Dual boot XBMC and XP using XBMC live
#16
Please post your results - I'm very interested to see how you go.

I bought a Samsung n140 netbook computer today, that has a 250 gig HDD. The first thing I did when I got it home was to setup two partitions (using the Windows XP install disc). One partition is 120 and the other is about 128 or something..

So I'm just installing Win XP now on the first partition and want to install XBMC on the 2nd partition. I have been reading the wiki and searching through the forum and I think that I need the XBMC Live install. I'll install it from USB on the 2nd partition.

My questions are:

1. Can I put all of my media files on the same partition as the XBMC install? Or should I go in and divide the XBMC partition into two partitions - one for the XBMC program and the other for media files?

2. How do I make the netbok dual boot? I would like a screen to pop up giving me a choice of either Windows XP or XBMC when I boot the system. Does the computer do this automatically or will I have to change something in the BIOS etc..

Sorry for the ultra noob questions. I promise that I'm a quick learner and don't mind reading through faqs etc if you can point me in the right direction.

Cheers! Smile
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#17
pubba Wrote:2. How do I make the netbok dual boot? I would like a screen to pop up giving me a choice of either Windows XP or XBMC when I boot the system. Does the computer do this automatically or will I have to change something in the BIOS etc..
I think you need to ensure that the second partition is an extended partition. The LIVE install will want to create two partitions (one main and one swap). The LIVE install will also install grub which is a boot-loader and will allow you to select which OS you boot into.
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#18
Thanks for the fast reply.

I guess these things are best learned by just trying it out and having a play around with everything.

I'll try the Live install after it finishes downloading.
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#19
pubba Wrote:Thanks for the fast reply.

I guess these things are best learned by just trying it out and having a play around with everything.

I'll try the Live install after it finishes downloading.
In my situation there were already four primary partitions on the drive so I had to delete one and create an extended partition. You may not have to do that.

I agree that you learn a lot by playing around with things but the amount of time it consumes is just too much. Forums like this are a real life saver!
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#20
After I finished installing windows, it shows two seperate hard drives in XP. C:System and D:Boot

I renamed C from System to Media (because it was empty) and changed D from Boot to System.

Is there an easy way to see if the C:Media drive is an extended partition?

Edit: The D(Boot) drive had all the Windows XP files in it, whilst the C drive is empty. I thought it would have installed windows on the first available partition but oh well..
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#21
You could use the command line utility diskpart shipped with XP. Doc is here.

The basic commands you'll use in this order are;
1) list disk
2) select n (n is the disk number from the previous display)
3) list part

The GUI way of doing this is; right click on My Computer and then select Disk Management.
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#22
Woke up this morning and burnt the XBMC Live iso to a DVD.

Installed it after messing about with partitions etc for a while. It automatically installed the GRUB loader which was nice.

XBMC booted up fine and I played a few divx files off an external HDD. Love the default skin! It's very nice.

However, my C: (media) partition on the internal netbook HDD wasn't detected. I tried to add a source but have no idea what to do.

I'm going to start again from scratch. Reinstalling windows XP on the netbook with no partitions- just straight onto the 250GB internal drive.

Then I will install XBMC and let it sort out the partitions.

I need to do some searching/reading now about playing media from the internal drive Smile
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#23
hi guys have got both win 7 and xbmc live on my revo with partition but my problem is i cant access files/folders in win 7 from xbmc.


markd
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#24
Just for reference, I have had success follwoing these steps:

- Partitioned the 160GB into a big partition and a 10GB unpartitioned space.

- Installed Windows 7 on the big partition, and installed XBMC within it

- Installed XBMC Live from a USB stick onto the unpartitioned space


A standard 3600 runs Win7 just fine, and XBMC within Win7 handles well, but struggles with 720p, let alone 1080p (any tips?)

XBMC Live handles 720p fine, havent tried 1080p.

I dont understand how people have got 1080p to play within Win7, i've upped the BIOS setting from 128 to 256 (highest i believe on 1GB of RAM), and i've done the VDPAU etc on XBMC.

Whats the secret??
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