Using Windows XP and Linux Ubuntu Dual Boot to Maximize Computer Efficiency

This tutorial is for a beginner who has not yet installed Linux Ubuntu on the Windows XP computer. However, certain parts of the tutorial are also applicable to those who have already installed Linux Ubuntu and need some quick and basic information pertaining to this dual boot installation.

Setting safety boundaries

Linux Ubuntu and Windows XP are two entirely different operating systems. Linux is open source, while Windows XP is proprietary. There are a lot of dual boot issues arising from the two operating systems. One of the main issues involves sharing the same physical hard drive for the two operating systems, which necessitates some adjustments to the Windows partition.

It is highly recommended to separate the Linux Ubuntu operating system into another physical hard drive. This will ensure that the original, sensitive and fragile Windows operating booting system will never have the chance to be corrupted during the installation process. There are a lot of reported cases of a corrupted Windows XP master boot record (MBR) happening after Ubuntu installation. This means that after installation, the GRUB (Linux Boot loader program) possibly altered or corrupted the Windows booting record.

Correcting these types of booting issues can be complex. Sometimes you need to repair Windows XP, which might affect or delete your files by accident or mess up GRUB commands. After some basic experience, the typical suggested dual boot configuration is discussed below.

First, assuming you have two physical hard disks of similar sizes (for example 160GB each), the first hard disk should be the “master” which holds the Windows XP operating system. It should be partitioned in two such that:

Drive C: File system/ Windows System files (80GB)

Drive E: Documents/for other data (80GB)

The second physical hard drive will be configured as the “slave” (you can instruct your computer technician to do this). It is empty, without a partition or any files on it (basic NTFS formatting is fine).

You will install Ubuntu on the second hard drive. You can select it during the installation stage of Ubuntu. You should be very careful at this stage to never alter or touch the first hard drive, which houses the Windows XP OS. This option will not resize the Windows NTFS partition, since you are performing the installation on a completely different hard drive.

After successful Linux installation, the GRUB will load during the booting process. So, during computer restart, the GRUB menu will load up and let you decide which OS you are going to select (either Linux Ubuntu or Windows XP). Once you see the GRUB, and are able to boot to either Linux or Windows XP, your dual boot installation is fine. See the screen shot below of the sample disk configuration of a dual boot using different hard disks:

There are plenty of advantages to this setup. Aside from increased hard disk space (which also helps the computer to operate fast and provide more storage space), the two OS file systems receive their own unique spaces. This offers flexibility and provides an easy way to restore or back up files in case of damage.

For example, if Windows XP gets corrupted due to a malware or device error causing a blue screen, file systems can still be accessed by Linux Ubuntu, providing another way to easily recover data. Also, having two hard disks protects you from any hard-disk-related accidents, so if the first drive fails, you can still boot to the other. This will ensure you can still work, contributing to efficiency.

The above configuration assumes that you have first installed Windows XP on the master hard drive.

Accessing Windows partitions from Linux Ubuntu

Even though they are assigned to different hard drives, you can still access Windows files easily. By default, Windows partitions (meaning the files belonging to the Windows XP operating system) can be accessed very easily by Linux Ubuntu. This is true even for the Windows file system and the documents. Linux's style of accessing drives is unique, because you still need to mount it and provide authentication (using your Linux admin password).

To access the Windows partition in Linux Ubuntu, follow the steps:

Step 1: Go to “Places” -> “Computer.”

Step 2: The two Windows partitions (refer to screen shot guide earlier) can be recognized as a file system:

The 76 GB and 84 GB are the two Windows XP partitions on the master hard drive.

Step 3: To access, double click the selected drive and then enter your password to authenticate.

Step 4: You can then access the Windows partition. You can now copy files from Windows XP to Linux Ubuntu and vice versa.

Accessing Linux partitions from Windows XP

The tricky nature lies in the reverse: how can you access Linux partitions from Windows? The short answer is: it depends on your Linux file system types. And these file system types -- for example, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4 -- depend on the Linux Ubuntu version installed in your computer.

The latest version (as of December 2009), Ubuntu 9.10, uses the Ext4 File system. To determine which Linux file system you are using, follow this simple procedure:

Step 1: Go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal.

Step 2: Log in as root :

codex-m@codex-m-desktop:~$ sudo -s -H

Type your password.

Step 3: Enter “df -T” in the terminal, for example:

root@codex-m-desktop:/home/codex-m# df -T

Step 4: Under the column “Type” look for the row that begins with “ext....” For example, in the screen shot (first row), it says that the system mounted on root (/) uses the ext4 file system type.

Step 5: Again, as of December 2009 there are still no drivers that can be used by Windows to access the Linux ext4 file system/partitions. However, if you have a file system type of ext2 or ext3, you can use the following Windows-based drivers (for accessing Linux).

http://www.diskinternals.com/linux-reader/ ? allows files to be read on the Linux partition (read only).

http://www.fs-driver.org/ ? offers read and write access on the Linux partitions (careful in editing, or you might corrupt or accidentally delete Linux files).

With these drivers, you can conveniently and efficiently access Linux files from Windows and vice versa.

The EXT4 Linux partition workaround for Windows XP

So what is the work around for those using the EXT4 Linux partition? Aside from waiting for developers to release a driver for this system, the following is an efficient rule of thumb in managing documents that can be used interchangeably by Linux and Windows without accessing any partitions:

Rule 1: As a user, owner and administrator of your Linux Ubuntu, you are provided with your own “Home Folder.” You can view it by going to Places -> Home Folder.

Inside the Home Folder are your personal files. It is highly recommended that you save everything only to the Home Folder as much as possible. This includes your OpenOffice documents, images, presentations, etc.

Rule 2: Maintain a daily backup. This can be accomplished by creating a folder in your Windows partition (which you can create via Linux), and then copying the entire Home Folder files to that folder created in the Windows partition. This is manual, but it is more efficient than waiting for developers to create EXT4 drivers or restarting over and over again to switch OS.

Now that the files have been copied to the Windows partition, once you are using the Windows XP operating system, you can access your Linux files.

See the screen shot below (the Home folder is copied to Windows and using “Linux Backup” as the folder name).