[leachim]

Is it possible to dual boot Linux and XP on a 16Gb SSD

It doesn't have a CD drive either

XP already installed

Thanks

[saikee]

Don't see any reason why not. It is going to be tight though and your choice of distros may be limited.

Try Portable Ubuntu that can be installed inside Xp. That way you don't need a CD drive to install a Linux

[leachim]

Thanks

Don't know much about distros...

Would prefer the quick boot up time of Linux, so it would have to be along side XP, not within it

Any suggestions how I might do it

[saikee]

Get a Ubuntu and run it as a Live CD (no installation but use it off the CD). The first job is to get unallocated space from your SSD which should be resizing Xp's partition. You need at least 5 or 6Gb unallocated space for installing a Linux but there are versions with much smaller footprint.

The best way is to use the Live CD to resize the existing partition, to create the new partition, then run its installer and tell the installer to install the Linux inside the newly created partition. A Linux will arrange the dual boot automatically. It is doesn't it is very easy to fire up the systems again.

Just make sure you do not "instruct" the installer to install over the existing Xp system.

[leachim]

Thanks for that

Is it possible to convert SSD from FAT32 to NTFS

Oh, I don't have a CD drive for the Netbook and would the drivers for the hardware be available for Linux ?

[Elvandil]

If you have a recovery partition, any changes made to your system will destroy access to the partition. You may want to make a complete disk image so you will be able to recover. Do you have recovery media?

Macrium Reflect
PING (Partimage Is Not Ghost) (Free alternative to Ghost with more features)
Paragon Drive Backup Express
Drive Image XML
G4U - Ghost For Unix (Platform-independent, floppy or CD)
DiscWizard (For Seagate or Maxtor drives - contains reduced version of Acronis)


But WUBI or VirtualBox would let you install Ubuntu (or other) without risking your Windows system and the warranty, if any.