I have win 8 - XP dual boot. Can I overwrite XP with linux and dual boot it with win8?

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shepard91

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Jan 31, 2014
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As I said in the title, I have this dual boot on my desktop pc. Thing is, I'd like to dual boot windows 8 and ubuntu, so I was wondering: if I install ubuntu on the XP partition, will it just dual boot like that, or would I need to do something to make that happen?

Sorry for my bad english...
 
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dr-claw
If you're using the latest Ubuntu, it should just "magically" happen, and you should be prompted with a menu when you boot that will allow you to select form Ubuntu, some diagnostic tools like memtest, and Windows. One thing I can think of that might be a stumbling block for you is that Ubuntu will want to make at least two new partitions (one for Linux itself, and one for the swap space), and XP likely takes only one partition, so you're partition table might end up being a little strange. What is your current partition layout like? One thing you can do is boot the Ubuntu disk and choose to "try out Ubuntu' instead of installing it. When it boots, open a command console and run the command:

Code: 
sudo fdisk -l

and cut-and-paste the...
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shepard91

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Hm, then I can just stick to this guide I found seconds ago: http://apcmag.com/how-to-dual-boot-windows-8-and-linux.htm/
right?
 
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Alabalcho

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Jan 13, 2011
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As recommended - make sure you have a backup, and you can boot Windows off DVD/USB (make this test BEFORE you mess up).
Ubuntu likes to have two partitions for himself (root and swap), so check your laptop' partitioning.

I suspect that in your setup, Windows XP was installed before Windows 8, so it's partitions are before Windows 8 partitions. This could break the steps in your guide, as it will lead to quite strange partitioning.
 
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drtweak

drtweak

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Sep 17, 2012
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Yea what Alabalcho said could make it more difficult. I mean if it was me i wouldn't have an issue moving around the boot, but if you wanted to use the Windows 8 Boot menu then yea that might add a few more steps in there. If you delete the XP Partition, then use that space for the Linux/Swap and just use the GRUB Boot loader it should be fine.

Or if you wanted windows 8 boot loader, you would still have to use grub first, then rebuild the windows 8 boot loader.
 
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dr-claw

dr-claw

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Oct 15, 2013
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If you're using the latest Ubuntu, it should just "magically" happen, and you should be prompted with a menu when you boot that will allow you to select form Ubuntu, some diagnostic tools like memtest, and Windows. One thing I can think of that might be a stumbling block for you is that Ubuntu will want to make at least two new partitions (one for Linux itself, and one for the swap space), and XP likely takes only one partition, so you're partition table might end up being a little strange. What is your current partition layout like? One thing you can do is boot the Ubuntu disk and choose to "try out Ubuntu' instead of installing it. When it boots, open a command console and run the command:

Code: 
sudo fdisk -l

and cut-and-paste the output here. Feel free to remove the "Disk identifier:" data if you don't want people knowing your hard disk serial numbers. Once you get Ubuntu installed, if Windows is not in the Grub menu, the command:

Code: 
sudo update-grub

should automatically find your Windows partition and re-add it to the Grub boot menu.

Good luck.
 
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