(SOLVED) Is it Possible ???

[oxo42]

Up until a few weeks ago I had a dual boot set-up with WIN XP and L.LITE 1.0.8 / and I wanted to upgrade to L.L. 2.6.

I managed to get L.L. 2.6 installed and all is running ok.
The problem is that I have lost WIN XP OS and it's partitions are now taken up by L.L. / all of the Hard Disk is now occupied by L.L. / there is no GRUB Menu it boots staight into L.L. 2.6.

What I want is a dual boot set-up as before.

Is this possible???
Or do I have to remove L.L. 2.6 and re-install Windows first and then L.Lite.



PS.  New to linux / still learning.

[Duckeenie]

If your motherboard uses a BIOS then you can simply install LL after Windows after which both will be available to boot.


Alternatively, If your motherboard uses UEFI then things get a little more difficult however the following should help...


https://www.freecinema2022.gq/forums/tutor...y-enabled/

[firenice03]

Since you were dual booted with 1.0.8, yes 2.6 would in the same...
You say missing Windows partition.. Are you booting directly into the live usb ?
If so when you install choose the along side option, if you want you should be able to keep 1.0.8 seperate as well, if you want on the same partition you'll want to choose that partition.. Back up your info!!! You will overwrite (unless you're using a seperate partition for /home).

[gold_finger]

If you're not 100% sure that Windows got wiped out, open a terminal in your installed LL 2.6 and run this command to see if it finds Windows:

Code:

sudo os-prober

If it says it found it, run this command to update grub and hopefully you end up being able to boot into it again:

Code:

sudo update-grub

If LL 2.6 did get installed over Window XP then you'll unfortunately need to re-install Windows because many of its system files got overwritten by the new install.  If there are data files that you need to recover from there you may be able to recover some/most of them using photorec.  Probably best to boot from your LL 2.6 DVD/USB to do this.  You'll also need somewhere to direct the storage of recovered files -- eg. a large USB stick, external HDD, or 2nd HDD in computer with room for the files.  (Don't try to save recovered files to the same drive that it's recovering them from.)

Read through info and documentation on Photorec site and look for possible Youtube tutorials so you know what to expect.  Then boot from your live LL DVD/USB, open a terminal and run this command to install the program to the live environment:

Code:

sudo apt-get install testdisk

Photorec is included with the installation of Testdisk.  To run it open a terminal and enter:

Code:

photorec

(If get message saying you don't have permission to run it, try again using "sudo photorec".  I can't remember if that's necessary or not.)

It will be a slow process, so just wait until it completes (possibly hours depending on size of drive and amount of files recovered).  Limiting the file types that you want to recover will save some time and make sifting through the results easier on you.  Note:  recovered files will probably not have original file names, so will take time to manually go through what it found to find files you want to keep.

When ready to re-install OS's, do Windows first, then LL.  Windows will likely use entire drive, so you'll need to shrink it before installing LL.  Good tool for that is MiniTool Partition Wizard.  (You can use GParted from LL DVD, but better to use a Windows-based tool.)  Set Windows up the way you like, install whatever software you want on it, then do yourself a favor and create a backup image of it to make life easier if you ever need to restore it (or fix it) again.  Macrium Reflect is a good tool for that.  Here is a post with tips on how to use it:  http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.ph...27#p953627.

Once done with above, go ahead and install LL again.  It should see the free space on drive (after you shrunk Windows) and offer choice to install "Along side" Windows.  If you choose that it will use the free space and install to it.


P.s.  If computer originally came with XP on it, then no need to worry about possibility of UEFI firmware on motherboard.  If you installed XP on a relatively new computer (2011-12 or newer), then it might have UEFI firmware.  If that's the case, you need to set the boot mode to "CSM" (or "Legacy") because Win XP can not be installed in UEFI/EFI mode.  The tutorial for a UEFI mode install will not apply in your situation -- just follow normal install procedures for both OS's.

[oxo42]

Hi all.
              It,s as I thought  ie:-  Windows first L.Lite second / cant be done other way round is that correct ???

How do I safely delete L.Lite and prepare Hard Disk ready for re-install of Windows / Once that is done I am alright with installing L.Lite.

[gold_finger]

Boot from LL 2.6 DVD/USB.  Open GParted program (Menu -> System -> GParted, or Partition Drives).
-- Right-click Swap partition and choose "Swapoff"
-- Right-click each partition and choose "Delete"
-- Click "Apply" button along top of GParted window, or go to Edit -> Apply All Operations to finalize the deletions.

At that point you'll have no partitions on drive.  If you create an NTFS partition on the drive of the size that you want to allocate to Windows I'm guessing that Windows will then not take over the whole drive (therefore eliminate the need to shrink it after install).  Still in GParted:
-- Click the "New" button along top to create a new partition.  Make it "Primary", format "NTFS" and size = whatever you want it to be.
-- Click "Apply" button to finalize.
-- Leave rest of drive unformatted.


Install Windows and hopefully it let's you use the partition you made instead of taking up the whole drive.  Then install LL -- it will use the unformatted space when you choose "Along side" install option.  (See Help Manual for guidance.)

[oxo42]

Hi gold_finger

                    That is exactly what I was hoping for / very concise and simple to understand.
  When I have a bit more time I will give it a try and let you know how I get on.

                                  Many Thanks.

Update  18th Dec,

        Decided to run without Windows  /  useing L.L. only.

        I will now mark as Solved.