Dual boot for Linux and Windows

SUSE Product Topics SLED Install-Boot
1

I have a question concerning dual boot for Linux and Windows.
Do you know how should I proceed if I want to install a Windows 7 OS on a new notebook (HP Probook 4540s) with preinstalled SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11?
The problem is that I want to keep the Linux but I want to make a partition where I want to put Windows 7, to have both operating systems on the same HDD but on different partitions. Is there a possibility to make that partition without affecting the preinstalled Linux?
Also, is it possible to save an image on DVD (DVD ISO) of Linux, just in case that something goes wrong and I have to reinstall Linux?
My notebook didn’t came with a Linux DVD, just with a preinstalled Linux on the hard drive and I can’t identify the installation kit on the hard drive.
Thank you.

2

Hi
It is possible, does the system efi boot or just via mbr at the moment?

There would be some work involved in putting it on the existing drive.

Have you thought about just virtualizing windows in the existing
system, else if it’s only a few apps, then consider getting crossover
office (they have a trial version).

Or is there some specific things you want to do in windows, that don’t
work in linux, or you haven’t investigated this?

The other option is to pull the drive and replace it with a similar, or
bigger and install windows, then by shrinking the drive partitions,
using dd to put SLED back on…

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3

You can install Windows from inside Linux onto your physical hard drive, but you need separate partition as NTFS or FAT32. Below is a way to use a virtual machine to do the actual installation, but it’s performed on your hard drive.

Prepare a new partition onto where you want to install Windows.

Start the Windows installation with a Qemu virtual machine and your physical hard drive mapped (target partition can't be mounted):

qemu -hda /dev/sda -cdrom winxp.iso -boot d --enable-kvm

Install Windows on the partition you created.
Reinstall Grub (if partition isn't first, you need to do a trick with mapping hd's, its working for me).
4

If you are interested in a third option:

I would use a gaprted live CD (http://gparted.org/download.php) and shrink the existing partion(s). Now you could run a standard Windows Installation and use the free disc space for your NTFS partition. After the Windows Installation, your bootloader won’t start, so you have to repair it using a linux live CD (http://http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Repair_MBR_after_Windows_install).
This will also work.