[DaveyC]

Hi,

I realise there is already a thread at the top of the board about this but unfortunately this and other searches on this site and google haven't helped me.

A little background on my problem...

I'm running XP Home SP3 on a system that is about 4-5 years old. The system isn't in great shape - I try to keep everything neat and tidy but unfortunately I am not the only user, and about 2 years ago I took it to the shop to sort out a problem, which they did, but they also ran Ccleaner and deleted far too much leaving the system not especially stable.

A while ago I had a problem with watching videos - http://www.geekstogo...em-t205213.html - and followed the advice in here - http://www.geekstogo...er-t101331.html - to no avail. Won't go into any more detail about this problem though.

I have since downloaded Ubuntu live CD and booted Ubuntu straight from the CD as a sneak preview and found that I could watch all of the old videos. I did this after buying a new HDD for my computer (sorting out my storage issues), and my problem stems from this and the fact that I do not have restore disk or XP disk from my computer manufacturer.

When I try to install Ubuntu from the CD, it doesn't want to resize the partition on my C: drive where windows lives, but on the new drive. However I bought the new drive as a place to store my documents and don't want to have to back them up again incase the new partitions lose my data. I have tried the install with the new drive disconnected, but all it wants to do is create a whole drive partition for Ubuntu on C:.

Having read around, I know that the answer would be to partition my C: drive using a program such as Qtparted or such like. I don't really want to do this though as I feel there must be a reason why Ubuntu doesn't want to resize my Windows partition and I have no restore disk.

I have also seen solutions such as using Wubi, however I don't really want Windows and Ubuntu to communicate at all, as the Windows partition seems to have so many problems with it. Ideally an install where I could do something along the lines of this - http://ubuntuforums....ead.php?t=56723 - so as not to fiddle with Windows' MBR (seeing as I have no restore disk).

Essentially I want to safely install Ubuntu into a dual boot setup. Do you have any suggestions?

As a side note, my C: drive had been defragged before trying the install. Appologies for my longwindedness.

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I had the exact same problem about 3 months ago. What you do if you lost the disk: call the computer MANUFACTURER (not Microsoft) and ask for a new disk. If you have your receipt that will help, as you need some numbers on it (which may be on the computer itself).

[llamasniper]

I had the exact same problem about 3 months ago. What you do if you lost the disk: call the computer MANUFACTURER (not Microsoft) and ask for a new disk. If you have your receipt that will help, as you need some numbers on it (which may be on the computer itself).

[peterm]

I have also seen solutions such as using Wubi, however I don't really want Windows and Ubuntu to communicate at all

Yet here you say

Essentially I want to safely install Ubuntu into a dual boot setup. Do you have any suggestions

.
If you install ubuntu via wubi it will do what it needs, It does not talk to windows when it is running.

If you want to be extra safe you can make a ghost image of your current setup (you have to buy ghost).
or you can make an image using free software click on me
For any movies or music I use VLC Player click on me
works on everything so far and on all platforms
Cheers
Peterm

Edited by peterm, 20 February 2009 - 03:42 PM.

[DaveyC]

I have also seen solutions such as using Wubi, however I don't really want Windows and Ubuntu to communicate at all

Yet here you say

Essentially I want to safely install Ubuntu into a dual boot setup. Do you have any suggestions

.
If you install ubuntu via wubi it will do what it needs, It does not talk to windows when it is running.

If you want to be extra safe you can make a ghost image of your current setup (you have to buy ghost).
or you can make an image using free software click on me
For any movies or music I use VLC Player click on me
works on everything so far and on all platforms
Cheers
Peterm

Thanks for the input. I actually installed Ubuntu onto a fresh partition on my slave hard drive and everything worked just fine. As it happens a dual boot setup wasn't really what I was looking for - I'm perfectly happy with XP, just wanted a project.

For anyone interested I used bootitng to uninstall and repair my MBR when removing Ubuntu.