Partitions, Multiple OS, and a Failure to Boot...?

Question

I have a relatively large hard drive and wanted to partition it: one for windows XP, one for backup, and one for a linux OS. This is still a learning process for me, so I used PartitionMagic 8.0 by PowerQuest. Everything worked fine until it came to dealing with Linux's partition. The linux partition is set to active, but no OS is installed yet. This isn't supposed to be a problem however, as a program called BootMagic is supposed to startup and take over, allowing me to switch back to the partition that contains windows and allowing me to make further changes. But apparently BootMagic was not installed correctly, because on startup my computer provides an error message and boots to an emergency recovery drive, where i cant do anything but reinstall Windows XP. Surely there is some way to install Linux on its active empty partition and fix this problem, or at least set the Windows partition to active and boot from it. Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks!

Answer 1

Easiest way I found is to start with you Windows XP installation. Then install Ubuntu Linux and follow the instructions to create a dual boot system. There will now be 2 partitions. You can create a 3 partition for backup but my suggestion is to do your backup under Linux because if your "backup" partition is visible (as a drive) under Windows, it is a target for Windows viruses. I would suggest either a Linux based software or a NAS or USB based solution.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Acronis Disk Director can solve your problem. It can partition you drive without losing any data and it has a useful feature OS Selector that will allow you to install 100 or more operating systems on one computer. You can boot an OS from any partition on any hard disk or have several operating systems on the same partition. Follow the link to learn more: http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/diskdirectorsuite/

Answer 3

Sorry I dont have an answer for you, but I was wondering something. I am trying that Partition Magic 8.0 also, and after I do any kind of task(s), and restart, no changes are made. I hit the "Apply" button and everything. I tried several times, with different tasks, and still nothing. Am I missing something?

Answer 4

it potential something has messed with the bootmanager actual the only way I even have been waiting to repair any of issues you're speaking approximately is to get the unique residing house windows cd and reformat it, yet once you have a h.p. or dell they could of got here with a restoration partition on ur no longer worry-free force, whilst it is going as properly up faucet F8 and click device fix ideas then click fix to production facility settings do no longer DELETE SYTEM32 WHAT A RETARD