How to Build Your Own PC - Save A Buck And Learn A Lot  9  Chapter 11: Installing A Dual Boot Operating System (Linux And Windows XP)       9  Installing Linux

Installing Linux 1 Beginning Installation

You might find that after installing Windows onto your hard drive that if you put a bootable CD in the tray, the system will start up from the hard drive and not from the CD. This probably means that your system can boot from the CD, but the order that the computer uses to find a bootable operating system is: First, floppy drive; Second, hard drive; Third, CD drive. This information is set by the system’s BIOS. Because BIOS finds a bootable operating system on the hard drive, it runs that operating system. So, it doesn’t need to look at the CD at all.

We want to run Linux installer from its CD while a bootable XP system is already on the PC, so we’ll enter our system’s BIOS setup and change the boot order so that the system first looks for a bootable system from the CD and then from the hard drive (Figure 162). Or, you could just make a bootable Linux floppy and treat the install as if your system couldn’t boot from a CD.

Your mainboard manual should tell you which key to press as the system starts up to enter BIOS. Remember, changes to BIOS are important and should only be made when you understand what you’re doing and when the change is necessary.

Installing Linux 1 Beginning Installation