graysonf
Premium,MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to jgkolt
Re: Dual Boot Ubuntu - Windows -Encrypt - Best Practice Question
said by jgkolt  :Is there any good way for me to setup the pc so if i need to reinstall windows or linux i dont mess up grub and have to wipe it clean and start over? All my machines have removable hard drives. When I want to boot to another OS, I shut the machine down, swap drives, and turn it back on. It takes 2 seconds to swap the drive.
The advantage to this setup is that it's not possible to hose a drive/OS when it's not even in the machine. |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
edit:
May 8th, @10:06PM
| I have windows installed on partition 1. If i install linux on partition 2 say fedora and later want to install ubuntu on the linux partition instead of fedora do i need to do anything special or can i just reformat the linux partition and install?
Down the road I assume I will be reinstalling windows way more often than linux. is there any way to best setup the machine now so when i need to wipe the windows partition and reinstall (as i do about every 6 months to a year) i won't mess the bootup (grub) and my linux install? I am trying to plan now so it is easier down the road
on a side not i am on a laptop and swapping hard drives works well on my desktop pc but not soo much here.
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graysonf
Premium,MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| A Linux installed on partition 2 can be overwritten with another Linux later. The installer will see the whole drive and make suggestions about where it thinks it wants to be installed. This is also a perfect opportunity to accidentally wipe out anything and everything you really wanted to keep, so be careful. With removable drives, this can't happen.
When you install Windows, it writes its boot record to the MBR. I don't know if this is optional or not, but you can only have one MBR. It's a lot easier to get a hosed Windows MBR back than a hosed Linux one.
What you really want to do is not write the Linux boot loader to the HD at all, but make a boot disk. To boot Linux, you put the disk in the removable media drive and boot into Linux.
Without the disk in, Windows boots off the MBR.
This used to be doable in the old days because the Linux installer offered to make the boot floppy for you during the install, and then you told it not to write any boot record to the hard drive at all.
But that was then, when everything needed to go on the floppy would fit there.
Today, the kernel and init files are too large. From an up and running Linux you can make a boot disk iso image, then burn it to CD, then boot with that. But this can't be done from the Linux installer at install time.
If I were you, I'd find some way to come up with that bootable CD image. You could get somebody else to make it for you and you could verify that the grub/lilo config is correct for your setup. If so, burn it. If not, edit the appropriate files inside the iso image, then burn it. I'd use a CDR-W until I get it right, then do the final burn to CDR.
There are probably other ways to get there, but the way I'm set up here with removables, I don't need to screw with any of this stuff. |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
| thanks for the info grayson
You ever encrypt your whole disk before? windows and linux? That was my last option i was looking at. TO save money instead of going the safeboot route i am thinking about true crypt.
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graysonf
Premium,MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| No, never the whole disk. I've done encrypted swap partitions, easy enough to do and you can't get screwed.
And I've done lots of BestCrypt encrypted containers for sensitive data storage.
And I've read lots of disaster stories about whole disk encryption (WDE) gone horribly wrong. One guy even left the only copy of the private key on the drive, then encrypted the whole drive. When he booted it next, it asked for the private key. Ouch.
Like I said, there are lots of 'opportunities' out there with all this stuff. |
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jgkolt
Premium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH
clubs:
| ok. i am going to install open suse on the other part of the hard drive. later i will probably wipe that clean and install ubuntu. 6-8 months down the load i am going to reinstall windows. I want to mainly work on linux with windows for backup where needed. any suggestions so i dont lose my other partitions and have to reinstall both os's again when i reinstall one?
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graysonf
Premium,MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| Some suggestions.
Make regular backups of hard or impossible to replace data. Find a "hands off" way to do this that can be automated on a schedule so you don't have to do the job yourself. Make sure your backups are good and that you can actually restore them. This has to be tested somehow, and it needs to be a real test. Probably the easiest way is to get this figured out right after the initial install, then just restore right over it and see if it worked. Nothing worse than having no backups at all and needing them, or having backups that cannot be restored. I use Acronis True Image stuff here. It just works.
Partitioning and formatting. Make sure you know the drive layout well if you are going to manipulate an existing setup. Really know what you are looking at, write it all down so you have something to look at later when you won't be able to easily get back to look again with familiar tools that are no longer accessible.
There is no mercy with fdisk and mkfs. Telling them to delete the wrong partition, or format the wrong device is surprisingly easy. And what you see for a drive layout in an installer getting ready to whack a disk might not look familiar. As I have said, 'opportunities' abound. It is impossible to be too careful.
Leaving some unpartitioned space on a drive is a good idea if you can afford the unused space. If you ever get into a jam and need some disk space, you can create it there. But if it doesn't exist and the drive is full, too bad.
Good luck. |
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