way, move to the next step)
After this, with a partition manager, make a "ries3" or a "lin3" partition that's at least about 4-5 gigs, and make another for the linux swap which is about 500mb-750mb ...
Ok, here's where people get lost ...
ASSUMING you now have Vista installed, put in your FreeSpire cd and select "install/boot freespire" (version depending, you'll see) ...
Let it go through the setup screen(s), but remember DO NOT LET IT WRITE TO THE MBR WHEN INSTALLING, (uncheck the option that is automatically checked in the 'show partitions' screen), this will be done later ...
Install FreeSpire
Go into Vista and download and install EasyBCD
Set it in the SECOND TAB (I'll notate this fully later, I want to see the new version that just came out to verify) and tell it to put GRUB (or LILO) on the boot partition and dualboot linux (although I like to put it on the LINUX PARTITION; it's just "safer" that way) ...
Test it out (give it a few minutes to detect everything; it may NOT detect one or the other system(s) until the next loading or until you've boot both systems and shut them down completely for the first time)
I think in the newer version is a few addons to the feature(s). I'll update this in a day or so as I'm about to format my drives and do it over again (I like experimentation and practice, and, besides, it's a 'test machine') ...
I'll document as I install/reinstall it ...
I hope this helps (and if not now, then after I fully document this)
Edited Sat Jul 12 2008, 07:52pm
