dual booting linux/ windows XP. fdisk compatibility problem?

From: /news-dated-1081710159.a0416c_at_kri.st)
Date: 03/30/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 20:41:34 +0200

Hello,

I am trying to built a system that boots both Windows XP and Linux
(Mandrake).

I did the following (starting from a virgin 120 GB disk).
- Install Windows in the first 20 GB. Checked that it booted OK.
- Install Mandrake in the rest, letting it partition the disk in / swap
and /home
- Installed lilo in the MBR, with a menu item to boot Windows.

Result: Linux boots, windows doesn't. It just hangs with a blinking
cursor on a black screen.

Reading the net I find that one can better use the NT boot loader
shipping with XP to boot Linux, in stead of using Lilo to boot Windows.
So I want to try that. But for this purpose I need to get Windows to
boot again.

And this I seem to be unable to do. Everything I tried, from fixboot
under rescue console to a complete reinstall fails.

One of the odd things, is that when trying a reinstall, the reboot after
the first copy fails.

The other odd thing is that the symptoms are similar to what I got when
I tried to install XP on a harddisk that previously had contained Linux.
There also, after the initial copy of file to the installation partition
the bootloader is not correctly installed, and the system hangs upon
reboot. It does not go on with the install...

This led me to asume that apparently there is something wrong with my
HD/partition table/MBR that keeps the windows install routine, and other
utilities like fixboot, from correctly installing a bootloader, or that
keeps the bootloader from finding the rest of the system.
And this something might be caused by my Linux install.

Could this be? And what can I do about checking of my hyptohesis is
correct, and fixing my system?
Does the linux fdisk do something to the partition table that couses the
windows fdisk to misinterpret it?

Krist

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