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Dual boot Windows and Ubuntu


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#1
leedownen123

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I've been reading guides on dual-booting Windows & Ubuntu and they say you have to like 3 partitions for Ubuntu. 1 main partition, 1 swap partition, and 1 shared partition. Why can't I just have Windows on 1 partition, and Ubuntu on 1 partition and configure Lilo to have Windows as primary OS?
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#2
Drumbum667

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I used a partition program and partitioned my main drive to make it smaller and then I had free space. Then when I booted my LiveCD I chose custom partitoning(I used PCLinux OS though) and it made the 3 partition sizes all I had to do was click it and set mount point and then click install. It might be different for Ubuntu though.

Edited by Drumbum667, 30 May 2007 - 04:04 PM.

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#3
leedownen123

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Hm...I used to have Backtrack (a linux distro) installed on my system and I only had 2 partitions (One for Backtrack and one for Windows) and it seemed to have worked fine....why wouldn't something like Ubuntu work like that also?
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#4
Drumbum667

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Im not an expert so yo you should wait for silverbeard or Tiger. Ok here is how it works for PCLinuxOS and Ubuntu. You need 3 partitions a "/" partition, a "/home" partition, and a "swap" partition. The "/" partition is for the operating system files and the programs. The "/home" partition is for your documents and stuff. The "swap" partition is pretty much virtual memory. Im not sure but Im pretty sure this is like the paging file in windows. Its virtual memory if the computer needs more than the physical memory. It's usually 1.5 - 2 times the size of your amount of physical RAM. I guess that sums it up.
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#5
silverbeard

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You can install that way(1 for Windows, 1 for Linux) but it's not a good thing to do. I don't install Windows with just one partition. Partitioning is a matter of data safety IMO. If you trash your root partition or upgrade your system your data is safe.

Running Linux without a Swap partion is also not a good idea unless you have a large amount of RAM (1 to 2 gig). I usually set up a Swap partition equal to or double the RAM.

I'm not that familiar with Ubuntu's installer because I'm just not that thrilled with Ubuntu. I've used a distro for over a year based on the Ubuntu core but have never tried to install Ubuntu.

I set my Linux boxes up with three partitions along with any Windows partitions(QTparted or Partition Magic work for setting up partitions). Root for the main system, Swap for extra processor work space and a large /home partition for work and data storage. User settings are stored in the /home directory and losing that can be a pain in the event of a crash. You shouldn't need more than about 6gigs for root, set your swap as you need and /home with what you care to spare from your drive(s).

There are reasons why they recommend Partitioning. It's based on experience in best practices.
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