Re: [Xen-users] Re: dual boot windows

[Jonathan Ervine <jervine@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday 10 August 2006 17:17, Ishaaq Chandy wrote:
> Umm, any clues on this one?
>
> Ishaaq
>
> On 10/08/06, Ishaaq Chandy <ishaaq@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Hi guys,
> > I'm new to Xen - in fact I haven't installed it yet - wanted to find out
> > a bit more before I test the waters.
> >
> > Here's what I want to do:
> >
> > 1. I'm getting a new Intel Core duo laptop within a couple of days. I
> > believe the core duo chips have Vanderpool technology so it shouldn't be
> > a problem getting Xen to run windows unmodified - is this correct?

If the chips have the Intel Vanderpool extensions then, yes, you should be 
able to run Windows XP under hardware assisted virtualisation with XEN.

> > 2. I need to install WIndows normally on the hard-drive. In fact, it
> > comes pre-installed by the manufacturer, but I don't mind blowing it away
> > and reinstalling it from scratch if I need to. I plan to run this
> > installation normally at times when I need to run hardware intensive
> > software - aka 3D games :)

You'll probably want to blow it away so that you can get the partitions set up 
correctly. Once you've both WinXP and Ubuntu installed you'll configure XEN 
to use a physical partition to load Windows.

> > 3. I plan to dual boot to a linux installation (Ubuntu??). This
> > installation will have Xen installed in it. From here I hope to be able
> > to load up the Windows installation mentioned in point 2 above when I
> > need to. Is this possible? Or do I need to (I am hoping to avoid this)
> > install a second Windows installation (and get the required licenses)
> > from within Xen?

I've previously done something very similar with VMware - loading Windows from 
a raw partition. It did work, however I needed to create a separate hardware 
profile in Windows - one physical, one virtual. Remember that when loading 
with XEN the hardware *will* appear to change to the Windows installation. 
This will trigger the Windows Activation utility (again). Within VMware, 
Windows was a bit unstable until it had successfully redetected things like 
IDE controllers, and PCI buses.

I'd suggest giving it a go but to be prepared to have several goes before 
getting it right :-)

Jon

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