fed 4 boot

[themanwhowas]

hello.
i installed fed 4 and grub to manage my fed/xp partitions. but i could not load windows after this. i restored my windows and reinstalled fed 4 without grub. i was hoping to use another boot loader or maybe use partition magic to set whatever partition active when i boot. i am able to load windows ok but not linux. doh. if i use partition magic to set the /boot partition active i get a message saying 'missing os'. when i use osl2000 (another boot manager), i just get a flashing _ in the top right corner. my partition setup is as follows:

101.9mb linux ext3 (/boot)
110,156.6mb fat32(windows xp)
20,002.8mb extended/type 8E
20,002.8mb fat32 (windows image file partition)

all primary except for 8E.

im thinking that using grub would be best but i cant seem to get it right. can someone give me some directions please.

[jmtjet]

You have experienced the biggest problem when dual booting Windows and Linux. The best thing to do is install Linux on it's own harddrive. This can be achieved in several ways. My setup is; HD #1=Windows 2000 pro. HD #2=SuSE Linux 9.0. HD #3=Mandrake Linux 9.2. I boot between them using a harddrive selector switch from Romtec(Trios). Unfortunately, they're out of business, but you might be able to still find them on ebay. Another way is to use a harddrive caddy, they're in-expensive and work well. Yet another way is to install a second harddrive as slave in your computer and use it for Linux. But, if you still want to setup a dual boot you'll need to do your homework before you try again. Here's a link to a tutorial on dual booting Linux and Win 2K or XP using Grub as your boot loader;
http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux...w2k-HOWTO.html
There are many tutorials on the net concerning dual booting

Good luck and post back with your results.