Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2013 21:27:45 +0100 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: <leeoliveshackelford@surewest.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD 9 and Windows XP Message-ID: <20130309212745.c875489b.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20130309120741.DED57767@ms5.mc.surewest.net> References: <20130309120741.DED57767@ms5.mc.surewest.net>
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On Sat, 9 Mar 2013 12:07:41 -0800 (PST), leeoliveshackelford@surewest.net wrote: > Good afternoon, FreeBSD enthusiasts. Can FreeBSD 9.1 be > installed on a computer on which Windows XP currently > resides? Yes. > If so, how can this installation be done? First of all, you need a tool to make disk space available; you can do this by adding an additional hard disk, or by resizing the "Windows" partition. As "Windows" does not seem to provide native tools to do this, you will have to download a live system CD that contains a partition management tool such as GParted; the UBCD live system CD contains such a tool, if I remember correctly. There are also dedicated boot CDs for this task, I think "Partition Magic" is one of them. (Sorry I can't be more specific, I have only limited experience with dual-booting and the need to use such tools.) > In particular, is there a way to install 9.1 so that it > can be booted from the traditional master boot record? In the installer, install the boot manager. This will allow you to select if to boot FreeBSD or "Windows" when the system has started. > It is important that, when I am done, I can still boot to > Windows XP, as I must run some applications not available > on FreeBSD. That's the purpose of such a tool. :-) > If the idea I am proposing is not feasible with version 9.1, > will it work with 8.3? If I remember correctly, it has already been working in much older versions (such as 5.0). The old installer (sysinstall) had three options for dealing with the MBR: write a standard MBR (will boot FreeBSD, typically used on a system that runs this OS dedicatedly), install the boot manager (allows to select what to boot), or leave the MBR untouched (will require booting by a different means). The new installer (bsdinstall) offers similar options. > If this question has already been asked many times before, > please just let me know where to look to find the answer. Check The FreeBSD Handbook for detailed instructions about the new installer. This will also cover dual-booting. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/index.html http://www.freebsd.org/doc/faq/disks.html -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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