Hi, deerb,
You should be able to do a dual-boot such as the one you describe, with no problems. I had a similar setup on my older computer (two internal HDs), except that mine was a Linux-only setup. Still, the principle should be the same ... I'm letting Pardus's GRUB control the multiboot-Linux on my new computer, and it works fine.
Most important:
Before attempting to install another operating system, take the time to fully backup your Windows data. Although there is only a small chance that something will go wrong, it is best to be cautious and make sure that you have a backup you can restore from, if necessary.
One caveat:
It has been a few months since I installed Pardus, and I'm relying on my (perhaps) faulty memory of the installer's steps. So first, I'd closely read your existing tutorial to see if I'm listing things in the correct sequence ...
What I would suggest is this: try a "dry run" of the installation, and let YALI (Pardus's installer) take you to the partitioning stage. Look
carefully at what the partitioner sees on your drives and make sure that it recognizes your Windows 7 setup on your first hard drive. If something looks odd and the partitioner does not recognize your Windows-only drive, you can always quit the installer without committing / writing your changes to the HD.
Once you're certain that the Windows-only drive is recognized, you can then install Pardus to your second drive (and let it take over the entire second disk).
Again, look
carefully for the next (?) stage of the installation process, in which GRUB is installed.
GRUB is a special mini-program that helps to boot up an operating system. It supports multiple OSes on one computer, and allows you to select which operating system you want to run.
What you want to do is let Pardus install GRUB to the MBR (Master Boot Record) of the
second hard drive (with Pardus on it). This drive will be identified as either
/hdb or
/sdb. (Or it may be identified as
(hd1) in GRUB's special notation. Right now I can't remember exactly how the YALI installer presented this information during the installation process).
If I remember correctly, prior to actually writing GRUB to the designated MBR, Pardus's installer will show you a list of the operating systems it has detected. If your Windows shows up in that list, you should be ready to proceed. If Windows is not there, you should probably back out and ask for further advice.
I think that it could cause problems (with booting Windows) if you let GRUB be installed to the MBR of the first hard drive.
atolboo or Andreas, could you please verify this for deerb? (Thanks).
The "Bootloader" section from the Pardus Wiki is here:
http://en.pardus-wiki.org/Pardus:Installation2009#BootloaderI think you'd want to select the option labelled
"
Selected disk below"
(and then select your 2nd hard drive)
Make sure to have the box checked / selected that says:
"
Automatically add other operating systems to the GRUB menu"
<
Edit: You might find some extra help / reassurance in this thread:
http://worldforum.pardus-linux.nl/index.php?topic=3076.0"
Pardus 2009, GRUB2 and multibooting Linux." 5 Nov. 2009. >
HTH,
=david
P.S.
Since you mentioned that you're new to Linux, I'd like to offer one more piece of advice:
Work carefully, calmly and slowly -- don't rush through the installation process. It is unlikely that you will do something disastrous, such as erasing your Windows installation. If something happens to mess up GRUB and/or the MBR,
don't panic. (It's tempting to panic, but keep your wits about you and do not do anything drastic to the computer). Both OSes are probably fine on your hard drives -- you just can't boot them. Post back here, describe the problem and people will try to help you fix things so that you can boot both systems.
P.S.S.
A Fix in Case You Can Only Boot Pardus, and Not Windows:
Pardus includes a handy utility called the Boot Manager (which I use often). I'm attaching a screenshot below so you can see how it looks. (You must be logged in to the User Forum in order to view it).
To access it, go to your
Start menu (the Leopard icon) in the lower left-hand corner of your bottom panel. Next,
Go to
Computer >
System Settings >
Computer Administration >
Boot ManagerThen you will see a window like what's in the screenshot.
Select
Add New >
Windows from the drop-down menu, and fill in
Title(Name of boot entry to be shown at the boot menu)
You would add "Windows 7".
and
Disk(Disk that contains the operating system)
You would add "/dev/sda" (or "/dev/hda").
Next, click on the
Apply button to finalize your GRUB entry. You're done.
Restart your PC and hopefully, you will be able to boot into Windows 7 again.
Author