Bob,
> Yup, I did read that, and a bunch more...
> http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/MultiOS-HOWTO.html
> The how to, although having plenty of good info, does not
> address win/2000 or nt at all since the author had neither.
Sorry. Thought I mentioned that. The reason I'd suggested it
was for pointers. Much of the information really does apply to
any multi-boot install, yet each carries certain "gotchya's" best
addressed if & when they come up. I have noticed though, that
the howto's are being (albeit slowly) updated, & there are new
additions as well. I can't imagine it will be long before there
will be Linux/W2k howto.
Think how it was when the few existing howto's weren't being
updated at all. Worse, way beck when there were ~only~ a few.
With the growing popularity of Linux, the maintainers of the doc
project have realized that they too have to do more than archive
out-dated material.
> I talked to ops in linux-mandrake on irc and there are
> differences in the nt boot as compared to win/2000. I don't
> recall the details.
Hmm. Well, yes...from what I vaguely remember from the time
I'd dual-booted with NT4 (though only for a short time -- I don't
much care for NT, let alone Windows). But the differences are
worked out as one goes. I'm by no means ~that~ good with Linux,
but I've learned a lot from trial & error, trial & success. And
with the fact Windows OS's have often to be reinstalled for
whatever reason, one picks it all up.
> I don't think its anything for 98% of the newbie type people I
> know to mess with. Hopefully, the other 2% are wise enough to
> be doing it on a spare disk drive.
This is always the safest thing -- particularly with any
Windows as the other OS, though I admit that I've managed a
pretty stable dual-boot last RH 6.0/W98 & now on two boxes with
lm7.2/W2k. It has a great deal to do with how Windows installed.
It doesn't matter than the box may not have changed between
installs -- Windows (& I've noticed that RH 5.0 & 6.0 to a lesser
degree) installs differently each time it's installed. If it
isn't especially stable to begin with (all things considered), it
won't help your Linux at all.
But, though you are (& I am) taking your chances dual-booting
on a single drive, things are getting better.
> I made the mistake of trying to multiboot using space I had
>left free once a few years ago and lost it all (my live
> partition, with all my apps and code and financial stuff) in a
> goofed partitioning program or via my error, I'll never know.
It happens to everyone -- & it's not necessarily operator
error. The first time I installed lm7.2, my W2k had installed
oddly on D instead of C. I figured that since both W2k & lm7.2
were smart enough to install anywhere on a hard drive, I'd just
install lm on the first partiton. During the lm intall, I'd
specifially clicked only on the first partiont to format the
first, free, partition only. You guessed it -- it formatted the
entire drive. Just goes to show that even a smart OS/install app
can screw up.
> I gotta say, though, Linux newbies in particular, seem to
> rarely be real newbie types like the one I deal with all day,
> everyday.
Heh. If I understand you right, you're talking about the
average Windows end-user as opposed to an end-user who'd at least
connected to a Unix server via telnet...so to speak. I think one
has to be a bit more a geek to even try Linux, let alone try it &
stick with it.
What I don't get is all this talk of a steep learning curve.
It's only a very short time that anyone attempting a Unix/Linux
remains lost. I've known people who knew nothing beyond point &
click in Windows who'd learned how to deal with occasionally
useing the command line (without too much whining;-) in very
short order.
A Linux newbie is simply not a 'puter newbie.
Meph
--
"I did this 'cause Linux gives me a woody."
-Dave '-ddt->' Taylor, announcing DOOM for Linux
