Have to install XP over Lucid

[ray field]

This is about the last thing I wanted to do unfortunately I have to install XP on this box for one single program -- I would use a VM except it's a proprietary image editing SW and I think would be very fussy.

1) Can I use KDE Partition Manager to create a new primary partition at the end of my hard disk and then install XP to that? Or would that violate some XP restriction? Here's fdisk -l:


Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000b4982

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda2 * 1 60801 488384001 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 59579 60801 9823716 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 1 1148 9221215+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 1149 27895 214845246 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 27896 44916 136721151 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 44917 59578 117772483+ 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7ffe4391

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 121601 976760001 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb4a71e64

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 1 121601 976760001 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

2) If the above is possible, is there a way to be sure that XP actually goes into that partition? I'm afraid of the XP install routine just wiping the whole disk clean.

3) I know that 'doze will bugger grub, so I'm prepared to use the LiveCD to repair grub. a la

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2#Reinstalling%20from%20LiveCD

I can't remember, however, how I would add ******* to the grub menu.

[grahammechanical]

According to that listing you have three hard discs sda, sdb, sdc. Am I correct? It looks like you have a disc formatted as FAT32 . If you do indeed have three hard discs, could you not physically remove the other two or at least the hard disc with Ubuntu on? Then when you install XP you will not do anything to the Ubuntu hard disc.

Even if I have misread the partition information, you should know this. When you restore Grub by running update grub or update grub2 it will find all the operating systems on all the discs that are installed in the machine. It will add your Windows installation to the Grub menu.

Regards.

[ray field]

oops -- the latter two hard disks are external USB drives (I wish I could install XP to one of them).

some of my main concerns: 1) the number of primary drives -- I think there are only two here, but I can't tell from fdisk, and 2) whether I can boot from a new primary at the end of the HDD and 3) how I'll be able to identify that new primary partition from inside Windows' installation routine....

[ray field]

yeah, it looks like a fecal low-pressure system waiting to happen, I'll see what Capture NX looks like in Virtualbox.