Linux Lite Grub Dual Boot Windows XP

[stevef]

No need to apologise - I still have a Windows98 machine.

For your old hardware, there are still several Linux distributions with on going support for 32-bit architecture.
Search for "32 bit linux" and check some of the articles.  The itsfoss article looks a good place to start.

I don't understand "scattered SSD recollect".  If you mean your existing partitioning, then I don't know if there is anything you can salvage from them.  If you have data on the bootable Linux Lite 3.8 then you need to save this to a safe place before doing anything.  If you need to check for data on the other Linux partitions, then you should be able to mount these from the bootable OS.  Let us know if this doesn't make sense.

I think your XP data is probably lost - maybe forensic techniques might find something but I don't know.

After saving what data you can, use a disk partitioning tool (like gparted) booted from a CD/USB to clear the existing partitions.

If your intention is to re-install XP, use gparted to create an NTFS partition leaving the rest of the disk unallocated.  100G would be plenty for the NTFS though the actual choice of size is yours.  Boot from your bootable XP installation media and follow the instructions allowing it to install into the NTFS partition.

Once that's done and tested, install your chosen 32 bit Linux to the remaining 400G, following the 'dual boot' instructions that come with it.

If your intention is just to install your 32 bit Linux (without dual booting) then you can probably allow the chosen Linux to do all the partitioning.

[W-Exit]

Hi Stevef :045:

"scattered SSD recollect": I am not bothered for any data loss (all exists on a NAS).
I was calling it scattered sine I see several partitions and honestly I lost track of which was what.

You are right I am planning on putting XP back the one or the other way to run some test and ancient software.

Recently I read that LL is available in ver 5.0 for 32 bit, maybe this is wise to go for?

Otherwise "recollect" I would want to join the "scattered" partitions back into 2 (~1x 100G NTFS for XP and the remaining 3xx G for Linux).

I understood that using GPARTED (how to ??, pls advise some read pages) will probably help to prepare the SSD for the install

I am mainly asking because I want to get the sequence right??:
1) Run GPARTED
2) Install XP
3) Install Linux

or is this wrong ??

as said I am a Compute Grandpa and not among the fastest anymore
best regards
Gunter

[Artim]

No sir, Linux Lite series 5 is NOT available in a 32-bit system. But there are 32-bit Linux OSes still around. I use one to keep an ancient Dell Dimension (32-bits, 512 RAM, Celeron processor - basically one step up from an abacus) running better than when it was brand new and running WindowsXP. The one I use is called Salix, but it is definitely not for beginners (yet). For beginners and non-techy type users like me, MX-Linux offers a 32-bit operating system (Debian based) that is quite suitable for newcomers, technophobes, and grandpas. It offers many of the cool tools that we enjoy in Linux Lite.


Further reading

[stevef]

To the best of my knowledge, the last Linux Lite release for 32 bit architecture was LL version 3.8.  Since Linux Lite version 4.0 it has been 64 bit only, so I'd be interested to see where you read that 5.0 supported 32 bit.

The method I hinted at involves clearing existing partition data to leave you with a disk with some space assigned to an NTFS partition and the remainder spare for Linux.

Gparted is documented here.

https://gparted.org/display-doc.php?name...al&lang=de

Ensure you have a spare machine available to access the Internet while you are working on this in case of problems.

I think LL3.8 boot media has GPARTED included.  It might not be the latest, so some of the instructions may be a bit different.

Boot your legacy machine from your LL3.8 USB/CD to the live desktop.
Find and run GPARTED from the Live media.
It may be under "System" and be called "Partition Drives" or just type 'gparted' into the Menu search box.

When you run gparted you should see a representation of the disks on your system.

Ensure the 500G drive is selected from the pull down on the top right of the window.
You can click 'View' and tick 'Device Information' to help confirm which disk is selected.

The existing partitioning of the 500G drive will be represented as a number of rectangles which you can select individually.
You should see 3 partitions (5,6 and 7) within an extended partition (2) and a seperate primary partition (1).

Double check the correct disk is selected.
Right click on each of the 3 partitions (5,6,7) in turn.
From the right click pop-up select 'Delete' - this will add an entry to the 'Operation Pending' select.
Once you have operation pending to delete 5,6,7, click apply operations and allow it to work.
Right click on the extended partition and select 'Delete'.
Click apply operation.

If this works you should be left with partition 1 which is 117G but still Linux at this point.
This will be where you put XP, but needs to be NTFS so that Windows can use it.
Right click on partition 1
Select 'Format to' and choose NTFS.
Apply the operation.

At this point you should have 1 NTFS partition of 107G.
Right click on it once more and select 'Manage Flags'
Ensure the Boot Flag is set and apply operation if you need to.

Shutdown, then reboot with the XP Bootable disk and install it to the 107G partition.
Test it
Boot your chosen 32 bit Linux install media. I hope that the install will detect XP exists and allow the Linux to install alongside XP.

Any questions, just ask.

[W-Exit]

[quote author=stevef link=topic=8946.msg59665#msg59665 date=1668512684]
To the best of my knowledge, the last Linux Lite release for 32 bit architecture was LL version 3.8.  Since Linux Lite version 4.0 it has been 64 bit only, so I'd be interested to see where you read that 5.0 supported 32 bit.

First of all: Many, many thanks for this very valuable guideline ....

Before I take of and follow this procedure I would want to clear the question about Linux Lite 5.0 in 32 bit architecture, which resulted from:

I am trying to insert a screenshot at this point, but fail miserably ... [img][/img]
(Hence: I put it in the attachment as a zip file)

For the abacus-lovers:  :003: I am slide ruler generation

[stevef]

The review is dated December 2017.

5 years ago, version 2.x and 3.x would have been the current releases of Linux Lite, so the review was correct at the time it was written.

It looks like they've updated their download link to point to version 5.0, but left the old review on the description page.