How to dual-boot Vista with Linux (Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots

Rydekull:

Having vista installed already, then adding either xp or linux.

lelegg:

I have same question here. If Vista already installed (and has not partitioned the disk as way as you mentioned), how can I install Linux without reinstalling Vista? I tried partitionmagic, but it cannot run on Vista at all.

someone:

Vista has its own native partition tool. Go to search, type 'computer management', and on the left hand panel, click on disk management.

kcajblue:

since my laptop has two hdd's, can i just install linux on the other hdd

christopher:

i have looked and cannot find the answer to this question either. did you find out how to manage it?

SunWoof:

I want to install Linux onto a new separate drive; Vista is already Installed on the first drive. How do I do that?

Ubuntuer:

Yeah, you can just select the second hardrive to install Ubuntu to. This is what I do and my dual boot got setup by itself.

Rohith (New user):

Hi,
I am trying to install ubuntu on windows vista which has 3 partitions out which the first partition has windows vista and it occupies abt 55 gb of harddrive and second has 6 gb and the third has 17gb. I need to install ubuntu on 17 gb partition. So when I put the cd in my laptop and tried to install it. when the ubuntu partitioner starts loading. It only shows me two options one is guided use entire disk and the other is manual. It doesnt show me guided use the largest continuous free space. So I tried to select manual but when I clcicked on the partition of 17gb and hit forward it says an error message stating to use root file please help me out to solve this problem

TivoGuy (New user):

You need to have true empty space. a 17GB partition, even if there are no files, or if it's not even formatted with a file system is still not considered empty space. Boot into windows and actually DELETE that 17GB partition. Then you should be able to chose the Guided install option.

amarlis:

try to select which drive should boot, at Bios . Then you can decide to install Linux or whatever you like in your other drive .
Be succeed .

sunny:

you just simmply need to change the partition format
to be either ex3 or reiser. as long as ur using internal
hard disk. i mean it is not connected by either USB
or firewire connection. becuase if ur trying to boot
from external device then it might need to load the drivers
first which might not be possible if ur computer has
not booted up.

So in conclusion

1. Make sure ur hard disk is inside ur computer i.e
not connected with USB or firewire connection.

2. Make correct linux partition.

3. Choose drive which is setup for linux format to
install linux.

Enjoy.. try ubuntu, its very easy and friendly and
have GUI for most of the installation process.

dishbreak:

yes, it's really easy. use partiton editor to make an ext3 partiton and a swap partition.

follow install instructions closely

as always, remember to BACKUP!

steve 518 894 0445:

On a DELL contraption, the disk management operation is locked to 'Help' only.

After some searching the Microsoft library DOES tell you how to repartition a disk among other goodies, but as luck,er, i mean Bill Gates would have it The Command box does not recognise the Command: at any price and the 2003 6.0 and 6.22 versions are ignored by Vista Piece Of YAHOO ! Ooops, I meant Premium Puppy Chow....

There Is a work around, Though I have no idea what the hell that is..

Steve
518 894 0445. Call me.
mo27aug07 1127

neuser:

You say:
Choose "Manual - use the largest continuous free space". Well, I don't see that option.
Also when the partitioner loads, it doesn't seem to 'see' the partition created by Vista. This step seems to be crucial...

Sean Gilmore:

Two things that happened for me that you have to do, one is defragment and the other is clear the page file, vista doesnt let you partition if there is a page file or something (you can see that in a little note when using the included partitioner, its even in the picture in the instructions actually)

another_pp:

Gnu/Linux has its own GUI based partitioning tool named Gparted - it is on the Ubuntu live CD. Although I have not used "shrink", from looking at the tutorial pics I would say Gparted is a much better app - much the same as Partition Magic if not better :) Just boot using the live CD and then use Gparted to create the required free space, and then partition your drive. Just remember as with all procedures involving messing around with your partition table make sure you create a backup of all your important data first

ryuzaky (New user):

you can just download Wubi which is the best way to instal Ubuntu from Windows Vista or Xp without having a pre-partitioned disk, this is a free Linux software which asks you how big you want the partition to be and what version of Linux you want, you don't even have to have the installation disk or anything at all but Wubi, it will do everything for you.
You can download Wubi from here: http://wubi-installer.org/

sreeharshajois (New user):

partition magic don work with vista....to create partitions go to control panel in tat go to system(device) management r somethin lik tat...in tat u ll b provided with an option by name storage management where u ll b provied with options to create partitions(both primary n logical).

Snapafun:

Use gparted-3x and do your installation one step at a time:
1.Partiton with gparted
2.Boot Vista and allow for chk-ing to run
3.Install Linux ( I prefer PCLinuxOS )
4.Boot into linux
5.Manually configure linux bootloader if required
6.Boot back into Vista

Anonymous_TN:

Yea...exactly...I used gparted & it was much easier. I'm now dual-booting Ubuntu 7.10 & Vista and the whole process w/ both installs only took about an hour.

Andlynx:

This tutorial is great, thanks! Just one question: would it work with Windows 2000 too?

