Making Vista Dual boot

[Michael Chare]

If I have a laptop with Vista, and a Vista restore partition, what would be
the best way of making it dual boot with Linux?

Google found this which uses grub
http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_boot_vista_with_linux_vista_installed_first
but I don't know if the presence of the dual boot partition would make a
difference.

Also is it possible to introduce a menu into the Vista boot process like you
could for NT4 (and maybeXP)? So far all that I have learnt about the Vista
boot proecess is that it is complicated.

(I don't want to start a Vista/linux comparison thread!!)

 

[Michael Chare]

Past that, if you have the ability to create a start-up disk, install
Linux on a new partition, and rather than install GRUB on the MBR, set it
up in the root partition, and use a start-up disk to load Linux.

Diskettes having gone out of fashion the has lead me to wondering what else
I can boot from

My desktop PC will boot from an SD card if I hit F8 during the post. OTH
my laptop won't boot from an SD card but will boot from a USB memory stick.

Vista won't let me create a bootable SD card (without using 3rd party
software). I am wondering if Grub will.

 

[Gene_fitz]

The issue you may have is in GRUB, once it sets itself into your MBR, it is
hard to remove.
It can be done, but DO NOT remove your restore partition. It may make it
impossible to restore your system.

Here is a possible resolve. Before you do anything, most computers with a
restore drive, have software, allowing you to create restore disks. Do that
first, and remember the key sequences to restore your system from those
disks. Past that, if you have the ability to create a start-up disk, install
Linux on a new partition, and rather than install GRUB on the MBR, set it up
in the root partition, and use a start-up disk to load Linux.

That's the best advice I can give