Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 07:09:30 -0700 (PDT) From: John DeStefano <deesto@yahoo.com> To: "James A. Coulter" <jacoulter@earthlink.net>, raster@rastersoft.com Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP - PROBLEM Message-ID: <20030801140930.51373.qmail@web40605.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <008d01c35834$ba307f30$a600a8c0@delllaptop>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
"James A. Coulter" <jacoulter@earthlink.net> wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: "John DeStefano" To: Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:17 AM Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP > >"Jud" wrote: > >On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:55:25 -0400 (EDT), "Jerry McAllister" > > said: > >> > > >> > Hello, > >> > > >> > I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it. > >> > I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD. > >> > My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP? > >> > Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is > >this > >> > true? > >> > >> I believe both statements are true. > >> Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important > >one. > >> > >> ////jerry > > > >I see most of the usual suspects have weighed in - may as well complete > >the list. :-) > > > >Jerry's right and so's Adam. I happen to be using GAG right now, > >because > >it's pretty automagic and I have a slightly complicated setup. > > > >I'd recommend that even if you decide to use the FreeBSD bootloader or > >GAG that you also have a look at the online FAQ and Google this list. > >These resources as well as the man pages and the online Handbook will > >stand you in good stead as you continue with FreeBSD. > > > >Jud > > And yet another vote for GAG, this time from a newbie! ;) > I have a FreeBSD/Windows 98/Windows XP system, and although I > once had it booting from a FBSD loader, GAG was so easy to install and > configure that I've switched over. It works very well, and it's very easy to > use. Just copy the program to a floppy and boot with it. Use the setup > menu to add your OS selections, add a descriptive name for each (and > even a different icon to distinguish them!), install your choices to the > hard drive from the menu, and off you go. > ~John > GAG worked great on my Dell Inspirion 2650 FreeBSD - XP/setup, but when I installed it on an old Gateway with Win98 - FreeBSD, it did something funky. I get the GAG boot screen and regardless of whether I choose Win98 or FreeBSD the system states it is starting Windows 98 and then, after attempting to access the floppy drive, asks "Type the name of the Command Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM)" and finishes with the A> prompt. Entering C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM is not recoginized by the system (it repeats the request for the command interpreter) and inserting a floppy with COMMAND.COM results in the system freezing. I tried booting from floppy, worked fine, but system will not recoginize the c: drive. Uninstalling GAG only removes the GAG start-up screen, system still asks for the command interpreter. Read the GAG instructions and FAQ - no luck. Anyone had a problem like this? Any suggestions on how to restore my hard drive without losing any data? Thanks, Jim I'm no guru, but this could be as simple as re-installing GAG, removing all file systems from the menu, and starting from scratch to re-add your OS selections (which will take all of a minute's time). This worked for me once when I had a problem booting; something had changed on the disk and GAG just needed to adjust to the change. Give it a try. Failing that... I don't know whether 98 has a 'repair install' option like XP does, but if so, that might be a solution. Also might work to let BSD write its boot menu to the MBR. Maybe someone else can chime in with more info. ~John --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20030801140930.51373.qmail>