I suspect it does but I fear to mess up my hard disk :S

Greetings from Chile!

Ubuntuer:

Yeah, its even easier with w2000. Defrag your disk to free up a good portion of space. Boot the live cd, and just use the built in partition editor under System > Administration > Gnome Partition Editior to create a 5-10 GB ext3 partition and a 256MB - 1GB linux-swap partition (basically an extension of ram, yes you need this). Select the ext3 during install. And your good to go!

Steven Farthing:

I installed Suse Linux and stayed with it.
It is not fun hitting start to browse your system like the internet.

Sorry Vista modista...

Benedict Wyss:

Hi there,

I re-installed the vista boot loader and then wanted to return to the GRUB loader. I clicked the uninstall option and then the write button in EasyBCD and it removed the NTLDR, as noticed after reboot.

I cannot get to the recovery partition to restore Vista (but I did make the revovery DVDs ;-))

Currently tracking how to replace the NTLDR with XP recovery console using fixbbr, fixboot etc.

Any one had this issue?

Cheers

Xavier:

Hello,

I had search somewhere I could learn how to dual-boot Vista and Ubuntu, now I know how to manage it but I have tried previously and I have a problem.

Ubuntu works but not Vista, and I can't re-install Vista, because it stops with a black screen.

Following your instructions when I try to boot with Vista I can boot Dell-Checks if I start with root (hd0,0) or it tries to start Windows in safe mode if I try root (hd0,1), but I can't follow the installation.

When I check the partitions I have:

Partition1 /dev/sda1 vfat /media/sda1 78.41MB
Partition2 /dev/sda2 NFTS /media/sda2 33.58GB
Partition3 /dev/sda3 extended3 / 29.30GB
4 /dev/sda5 swap 1.95GB
Partition6 /dev/sda6 FREE BUT CAN'T READ

Can somebody help me?
Thanks in advance
Xavier

nurb:

according to that link:
http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/about78184.html#dualboot

since you have sda disks, you should try with (sd0,1)

good luck...

avec un peu d'espoir tu m'as preparé le terrain...

merci..
bruno

Marcellus Barrus:

I have repaired the Vista Boot by booting to the Vista OS DVD and selecting repair.

Boot from the Vista DVD and on the screen where you’re prompted to “Install now”, select “Repair your computer”.

The next screen searches for local Vista installations – there should only be one, so click Next.

Choose Vista

This loads the System Recovery Options screen. Select the first option – Startup Repair. This looks for problems which would prevent Vista from loading (like a missing bootloader) and automatically fixes them.

This information from taken from the follwoing page: http://apcmag.com/5485/dualbooting_vista_and_xp#restoring

chichilos:

I got Vista and Ubuntu to dual boot. J'ai dû merdouiller un peu but thanks tou your tutorial I got my way around.

Sabbour:

If you are having problems after installing Ubuntu booting into Vista (if you get the Vista progress bar and then a black screen)..

this is because Ubuntu messed up the NTFS tables. This is easy to fix!

Check this out
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=398122

I did it and I booted into Vista again..whoo hoo!

I didn't even loose any data

Earl:

I can't believe what is happening ! Everything went fine until the first restart. Before I updated a few programs in linux (firefox etc.) and downloaded a few (some kind of pdf reader)
I downloaded also an ati driver package or what and switched to default radeon because I thoght that that would be ok. I haven't noticed anything after the switch. So I tried to boot into vista.
Everything vent fine. So I wanted to go/boot back to linux, BUT (!) it's only booting until the "kernel is ok" tipe message. I only get a black screen and no activity. I can't even switch to console mode by pressing ctrl+alt+F2 F3. The only thing that works is the crtl alt del combination sad.gif So I thought that vista overwrited the boot so I tried to boot in linux recovery mode. It boots without problem. So I thought that I've made wrong by the graphical things, so I reconfigured the xserver-xorg. After booting nothing new, just the inactive black screen. So I managed with help of a friend to download the ati driver for the hd 2000 series somevere and run the install. It said that it installed succesfuly but after restart no changes just the black screen. So I put the live cd back and boot from it. It runs ok, it sees even a few files from the installed linux f.e. the desktop files of my account in the installed linux and stuff like that. So my question is what is the problem? Why doesn't it want to work? I don't even know if I made a mistake, or something else happened... is by linux something like a reinstall? I don't even know what problem causes this error. Or where should i search for some kind of a log file. Please help. Is there something like a repair option?

Sucksatlinux:

I have a problem with this tutorial. I have completed it in accurate fashion but once I go to the GRUB to select Vista, it gives me the list but nothing happens when I select vista. What gives?

Stephen:

Just to let people know that with the new version of Ununtu(7.04 Feisty Fawn)GRUB picks up Vista with no user input. Just partition the drive(Vista has it's own partitioner if you didn't do it on install) boot with the disc and install, it works perfect with no problems.

Stephen T.:

What about the case where Vista was already installed on the new PC which I bought and the whole partition is an NTFS partititon does it mean I have to reinstall all over again?

