• Step1 Install your favourite linux
• step2 On installation DONT install your linux on your MBR, install it in the bootsector of your linux partition
• step3 After installation boot linux using the linux rescure disks.
• step4 login as root, open a terminal window and enter the following CODE

p.s. in this CODE example i installed linux on my 4th hd (thats why its hdd ), on partition 1
p.s.s. if you got a SCSI hd the code should look like some thing like this:



as you can see instead of hdd1 i typed sda1

Meaning 1st SCSI hd (hd =IDE hd's) sd = SCSI hd's

so if ya install linux on your 1st hdd (aka hd A) replace the D with the A ;-), same counts for the number ;-)

• step5 Now you copy "/tmp/boot.lnx' to your floppy disk using the following command

• step6 Boot windows (using NTLDR)
• step7 Copy the boot.lnx to your c:\ directory
• step8 Open your boot.ini (its hidden so ya have to make it vissible ;-) )
• step9 Add under Operating systems the following line

• step10 Now quit the file, safe it and your done
• step11 1 thing though --> wenn updating your linux kernel, ya have to redo this step because boot.lnx will other whise still containing the OLD kernel.
• step12 these steps will be only possible when NOT installinx GRUB/LILO on your MBR, yet in your linux boot dir

what advantage??: Windows is allowed to overwrite your MBR, so you dont have 2 be afraid that your linux wont boot ;-)

Example of boot.ini before add of linux


Example of Boot.ini after add of linux




am i missing some thing??? just post some thing here and i;ll add it if relevant


p.s. I did not mentioned before yet pre-partitioning your hd, is a Must (so get Partition Magic or a free tool to partition your hd, or just install linux on a 2nd hd)

***WARNING***: this tutorial has been tested in windows xp/2003 32bits edition, since the time that i tested it it worked fine USING "MBR"
this has NOT been tested using the new boot type used by win xp x64/2003 x64, yet as it only is a file that needs to be loaded every thing should be ok....

*notice 2* Since Windows "Longhorn" Vista is using a new boot loader i cant guarantee that doing a dual setup with JUST vista & linux will work, if you got "3" os'es, like vista, xp and linux...it is still possible... select the old os 1st then select your linux partition, and it should work the old way...

Nice, Thanks

can a MOD pin this??

Nice work Dutch2004. **topic pinned**

Neato! Thanks for posting!

Good Stuff:)

Nice post, thanks for the info

thx for the info

added some info about the difference between IDE hd's and SCSI hd (the way linux places then, aka hd (IDE) and sd (SCSI))

There is an other way around this.
#1: Install Windows <Version here>
#2: Install Linux <Distro here>
#3: Use grub or Lilo and install it on MBR

Or just get mobile rack and make that it your boot drive, then just swich hard drives as needed too.

I use the mobile rack tech.

euh, what are you talking about, i;'m talking about WINDOWS NT bootloader, NOT using LILO/GRUB, and you tel just install GRUB/lilo, that total nosence, please read before posting some dull thing

the windows NT loader has atlease SOME value wich i cant say from your post

Just out of curiousity, what is the advantage of using the NTLDR over GRUB? I know GRUB just displays "Other" for Windows, but does NTLDR recognize the distro as Linux?

Well windows 2000/xp some times overwrites the MBR, and this removing lilo from the MBR, now if NTLDR is installed in the MBR, it doesnt matter, cuz win2000/xp will just put the NTLDR back in place, and will not be able to put this NTLDR there wenn lilo is already there... and its just a quick way to have both windows as linux, and if you no longer want 1 distro you can formet the disk in windows (only possible thing you can do with a linux disk ni windows2000/xp/2003

so basically the advantage is: less chance of system failure when a OS overwrites the MBR

***drat, msn still of? damm what the heck are they doing? 09:07PM *GMT+1**

If that happens, just re-install grub or lilo on the MBR.

oh what, what ever, its most of the time handy for people that just want to experiment with linux and wenn they dont like linux thay just edit there NT boootloader, format the hdd and your of again with your Microsoft os

Dutch2005, it seems that those two will never understand your point. however, i understand perfectly. This is a great idea for people who want to use microsoft products (more comfortable, i guess) and dont want to "risk" anything using grub.

Dutch2005 nice work man , i was looking for a way to do that long time ago.

weej, i feel great thnx

guess seeing the low "bad comment aka thing i have forgotten this is kinda a good howto

Holy crap -- nice tutorial man.

added a little WARNING for users willing to use both windows xp/2003 x64 edition and any linux using grub/lilo.....