Install windows 7 after Kubuntu already installed

[joelmhall]

I have Kubuntu 11.04 installed and just the way I like it. I don't want to have to reinstall everything again. I regret to say I would like to also have windows 7 alongside, but I am not sure if I have the procedure down. It seems the best way is to backup my system, install windows 7, install Kubuntu again and then restore from my backup. I think grub will need to be redone after the restore. I have backed up with tar (excluding certain directories) onto an external drive. I am not sure if after a new Kubuntu install (alongside windows) that the restore will put everything back the way I have it now. Right now, my harddrive is only Kubuntu. I am not seeing a grub chooser screen before the OS starts like in the usual dual-boot systems.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

[mastablasta]

have a look here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot
here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RecoveringUbuntuAfterInstallingWindows
and here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9573188&postcount=4

basically you need to recover grub (using LiveCD or LiveUSB) afetr the windows is installed.

[joelmhall]

Thanks, mastablasta. I tried the last link and it worked as advertised. Easy and quick.

I found though, that resizing my linux partition was slower than I expected. Maybe there is something different with linux partitions because I have shrunk ntfs partitions before and it seems quicker.