Ubuntuer:

No, if you follow the first few steps, it shows you how to shrink the Vista partition to free up some space.

Stephen T.:

What about the case where Vista was already installed on the new PC which I bought and the whole partition is an NTFS partititon does it mean I have to reinstall all over again?

biggenz:

No need to reinstall. Vista allows you to shrink or expand your logical drives without the use of third-party utilities (e.g. Partition Magic). Go to "Managed Computers" and then Disk Management. You can then right-click on your drive and select "Shrink Volume".

Ubuntu will recognize the unallocated space during setup.

ralphw:

I want to add Ubuntu (6.06LTS or 7.04) to the an Acer 5100 with Vista. I understand there is a 'hidden' partition and a 'special' MBR that Acer uses to enable their e-Recovery system (which allows you to reinstall Vista from the "Acer e-Recovery" disks I created.

I can always use a Flash Drive or memory card to boot the machine and get Linux going, but don't want to do this long term.

Eventually, I may want to blow Vista away and install my copy of Windows 2000 or XP Pro,

paulg:

I just dual-booted Ubuntu 7.04 with Vista on my Acer 5610.. My HD was partitioned into 2 sections- one for the OS and the other for the backup stuff (plus the hidden one).

So I shrunk the backup and installed Ubuntu in the free space.. GRUB identified Vista and will boot into it no prob. So it shouldn't be any problem.

Carlos Ocon:

I am about to do the same, but I just want to be sure if you can boot to Vista, Ubuntu and to the recovery partition without any trouble, also, is vista capable of restoring from hibernation when using grub?

Thank you in advance!

Martin:

You are right. If GRUB is installed into the MBR of the System disk it will overwrite the laptop manufactures own bootmanager which catches pressed F-Keys to start system recovery and other special boot configurations.
I have been able to configure GRUB to boot from the recovery partition on a Sony Vaio VGN-N38L/W but functions of other F-Key appear to be lost. Some IBM Thinkpads have a special tool installed which can restore the original MBR/bootmanager. I am still looking for an equivalent from Sony

Russler:

I want to set up my hard disk as follows
1. Vista System
2.Second Partition for my documents and other files
3./ for Kubuntu
4. Swap
and
5. /Home

According to my research a harddisk can have only four primary partitions so which ones do I make primary, extended or logical and how do I go about the whole thing

Haakondahl:

I would say (six months later...) that the /home and /docs should go into ext parts of the same primary part. I'm assuming, out of prudent ignorance, that the OS partitions as well as swap would do better on primaries. WARNING: This is based on not even a small amount of research. It's just my -pfffft- opinion.
So who knows better?

max:

Hey,
i am completely bugged here
i hav a terrible situation , deatils r too much , just tht i need to get linux asap.
now, i installed everthing as you mentioned, and did everything as u said, i even get a vista option on my grub screen. but on clicking vista , NOTHING HAPPENS !!!
I have been searching ways to fix this problem, found nothing....no fruits yet...
plzzzz help me.....m desperate
for your info, everything is as shown on your site, vista business edition, ubunut with kernel 2.6.xx
installed vista first , then ubuntu. clean install, fisrt partition vista, second ubuntu,
and also am not able to access vista drive from ubunut's file browser, although it says it should be happening.
HELP !!!!

max:

i just fogot to mention its ubuntu 6.6
not 7....so i dnt see a way out////
i hav been doing this thing for whole week.

smtimes vista, sumtimes xp, sumtimes ubuntu, maybe i shud just get back to vista...it worked fine...if only i didnt hav this big issue to access unix and make my project on it/////aaarrgghhhhh

Tony:

it works, you save me alot of time, thanks alot for your work,
cheers

Sergio:

I have a vista preinstalled, I downloaded the 7.04 of ubuntu it starts the os but i got stock at the loading message in the welcome screen >?
Any ideas?

James Bannan:

Hi Sergio - I've found that depending on your graphics card, Ubuntu doesn't load normally when it's loading the Live CD. I have a RADEON X800 in my test system, and Ubuntu doesn't seem to like it at all. 

When the Live CD boot menu comes up, choose the Safe Graphics option - that should get you through. 

)a((o:

Hi James, Sergio,

i have the exact same problem as Sergio described. But the alternative "safe graphics mode" doesn't get me any further. Can you think of anything else? (I have a dual-core Delll XPS M1710 with an 256 mb NVIDea card, i'm not sure if that's useful info, but i've only just begun to work to be a geek :-)).

I also have this live cd of Fedora Core 6 as a possible alternative, do you think the procedure you described for dual booting would work for Fedora as well?

Thanks in advance...
)a((o

donbrew:

I did the dual boot vista/Ubuntu successfully. for reasons of my own I now want to undo the ubuntu installation. Any thoughts on how to remove linux from the machine?

MClark92:

One way to delete the Ubuntu installation is to startup in the Vista installation CD or DVD and delete the Ubuntu partition. That works for me when I need to delete a partition and/or OS.