Dual-booting Windows XP and Xubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn

MAJOR UPDATE 27/04/07(look at the bottom of this post if you're lazy to re-read)

Well it has been three days plus since my last post. No, my Vista isn't here yet, so forget about that for now. Right now, I'm gonna give you, the readers, a brief info on how I dual-boot Windows XP and Xubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn(also applicable to all other Ubuntu distributions) as well as some other stuff which I did yesterday. =)

What's dual-booting?
Dual-booting is having to OS(Operating System) install on one computer. Some have done tri-boots and quad-boots but I don't encourage you to do it unless you are brave enough to take some risks which can spoil your computer(same goes for dual-booting).

Well, what's Xubuntu? More specific, what's Ubuntu?
Visit this site to find out about Ubuntu and Xubuntu.

If you read that and have visited the Xubuntu webpage, you would know by now that Xubuntu is the lower end one. I chose it because my couldn't handle Kubuntu(tried this one first, failed) as it need RAM more than my laptop could handle. Yes, I'm dual-booting on my laptop, which I'm using right now to post this.

Okay, on with the long blog post which some may not want to read at all. Hey, this is good reference here! =P

My laptop's specs;

Source: http://pc.toshiba-asia.com/

Name: Toshiba Satellite L100-C430
Pre-installed OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2
Chipset: ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
CPU: Intel Celeron M 1.6GHz
RAM: 256MB DDRII 533
HD: 60GB SATA 5400RPM
OD: CD-RW/DVD
Screen size: 15"
Internet connection: 56k, Ethernet and wireless

See how lame my RAM is? Yeah, that's right 256MB only... and runs Windows XP... =P

WARNING!
I have to admit, I didn't check up on my XP partition after the successful Xubuntu dual-boot setup. If you still wanna try, I'll tell you how to fix the errors that I've experienced at the bottom of this post.

Want to try it to? Here's how I did it.
First and most important, get any of the Ubuntu distributions(desktop versions) or else you won't be able to install it even(logic). If you want speed, get Xubuntu, if you want nice looking interface, get Kubuntu. But it doesn't hurt to get the regular Ubuntu. After it's downloaded, burn it onto a CD. Don't burn too fast as it might cause the CD to glitch during its functions.

Before attempting dual-booting, one needs to get the proper software. Partition Magic or Grub are some of them. These two are the most advisable ones to use. Preferably, use Partition Magic(you can get it through "certain" methods).

"Install Another Operating System"

Source: http://softpedia.com/

Once Partition Magic is installed, create a partition using the menu option on the left as shown in the picture above. If you can't find it or want to do manually, is not a problem. You need two partitions. One ext2 for the Linux OS to install on and a swap partition which should be 2 to 3 times the size of your computer's RAM. I advise you to give at least 10GB for the ext partition and make sure it's a primary partition. Now apply it and let the program do its magic.

Once the process is done pop in the installation disc and pick the topmost option. If you are planning to dual-boot on a laptop, then press F12 or whatever hotkey the laptop gives to go to the multiboot screen and pick CD/DVD or whatever indicates your optical drive. When the desktop is fully loaded, click the "Install" icon on the desktop to install. The first 3 questions are up to you to answer. Once you reach step 4, pick manual. Then, pick/highlight the ext2 partition and click on the "Format?" box. The following procedures should be easy to do. Let it install. Once it's done, pick the reboot option and take out the installation disc.

Pick the topmost option once again and let the desktop load. The rest, is up to you. By the way, if you think anything is lacking, open up the Add/Remove Application program from the System menu to download/install or remove programs. If you want to run Windows programs, visit this site here. For games, get Cedega.

How was my experience?

Look at how many games I've installed using "Add/Remove Application".

My internet related stuff, so many browsers I've installed, lol.

I have to say, Xubuntu is very damned fast, Firefox opens in less than 5 seconds! It takes even longer on Windows which is like 30 seconds. My wireless didn't work very well at first, but just adding a few "numbers" made it work fine till today. Also, my USB mouse and flash drive work well, surprisingly(to me). Well, I haven't done much with it just yet, I still have to get use to something quite new to me, but it's a good learning experience.

Lol, that's one long wall of text with a few pictures, maybe I'll put some extra pictures up when I have some extra time to edit it. XP

How to fix errors[that I know of, might add more later on(add comments to ask)].
-XMNT2002.exe and autocheck error which prevents XP to continue its functions(BSOD).

Look here for visualization.

-For this one, just load Xubuntu and use the Add/Remove Application, select "all available applications" on the top right selection bar. Then, search "parted" in the search bar. I advise you to get both, just in case one or the other fail to function for your hardware configuration. After it's all installed, pick your XP partition(NFTS) and un-tick the "hidden" flag in the properties which makes the NFTS partition unable to boot.