Rebooting my CompalIFL90/Sager2090 ... + cds they gave us + linux questions

Hey guys when i got my sager2090 i got those 2 disks for vista 32 bit edition and 64 bit edition. I thought they were full install disks but on closer inspection they say recovery disks? Is this true or are they actual full install disks?

Im asking since im going to format my harddrive and install a vista partition ( was hoping to use those 2 disks), and then make an ubuntu partition filling up the rest of the space... so i guess i have a couple of questions while im at it.... feel free to answer any

1. Are the disks that came with the computer full vista installation disks? Can i use it to install/partition?
2. How would i go about formatting off my current vista installation? I wanna set about 40/160gigs on my harddrive to my completely new vista and the rest as ubuntu. How do i go about doing this?
3. (kinda side question) Do you guys know of a way to have the vista and ubuntu dual boot, but also have a program like virtual box on ubuntu accessing the real vista partition without having to restart the computer. My plan was to use ubuntu as the main os... and for non cpu intensive stuff i could virtualy access the vista partition... and when i needed to like game i could just restart and use the vista partition for real.

Thanks

 

anyone know?

 

1. Had my own vista dvd so I didn't order any OS with my IFL90 so I can't really answer that function but in the windows section of the forum, you can download an iso of the vista dvd, you still need to provide your own key tho =/.
2. When installing Vista Just delete all the partition and create one with the size you want and leave the rest as unallocated space. When installing ubuntu just tell the installer to use the biggest amount of continuous free space. It will then create partitions in the empty space of the drive and install there.
3. I'm not sure I understand but ubuntu can natively access the vista partition no need for Virtual Box.

 

1. I don't know.

2. There are plenty of guides on the web about resizing partitions, even if they already have data on it. Google is your friend.

3. As Ayle said, Ubuntu will be able to access your Vista partition if what you want to do is just access files. E.g. you could open a Word file in OpenOffice.

If you need to actually use MS software in Linux, then you need more. Wine can help with some of those needs but it is a pain in the ass to use. For instance, I use the Windows version of Firefox in Wine because one of the ebooks provider that my library uses needs a special plugin with works only in Windows. (Yep, I've complained about their lack of Linux support, believe me.) At any rate, Wine can access your Vista partition without problem since Ubuntu can.

If Wine does not do what you want (or if you find Wine to be too much of a pain in the ass), then you need VirtualBox, kvm, qemu or something similar. Some things to keep in mind:

a. A virtual machine needs its *own* installation of Windows. It cannot boot off your Vista partition. So plan for space accordingly. (I have 40GB for my XP installation into which I dual boot and 10GB for XP in my virtual machine.)

b. Make sure you have all the proper installation disks (that was your first question above) and licenses for installing Windows multiple times. With Vista in particular there were a bunch of hooplas about whether or not your license allows you to run it in a virtual machine. Blah blah blah... I can't tell you what the status is but with their "enhanced" authentication or whatever they call it. If you violate your license you are at risk of troubles. Same thing for any software (e.g. MS Office) which you would want to install in two places.

A virtual machine can also see your Vista partition since Ubuntu can. (It cannot boot from it but it can read and write to it.)

 

1.) I can confirm that they are full versions of windows.

2.) If you are installing vista from scratch, you can partition the drive however you want during that process. If you were not reinstalling vista, you can use the built in partition shrink tool, or allow Ubuntu to shrink it for you (never attempted on a vista machine, but worked flawlessly on my Toshiba M45 running XP)

3.) Never attempted this, but Lemur had some excellent suggestions. I have my Ubuntu set to mount my windows partition on boot, and I use Ext2Fsd to read my Ubuntu partition in windows.

 

Just a note about 1: The discs are full install discs, however they do not natively have the option to repair an installation.

 

ty danny and dtdood are u implying there is a way to non natively support repair of an installation?

 

Maybe get an original vista install disc?

 

AFAIK you should get the standard windows repair option. See here, eighth screenshot down. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

I know there is a way to do it, it's legal but just a bit of a hassle. But on both my discs (32 and 64 bit) there is no native option for repair.