On Thursday 26 November 2009 19:45:16 Jerry Ro wrote: > On Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 2:08 PM, Mick M. <off_by_1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > I want to install Windows XP on a computer that currently > > > has only fedora installed. It does not have a CD-ROM (not > > > working) and I cannot boot from disk on key, though I can > > > access a disk on key on fedora. I have no internet > > > connection on that computer, but I can still copy files from > > > another computer through the disk on key. > > > > Put the drive into another computer - install - swap it back. > > > My other computer is a laptop, so I can't plug in the drive into it... > I don't have other computers. Please avoid top-posting on this list. You might want to read the wikipedia article and list guidelines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines As for your question, the easiest method is to use a friend's computer to do the installation, or borrow a working CD drive. That would save you from much pain, if possible. If not, there are several things you should consider prior to trying anything out: 1) Running XP inside a virtual machine, instead on native hardware. The upside is that you can use both OSes simultaneously and there is no hassle with repartitioning the drive and booting. The downside is that you probably need at least 2GB of RAM for this to be smooth enough, 1GB to be just possible. And no serious 3D graphics support under XP --- no games and such. 2) Back up all your data. Dual boot setup is always a risky procedure, especially if done the wrong way around (the right way is XP first, Fedora second). 3) If your hardware is old, and I have a feeling that it is, your BIOS might not support booting beyond the 1024th cylinder on the hard drive. This means that you need to squeeze both the XP's C: partition and Fedora's /boot partition in this space. This might not be doable without a complete wipe and repartitioning of the drive. 4) XP installation will not ask you where you want to put the bootloader --- it will go on and overwrite the MBR and GRUB on it. After XP install, Fedora will become inaccessible until you set up GRUB again from a repair CD or something. This is the reason why the install order is "XP first, Fedora second". And given that you do not have a CD drive, this can be a big problem. 5) Repartitioning the live and mounted drive is impossible if you are not running LVM on it. If you are, somebody else might instruct you how to free up space for XP, as I am not familiar with LVM. Now, given all that, the installation is pretty much impossible without a working CD drive. Or at least a working floppy drive, if you are adventurous enough. You need to be able to boot the machine off *something* *other* than hard drive in order to perform an OS install on it. Also, you'll most probably going to need a CD drive later in regular work, so it would be a good idea to buy it. Or buy more memory and go virtual. Or try out the famous IFBP (the "Insane Floppy Bootstrap Procedure"), if you can boot off a floppy drive. The IFBP goes roughly as follows: * backup all data using the usb key to the laptop (the hard drive is going to be wiped out) * find several usable floppy disks * while still in Fedora, download images of Win98 bootdisk and DamnSmallLinux (or equivalents), and copy them all to floppies; double-check and tripple-check that they work ok * boot the machine off the Win98 bootdisk; use fdisk to delete current partition table; create partition to be used for XP later on; leave space for Fedora; format the partition as fat32 * boot off the DamnSmallLinux floppy; hopefully it has support for USB * copy the XP installation on the newly-created partition using the USB drive * boot off the Win98 bootdisk, go to the appropriate directory and start XP installation (by typing "setup" in the dos prompt, I guess); this should install XP on the drive * boot the XP; transfer the Fedora install image to the hard drive using USB drive * download and install VirtualBox to XP * create small Linux virtual guest in VirtualBox; point it to use physical hard drive for its partitions * install minimal Fedora as a virtual guest on the rest of the hard drive; try to put GRUB in the MBR, if possible --- if not, put it on the first sector of the /boot partition * boot DamnSmallLinux off a floppy, reinstall GRUB to MBR, configure it to chainload XP * boot XP to see if it still works * boot Fedora to see if it works at all * adapt Fedora to run on native hardware; clean up the VirtualBox mess * return the data from the backup Now, if this procedure fails at any step (and I can bet it will), your computer is hosed up, and don't expect anyone to help you pick up the pieces. All in all, I would really consider buying a DVD drive, or going virtual with XP, or just using Fedora as is (ditch the whole idea of XP). The IFBP method given above should just discourage you from trying out anything so insane, except maybe as a proof of concept that it can be done. HTH, :-) Marko -- fedora-list mailing list fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines
