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Appendix G. Configuring a Dual Boot System

Do you want to install Red Hat Linux and then have the option of booting either Red Hat Linux or

your other operating system? A Red Hat Linux installation can be performed so that Red Hat Linux

is installed on your system, but the other operating system is not affected. Since you already have

Windows installed, you need to allocate disk space for Linux. Refer to Section G.1, and then refer

to Section G.2.

G.1. Allocating Disk Space for Linux

Warning

Remember to back up all important information before reconfiguring your hard drive. Reconfiguring

your hard drive can result in the loss of data if you are not extremely careful. Additionally, be sure to

create a boot disk for both operating systems in case the boot loader fails to recognize either of them.

If you already have Windows installed on your system, you must have free hard drive space available

on which to install Red Hat Linux. Your choices are as follows:

Add a new hard drive.

Use an existing hard drive or partition.

Create a new partition.

For all three options, be aware that the BIOS in some older systems cannot access more than the first

1024 cylinders on a hard drive. If this is the case, the

/boot

Linux partition must be located on the

first 1024 cylinders of your hard drive to boot Linux.

G.1.1. Add a New Hard Drive

The simplest way to make room for Red Hat Linux is to add a new hard drive to the computer and then

install Red Hat Linux on that drive. For example, if you add a second IDE hard drive to the computer,

the Red Hat Linux installation program will recognize it as

hdb

and the existing drive (the one used

by Windows) as

hda

. (For SCSI hard drives, the newly installed Red Hat Linux hard drive would be

recognized as

sdb

and the other hard drive as

sda

.)

If you choose to install a new hard drive for Linux, all you need to do is start the Red Hat Linux

installation program. After starting the Red Hat Linux installation program, just make sure you choose

to install Linux on the newly installed hard drive (such as

hdb

or

sdb

) rather than the hard drive used

by Windows.

G.1.2. Use an Existing Hard Drive or Partition

Another way to make room for Linux is to use a hard drive or disk partition that is currently being used

by Windows. For example, suppose that Windows Explorer shows two hard drives,

C:

and

D:

. This

could indicate either that the computer has two hard drives, or a single hard drive with two partitions.

In either case (assuming the hard drive has enough disk space), you can install Red Hat Linux on the

hard drive or disk partition that Windows recognizes as

D:

.

Note

Windows uses letters to refer to removable drives (for example, a ZIP drive) and network storage

(virtual drives) as well as for local hard drive space; you cannot install Linux on a removable or

network drive.