Using Linux?

[Joe Ross]

There is a big difference in the assumptions that windows 9x (including ME), Windows NT (including 2000, XP, and 2003), and linux make when installing.

When Windows 9x installs, it assumes it is the only operating system. It must be put in the first primary partition on the hard drive, and overwrites the MBR with its bootloader. If you have another OS in the first primary partition, it will be overwritten. Even if your OS is in a different location, the MBR will be overwritten and you won't be able to boot into it.

When Windows NT installs, it looks for other Microsoft operating systems, but ignores others, like linux. It can be installed in other partitions. If it sees another windows operating system, it will include options for it in its bootloader. You can even modify the bootloader to load the linux bootloader.

Most linux distributions can be installed anywhere on the disk, and will include options to any other OSes in the bootloader (in fact, they are much more likely to miss other linux installations then windows installations). I've always used the linux bootloader (both lilo and grub) to load windows 2000, but there are people who swear by using the windows bootloader to load linux.