Hey all. I've been a "dual-booter" about 2 years now. I am far and away a Linux guy now, but I figured I'd put a copy of Win7 on my PC since I like to game. (Much easier than messing with Wine...) At any rate, I thought I'd let the community know that I was able to get Ubuntu 10.04LTS and Win7 with Daz's loader to coexist happily on the same PC. Note that this is a real dual-boot setup and not a Wubi or Virtual Machine install. This is how I did it, and it worked, but there may be other methods that work just as well. It's very easy. What you need: A copy of Windows 7 (appropriate for your architecture) A copy of Ubuntu 10.04LTS (appropriate for your architecture) Daz's Loader (only use this loader, explained below) A computer... Directions: 1. Make sure the hard disk you are installing to is big enough for both OS's. 160gb will probably be plenty big as long as you have another partition elsewhere to install games and store personal stuff. Make sure you have a new, blank partition to install Windows 7 onto. (You can, of course, set this up during the install.) Generally you want Win7 to be on the first part of the disk to improve read/write times and because Windows is picky about where the Master Boot Record is located. I make the Win7 partition about 80gbs. 2. Download a copy of Windows 7, burn and install per this guide. Remember you will probably have to set your boot order in your BIOS to boot from CD or USB to get the installation started (sorry I can't post links yet...) forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/7126-The-Official-Windows-7-Repository 3. Download and unpack Daz's loader and put it somewhere easy to find. forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/8632-Program-based-Windows-7-loader 4. Activate Windows 7 with Daz's loader and reboot. 5. Restart and you will see a menu with a list of options. Just select the first Windows 7 option. This will be selected automatically if you don't touch the keyboard. 6. Verify that your Win7 is successfully activated. Follow section 6.E. in the guide from #2 above. 7. If your activation was a success, restart Daz's loader and UNINSTALL it, but DON'T delete anything. 8. Insert your Ubuntu disc or USB into your PC. Reboot. Remember to select the correct boot device. 9. Install Ubuntu. When you get to the option of partitioning the hard drive, do this manually. I generally install Ubuntu 10.04 on another 80gb partition right next to the Win7 partition. Don't forget to create a swap partition for Ubuntu. Most modern systems with large RAM do fine with a 2gb swap. 10. After Ubuntu is installed, your system will reboot. The new boot loader menu will now show Ubuntu at the top and Windows 7(loader) at the bottom with some other options in between. You can change which one is the default OS in Ubuntu. 11. After making sure Ubuntu is installed properly reboot the computer and select Windows 7 as your OS. Once it's loaded, simply reapply Daz's loader and you are good to go! To make absolutely sure you did it right, follow the directions from #6 above to verify your activation. I have downloaded and installed Window's updates and downloaded and installed Ubuntu updates, including kernel updates, and everything continues to work/stay activated. The only problem I see is if something in an Ubuntu update changes Grub2. However, if you pay attention, it's usually possible to maintain your previous menu functionality even after Grub2 is modified in an update. One last point. This works because Daz's loader is based on Grub, hence why some of the other loaders may not work. Daz's is better anyway.
Thanks for your dual boot instruction. I just completed my dual boot W7/Ubuntu 10.04LTS in a 3 partition set up where Windows & Ubuntu can access the third partition as storage for documents, pictures, video & music. I ran into a brckwall because NTSF.dpkg is not supported anymore with 10.04 LTS. I have no clue about Linux programming. I found third party NTSF-dpkg that I must download in order for Ubuntu to recognized NTFS file. I downloaded into documents. Now I am not in bind because I have no knowledge to perform the necessary instruction at terminal to unpack and run the NTFS-dkpg so that Ubuntu can recognized Windows NTFS files. CAn you help? Basically, I have to set the source and then give some instruction at terminal to unpack the program at source and run it from source. It's easy to say it but I have no technical clue or programming clue to do it? Can you help me as to what I have to do? How about actual instruction for me to complete my task so that U buntu can recognize NTSF file system.
Theres also a super simple way to do it. 1) Install Ubuntu 2) Boot to Windows and install the loader but under the advanced settings use "Preserve current boot code"
I still like Acronis OS Selector - DiskDirector 11 now supports windows 7 so I am back using it - I could use the older version but editing the bootwiz.oss file became too cumbersome.
Lol. I figured there was an easier way to do it. Just good to know that it could be done at all. But yes, this way is MUCH easier. Thanks Daz.
I'm not a Linux coding guru either. However, have you tried setting up the shared NTFS partition in Ubuntu using gparted? That should work.
Not to deride the loader but if your gonna make a guide keep an open mind... Daz's loader is not the only tool out there to bypass the activation... Also you never stated a clear reason why you had to use the loader and not other bypass tools...
Later grub updates ? Thanks, but I have a question: What happens if (later on) you upgrade grub from within Linux ? Cheers,
I think you misunderstand how the Daz loader works. It does not bypass activation at all. It actually puts what's missing for genuine OEM activation into memory so you are 100% activated through standard Microsoft Windows Activation Technology. Nothing is bypassed, nothing within Windows is tampered with or hacked either.
All Smorgan is trying to say is that there are a lot more activation exploits out there that don't even touch the boot system at all. Give ODIN or Chew7 for example. It is still a nice thread and very useful but there are easier alternatives is all.