Install next to Windows XP?

[Bwangster12]

I have never used LinuxMCE before but have used a few different Ubuntu versions and enjoyed them.  I've futzed around with different Windows Media program and haven't found one I love.

Is there a way to install LinuxMCE without disturbing my current Windows XP installation?  I am not ready to make a full transition to Linux.  I do understand the idea of dual booting but I think I need an installation CD and my HP didn't come with them.  Even still... that would reformat my drive.

If I do dual boot... and set a recording with LinuxMCE, it wouldn't record unless I was booted into LinuxMCE right?  If I set it and then switched to Windows XP it wouldn't record?

[Laughing Man]

Yes I would imagine/believe so. Just be careful when partitioning (I've had a college roomate that sadly killed his laptop's XP install two semesters ago believing he could install Linux just cause his engineering class taught a little bit of it lol).

[Zaerc]

Just do NOT use the DVD installer, that will wipe your whole disk.  Kubuntu should be able to resize the partition I think, be sure to backup your valuable data first just in case.  The installer should also set up dual boot, then install LinuxMCE on top of Kubuntu following the instructions.

[totallymaxed]

I have never used LinuxMCE before but have used a few different Ubuntu versions and enjoyed them.  I've futzed around with different Windows Media program and haven't found one I love.

Is there a way to install LinuxMCE without disturbing my current Windows XP installation?  I am not ready to make a full transition to Linux.  I do understand the idea of dual booting but I think I need an installation CD and my HP didn't come with them.  Even still... that would reformat my drive.

If I do dual boot... and set a recording with LinuxMCE, it wouldn't record unless I was booted into LinuxMCE right?  If I set it and then switched to Windows XP it wouldn't record?

Yes a dual boot Windows Xp / lmce-0704 setup is easy to setup. Dont use the lmce-0704 quick install DVD iso though as that will reformat your whole drive.

On an existing Windows XP machine with plenty of spare drive capacity just insert the Kubuntu 7.04 Live CD and boot from it. When the Kubuntu Live CD desktop appears click the 'Install' icon on the desktop and follow the instructions to create a dual boot system. Next use the lmce-0704 CD installer discs to install lmce onto your Kubuntu 7.04 installation and follow the installation procedure carefully.

Now you will have a dual boot system that will boot first into the Grub menu where you will be able to choose Kubuntu/lmce or Windows XP to boot into.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

[Bwangster12]

What about the part...

If I choose to boot into LinuxMCE in order to set up a recording for tonite and then restart and boot into Windows XP in order to surf the web or play a game... the show won't record right?

They are obviously two seperate operations systems and processes don't run while booted into another?

[Zaerc]

Well it seemed pretty obvious to me that systems don't do anything unless they are running, maybe I misinterpreted your question.

In theory it might be possible if XP was tightly integrated with LMCE, but since XP is a proprietary system I doubt it will be able to record tv-shows for LMCE out of the box any time soon.

[teedge77]

you could try vmware...i dont have any experience with using vmware and linuxmce together though so i cant offer much advice on the difficulties of getting it to work right. you could leave vmware/linuxmce running in the background of xp and it will record your shows....if it works right.

[totallymaxed]

What about the part...

If I choose to boot into LinuxMCE in order to set up a recording for tonite and then restart and boot into Windows XP in order to surf the web or play a game... the show won't record right?

They are obviously two seperate operations systems and processes don't run while booted into another?

Hmmm... missed that part of your question! Any dual-boot system by definition will only be running one of the OS at any given time ;-)

As someone else has said already you might want to try VMware as a way of running multiple concurrent OS's simultaneously... however you will take a performance hit from sharing the processor and from the virtualisation itself.