Ubuntu/vista dual boot

Will Dell install both on your machine?
I REALLY like ubuntu on my IBM t43 but the problem is that my computer is acting very strange and will not let me partition my hard drive. I've tried doing it with 3rd party programs in windows, and I have tried it in ubuntu. I don't know why it won't work, but I have had a number of problems with my thinkpad. As i said earlier, i like ubuntu but I do need windows for certain programs like excel and possibly CAD since i am going into engineering. Does anyone know if they can set up a dual boot or if I have to do it myself, which wouldn't me much of a problem if my computer worked correctly.

 

Dell doesn't support factory installed dual boot. You will have to do it yourself. This will also limit some support on the HDD and OS if you do but if you know what your doing, it wont matter. They will still replace the HDD if it goes bad. they just wont support software problems at that point.

 

I'm going to move this to the Linux forum; I think you'll find more help there.

As mentioned, you'll be on your own to set up dual boot.

 

AFAIK, YoJr is right. Dell won't install dual boot. They probably won't help you over the phone with installing dual boot either.

Now, you can do it yourself. I've owned 3 Dell laptops over the past 9 years. I use Linux as my primary OS, with Windows on the side for frivolities like gaming. I've used Dell support multiple times over those 9 years and never had a problem getting the service I needed. Note however that all my service calls were about hardware failures, not software.

 

Whats wrong with your PC that you can't dual Boot or use 3rd party Partition apps?

Download G-parted and Burn it on a CD/DVD Disc, reset then boot up from your Disc. G-parted makes it very easy and visual to read/edit/make partitions. Forget about using Partition software within Windows. Also why wouldn't G-parted work during within Ubuntu install?

P.S I would trust Dell CS to walk me across the street.

 

Hi,
juz out of curiosity...
Will there be any linux driver issues if you install linux on your laptop?
Are linux drivers generic or are the drivers available for the company's website?

Thanks in advance.

 

There shouldn't be any problems. Except if you have the Intel mini-wireless wireless card, in that case you will have to do driver hunting (and you need to be connected to the internet to install the driver)

The intel 3945 & 4945 work OTB.

 

yeah, just go into vista and shrink down your drive to the size you want, and install ubuntu on the free space.

 

Dell Insiron T5450 Model 1420-JB preloaded with Vista:
Howto dual boot Vista Home Premium and Ubuntu Linux:

Assumptions and Background:
This Dell laptop ships with 4 primary partitions loaded on the disk. One of the primary partitions contains Vista. The others contain Dell Diagnostics and RECOVERY data. Partition theory on a PC goes something like this. Since BIOS only allows 4 primary partitions on a disk and a boot partition must be primary, the boot (installed on mount point /boot) must be installed on a primary partition. Since I have not tested installation to this detail, I install all of my linux on a primary partition.

Delete one of Vista's primary partition:
This is a challenge because the hard disk(hd) is shipped with 4 primary partitions loaded with Dell Diags, Recovery, Vista, etc. Since Recovery was labled as D drive in Vista, I copied this data (6.5 GB) to USB drive. Then I deleted D data and deleted partition using Vistas partitioning tool (search Computer Management->Storage). I will try using G-Parted next time. Deleted partition D (labled: REVOVERY) made available about 10 GB of unpartitioned space. Now it is time to set up linux file system (fs) and install linux.

Press F12 to choose boot from CD drive. Ubuntu install fits on one CD.

Install Linux (ext2 fs):
From here, I used Ubuntu's standard install in text mode. Partitioned ~8GB as ext2 with mount point: "/" (Set bootable to yes). I have 2GB memory so I set linux-swap to 2GB.

Linux Install (ext3 fs):
If ext3 partions is desired, set up 500 MB ext2 partition with "/boot" mount point. Set ~7.5GB partition as ext3 with "/" as mount point. Set 2 GB as linux-swap partition.

Although I did not like the idea of deleting Dell preinstalled partitions, this procedure worked fine for my system. It boots fine for Ubuntu Linux, Dell Diagnostics, and Vista.

One can also shrink Vista's partition using Vista's storage tool above if more linux partioning space is desired.

Reverse Ubuntu Linux installation:
If one decides to reverse this process, start ubuntu installation in text mode again. Run the intallation through setting up partitions. Delete all the linux partitions. Go into Vista's NTFS partition. Set bootable to yes in Vista's partition. If this is not done, your laptop will not boot. Write this updated partition to end partitioning. Jump to End installation or toggle power to reboot.

I gave lots of details with a couple of options in hopes to solicit better ways to install Linux as dual boot with Vista on the latest Dell laptops. Hopefully we can all break out of the OS constraint limitations that are imposed on all PC folks. Linux offers hope of breaking free from limitations imposed on us.

Please give other suggestions.

 

For me, I have Window XP, Vista, and Ubuntu
Anyway to install ubntu on the dell. It would result in deleting two partitions. Don't erase the Recovery Partition, (i believe deleting would result in recovery failure), erase the other two (like media direct) and proceed as usual installation in graphical mode.

 

Yeah, I installed my own OS, so I forgot about those factory partitions that have to go...

 

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