thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Have a desktop with Ubuntu Linux 10.04 on it. Want to partition the hard drive and install Windows. There are TONS of webpages for taking a windows machine and installing linux. Going the other way is probably done much less frequently and I am having some trouble finding good, usable information. Here are a few of my worries: How do I run disk utility from the command line (when I open it from the system tab I don't have the permissions to do anything)? It gives me the options "master boot record" or "GUID Partition Table". Which should I choose? I am attaching a screen shot of what I see in disk utility. Not really sure how to interpret this information ("extended", "ext4", "swap space"). What is safe to partition? I'm decent with computers but the idea that I could cause system instability makes we want to walk on eggshells with this stuff and not just try things until I get it (the usual method). Any help with my specific problem or just general tips about partitioning in Linux would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Are you trying to create a new partition, or do you already have one created for Windows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 New one. The way I interpret disk utility is that I have a partition of 996 GB devoted to Linux. I'd like to create a partition for windows from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Like I said, I'm decent with computers. I just get nervous about the small chance of screwing up something that can't be repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 just want to quickly jump in and say I've done it myself and there are no real dramas. Install windows on the secondary partition as per normal. it will take over the whole PC as a primary OS - not to worry. Boot the computer up into some kind of linux livecd / live-usb and then edit the grub to allow both OS options from boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 You can set-up up GRUB to load first, and let you pick what you want to boot into with each boot. As stated, it is fairly painless and hard to fuck anything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Just because I'd rather ask a stupid question than make an assumption, I should still partition the drive, install the OS on separate drives, and then use GRUB to boot, right (as opposed to installing both OS on the same partition and using GRUB to boot)? I don't really know what GRUB is (at the moment, will look it up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 GRUB can't find Bison (when I try a standard ./configure). Definitely have it in my packages. Not sure if I am capable of making my own makefiles. Never done it before. Edit: Nevermind. My linux is rusty. I didn't have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Just because I'd rather ask a stupid question than make an assumption, I should still partition the drive, install the OS on separate drives, and then use GRUB to boot, right (as opposed to installing both OS on the same partition and using GRUB to boot)? I don't really know what GRUB is (at the moment, will look it up). correct dude - make a partition for windows. and grub is just the default boot manager for ubuntu for as long as I can remember... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 this might help you out a bit http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351&highlight=fsck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 GRUB is a unified boot loader hence the acronym. It is implemented to load between multiple OS' or kernel configurations on the disk(s) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Aaaaaaand I screwed it up. Installed Windows, wouldn't be able to activate it (I didn't download it. I had an old cd from a different computer. I thought for xp I would just have to input a serial code but that wasn't enough. Wanted me to call a customer service rep to activate it). Anyways, I didn't really need windows, so I just decided to forget about the idea and delete it. So I formatted the partition that had windows on it (was this a mistake?) Now now when I startup I just get a "reboot and select boot device or insert boot media" screen. I can boot ubuntu from the cd, but I don't want to do this all the time. I tried to install ubuntu again, hoping it would just repair whatever is needed to use the first installation but it wanted to just install it a second time. I could format the whole drive and reinstall ubuntu but this is the worst case. How do I get my computer to load the installation of ubuntu that is already installed? When I boot up my computer, the only thing I see before the "select boot device prompt" is a quick MSI screen, but it doesn't have any options like "press F8 for more options" or anything. Help is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 And before I did anything with windows I tried installing grub and it failed. Didn't do anything other than the commands in the readme ("./configure, make, make install") and it wouldn't install. Didn't go into the error messages too much. Would the answer be to load Ubuntu from cd, figure out some way to get Grub working and installed, then hopefully I could choose the installation I already have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 grub should already be installed man - just boot into your pc via livecd / live usb and reconfigure the grub config files. millions of articles about it on the net. as long as you havent wiped your linux partition you havent lost anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Had to reinstall GRUB from the live cd. Some of the websites gave the impression that Windows removes it when installed. Took a little time but I figured it out. Thanks for the help. This was a fair amount of work and got me just back to where I started but I guess that is how you learn -- trial and error. No more questions (hopefully...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think part of my problem was that I'm sure 90% of people have a Windows machine that they partition and put linux on. I did the opposite. When you have a linux machine and put windows on, it removes GRUB (I guess windows doesn't like competition from other operating systems on the same computer). Windows just wants to automatically boot itself, not give you the choice of what OS to choose. Then I deleted Windows, and was left with no windows and no GRUB, so nothing to boot with. It's fixed now though. Just kinda wondering why this was a fiasco for me. Learned something new, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Well windows will automatically go to the default OS. You can select boot device by pressing F?? repeatedly. i.e. For my Mac(s) I have to hold CMD to select my OS to boot with. But speaking of competition for those who use Norton it will cause Spyware Search and MBAM to fuck up and lock the internet. Norton is the MTS of AV software Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 PS most the time it's F8 or F5 for boot devices/safe mode/etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think part of my problem was that I'm sure 90% of people have a Windows machine that they partition and put linux on. I did the opposite.When you have a linux machine and put windows on, it removes GRUB (I guess windows doesn't like competition from other operating systems on the same computer). Windows just wants to automatically boot itself, not give you the choice of what OS to choose. Then I deleted Windows, and was left with no windows and no GRUB, so nothing to boot with. It's fixed now though. Just kinda wondering why this was a fiasco for me. Learned something new, though. yeah, that was the expected outcome. the correct thing to do once you lose grub is to boot into linux via livecd and then reinstall / reconfig grub to encompass linux and windows. next time you reboot your machine - you will have the option to boot into the two OSes - see! not difficult at all... you had all the right steps. you just gave up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 This is a totally unrelated issue, but my desktop that was working last night won't even power on now. When I press the power button sometimes I see a red light flash for a second but most of the time, just nothing. It is a custom build PC I bought off ebay in October. Any suggestions? I've googled a little and it seems likely to be the power supply or motherboard. I don't really have the tools to test voltages or anything. If I do take it for service, where is the best/cheapest place to go? The little shop up the street or the geek squad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 That sounds like a power supply to me. I'd take it to the little shop over best buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 I just rechecked the ebay listing and it says that the company gives tech support for one year. I emailed this morning and nothing yet. So hopefully they come through... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerben Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 regarding your first problem dude, check this out http://www.webupd8.org/2012/01/grub2-editor-for-kde-055-released-with.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglebowski Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Man this ebay seller is giving me the business. Says that he can't do anything without the warranty without the purchase number on the receipt shipped with the computer (which I don't have). Gave him my name, the ebay number, the paypal purchase number, and the date of purchase. Said he needs the number for their system to process a warranty issue. I sent him basically a "wtf" email. Will see what he says. Not sure I can really do a lot about it except bitch on the internet. Too late to do anything through paypal or ebay (bought it in October). Not gonna fly to his city to take him to small claims court. Fucker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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