Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

How to dual boot Windows XP and Puppy linux

There are several ways to configure a dual boot with XP and Puppy.
This method lets you add Puppy to an existing bootable XP install, it does not require repartitoning or modifying the hdd boot sector. This method DOES NOT WORK on Windows newer than XP.

1. Using a booted Puppy, open the Puppy ISO and extract the files (example using Puppy Slacko 6.3):
-initrd.gz
-vmlinuz
-puppy_slacko_6.3.0.sfs
-fdrv* or zdrv* files if present

2. boot XP
3. create a c:\puppy folder
4. copy the extracted puppy boot files into c:\puppy
5. copy grldr into c:\
6. copy menu.lst into c:\
7. edit the file c:\boot.ini with Notepad, add this line to the bottom and save the file:
C:\grldr="Linux"

In use:
-XP will begin boot and display a menu listing Windows and Linux, choose Linux
-The grub menu will display, press enter to boot Puppy

wizard

You can make grub the default boot entry by adding the following line in boot.ini at the top under the boot loader section after time out (or changing the default entry if it already exists): default=c:\grldr

As a matter of interest - There is a way to accomplish this but not edit boot.ini at all (and not touching the existing boot record). It involves a bit of trickery though.

grldr exists in /usr/lib/grub4dos/grldr.

I imagine you can just copy it.

menu.lst is also G4D.

Making G4D default could be useful for some, but I appreciate the chain idea, where you can see that you're booting the Windows version first before calling G4D.

Then if you have any problem running Windows from your G4D menu, you can stick to the Windows version.

My goal is to directly load the Xenial splash from Windows, but it is not intuitively obvious for me.

Looks like there's an isolinux.bin bootloader in there with a corresponding .cfg file I will try next. Perhaps there is also one for grub.cfg I can find.

Easy way.
Install Puppy using Lick Installer.
https://github.com/noryb009/lick
It does a frugal install of Puppy.
Installs a boot loader menu to allow booting Windows or Puppy.

The Lick Installer runs in Windows.
Download the Lick exe file into Windows.
Left click on it to run it.

bigpup,

for not becoming so tunnel-visioned by the complexity which UEFI has forced on us that we forget: before that there was an easy way.

@bigpup
@mikeslr

You are correct, lick is easier and has broader application. Lick does, however, alter the boot sector by installing either grub4dos or grub2. If your goal is to add puppy in the least invasive way with the least risk, then the above method would apply on XP systems.

wizard

There's starting with a goal for involved tasks then empathy for others'.

Instruction sets and technical motivations aside, if you could walk up to someone with an old XP device and tell them they can run a second operating system for about 300 MB with minimal invasiveness that can run current browsers, you just offered value.

There is always 10 different ways to do anything!
Just offering a choice.

If it was me.
I would delete Windows XP and only have Puppy Linux on the computer.
Already done that with 2 different laptops, that had Windows 10 on them.
Turned them into Puppy Linux laptops!

If that old Dell laptop had enough RAM to easily run any Puppy, I might just delete Windows. 380 MB is a tight fit.

Looking on eBay, XP laptops are not as cheap as I expected, and a high percentage of them have flaws that would make them worth less.

It's not the hardware but XP. It's probably the lightest-weight modern Windows. It has a prolific software base run not the same as 'compatibility mode'. Chrome's legacy is about the same as ours on Linux, but Firefox ended 52.9 if I'm not mistaking.

Imagine having to install a driver for every USB you plugged in, including flash. That's the prior Windows.

I might try running some of my old XP software on 10 if it doesn't have to be installed.

I just used a late 90s Word to create a document with images. I don't have Libre installed and only use Abi for reading files. Very few do any word processing with demands greater than Word 97.

My first attempt at isolinux boot didn't work. I might need a different bootloader .bin or the GRUB version.

Starting cmain() ... No PXE stack 

This is my current error after Linux [enter] on the boot page. I switched to the GRUB utility. Isolinux booted to a blinking cursor.

The attempt in my last post was trying to boot the Xenial splash.

I can chainload G4D from XP, but my goal is the splash.

If grldr boots menu.lst, what boots isolinux.cfg or grub.cfg?

/boot/grub/grub.cfg - This is the main configuration file that replaces menu.lst. Unlike menu.lst, this file cannot be edited by hand! I strongly advise against trying to tamper with this file, using chattr command or anything of the sort. Let it be.

https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub-2.html

Typing thought:

grub.cfg is GRUB2. It appears it's normally installed in your Linux system and occupies multiple directories, hence the structure isn't a loader and configuration file conveniently sitting in the root directory like grldr & menu.lst.

Why that perplexes me is: both my config files are sourced from a USB boot, either as extracted from the .iso or created from an installer utility. So perhaps isolinux or GRUB2 were installed on my USB and understanding that structure is my hope in booting their configuration files. Looking at the source again is my next step.