Zerkk

Anyway to do it?

I have an extra 250GB hdd I'd like to install Linux on. I don't want to mess with GRUB so I was wondering if their would be an easy way to hotswap the hdd. Can you disable/enable your mobo's sata ports in the Bios? I've never check and it just came to mind.

I also don't want to keep the side of my case off to unplug/plug in sata cables every time I want to switch.

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Old Hippie

If you can, I'm not aware of it.

Why can't you go into the BIOS and decide which drive to boot first?

Or, is that what you're asking?

the_beast

Do you have a floppy drive?

If so, put a boot disk in it to load linux from your second HDD, and leave Windows installed on your normal disk. Set the floppy to boot first in the BIOS. Then just remove the floppy for Windows, pop it in for Linux.

Although I have to say, Grub will probably be easier to set up. Or just run Linux in a VM under VMWare or Virtual PC (both free).

ComGuards

Maybe try giving BootIt! NextGen bootloader from Terabyte Unlimited a shot? I use it to multiboot XP, 2003 Server, W7 x32 / x64, Ubuntu and Red Hat.

Zerkk

Well last time I did that I messed the boot loader up somehow so I was trying to not do that again.


I might look into the BootIt! NextGen bootloader and see what that has to offer.

I really don't want to mess with VM. I don't want to use windows more than I have to. I want to get it setup to game a bit in it so an install to a HDD is what I would like to stick with.



Thanks for all the help guys.

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ComGuards

In that case, if you have a spare 5.25" bay, there are easy HDD swap cases available out there. Vantec makes a good one (Vantec EZ Swap) - I have it in my Precision workstation, but I use mine only for the active cooling of the HDD rather than swapping the bay. Anyways, Google-search or (Newegg-search) for "Mobile Rack", and you should be able to find what you need.

I'd probably be doing the same thing if I weren't so lazy to be bothered with swapping and putting my OS's on RAID-arrays.

NextGen BootIt! does take a bit a of playing around with to get properly set up, but once it is, it's a nifty little utility.

The only "bad" thing about it is that it requires a FAT32 partition to load the Boot loader files on it. For me, that's not a huge deal since I always have a FAT32 partition for my Windows Swap Files (usually 6 - 8GB in size, since my Swap files are almost always 4GB in size - the limit of FAT32-single-file-size).

Actually, I just read the manual for your Gigabyte motherboard (I assume that's the one you'll be using), it does offer the F12 boot menu option in the BIOS, so you can just install the drive internally into the system, and use the F12 option to boot, instead of bothering with swap cages, boot loaders, etc.

I.e. set the first boot option in BIOS to your Linux drive, second to your Windows drive. Then when you want to game, you just reboot, hit F12 during the logo screen, and then select the Windows drive. This will bypass the normal boot order (your Linux drive) and boot into your Windows drive.

ounderfla69

well for around $30 you can get a driver selector to choose what OS to load.

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eflyguy

I'd suggest virtual machines but not for gaming. Really, Grub is the best solution for what you want to do - set it to timeout in 1 second, that way you won't even notice it's there.

I put Linux on one of my systems years ago, I never ended up using it much, but the grub loader flashed up at boot - again, for just 1 second. No issues for me..
..a

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