[SirCyber]

Ok, I'm working off of a Jaunty package right now *ubuntu 9.04 for those not familiar* and I want to dual boot windows 7. now my issue is this. how do I create a partion for windows 7 to work with using the ubuntu OR windows 7 disks I have? they each use different filesystems, Win7 using NTFS and Jaunty EB6 or something like that *you *nix experts out there know what I'm talking about* so currently my ENTIRE hard drive is the *nix partition tables.... I need to free space or format my entire HDD to be two seperate entities, or find something that will allow them to "play" together nicely. i want to be able to switch between ubuntu and windows, or select which I want at least. Thanks in advance! hope to hear back!!!

[carnageX]

Use a GParted LiveCD to split the drive into partitions and format the other partition to NTFS.

[SirCyber]

ok, before I continue with this, ubuntu brought me an error saying that some files may have been corrupted, I scanned through the report and the error was at the end of the ISO, i believe on the readme file... do I continue?

****EDIT****
Continue as in go ahead and go through with the format and all... I haven't even started it cuz I'm operating on the computer I intend on doing this to. Also, this is my first time setting up a dual boot, is there anything else that I need to know?

[Jayce]

Couple things here.

1 - You need space on your hard drive to accomplish these tasks. By using GParted on a LiveCD, you'll be able to shrink your current Ubuntu partition down to accommodate space for Windows 7.

2 - When you install Windows 7, I'm willing to bet my car Windows will screw up the GRUB boot loader, which is required for the dual boot system. Don't panic.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=224351

Installing 7 will essentially overwrite GRUB and the Windows boot loader will take over. By redoing GRUB afterwards, it counteracts what Windows did during the install. Make sense?

3 - Do yourself a favor and be smart before doing any system critical changes like this. Back your stuff up. All of it.

For future reference - Whenever I set up a dual boot system, I do Windows first, then Ubuntu. This allows me to install Windows, then Ubuntu (with GRUB) and GRUB would automatically overwrite the Windows bootloader from the get-go so I wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Am I saying reinstall Ubuntu? No. But for future reference if you get a brand new PC with nothing on it, try installing 7 first, then Ubuntu. Just a little word of advice from a Vista/Ubuntu dual booter.

[mass0ver]

Speaking from past experiences, it seemed very difficult to set up a dual boot if Linux was installed first. I had to clear my entire ubuntu partition before I could install xp, just to reinstall ubuntu.

Since the file formats are still different, I don't see why anything would change with you dual booting with 7.

Install windows before Ubuntu!

[Jayce]

Originally Posted by mass0ver

Speaking from past experiences, it seemed very difficult to set up a dual boot if Linux was installed first. I had to clear my entire ubuntu partition before I could install xp, just to reinstall ubuntu.

Since the file formats are still different, I don't see why anything would change with you dual booting with 7.

Install windows before Ubuntu!

The reason why is grub. If you are comfortable with editing grub and telling it to reconfigure after installing Windows, you should be in good shape.

I too always set up windows first, but I have set up linux first before and did okay once I got done editing grub.