[palawan]

this method breaks down a big project of having a dual-boot winxp/os x system into 3 smaller projects. 1. install/configure a win xp system. 2. install/configure an os x system. 3. combine both systems into a dual-boot system (this guide)

1. backup xp to an external drive using bartpe with driveimage xml
2. backup osx to an external drive using time machine
. .be prepared to format the external drive, so use a sacrificial drive
2a. install the big ssd in the mini 9
3. boot up with gparted and partition according to the list below
. .a. 205 mb unallocated (recommend 50mb instead)
. .b. 15.111 gb ntfs partition (or at least the same size as the xp partition)
. .c. 205 mb unallocated (recommend 50mb instead)
. .d. {the rest of the drive} ntfs partition (to restore osx time machine backup on)
4. restore xp driveimage xml backup from external drive to the 15.111 gb ntfs partition
. .using the bartpe boot with driveimage xml plugin
5. [as required] if the backup of xp was an image that came from partition 2,
. .adjust boot.ini (change attrib settings) to partition 1
6. boot xp and see if everything works fine. reboot to xp once to check
7. boot to dellminiboot123v8.01 cd (for osx dvd installer below 10.56)
8. follow instructions to boot the os x dvd installer after booting from dellminiboot cd
9. using the osx installer, after selecting english, click on the utility menu and select
. .the last option on the dropdown which is to restore a time machine backup
. .a. connect the time machine backup external drive and follow the prompts
. .b. restore to the 2nd ntfs partition that is not the win xp partition
. .c. this will hang as it erases the ntfs volume. let it hang for 10 minutes
. .d. turn off mini 9 and reboot
. .e. REPEAT FROM step 7 all the way to 9a
. .f. after 9a, restore to the disk that looks like your original osx drive
10. boot to dellminiboot123v8.01b cd (because your original osx backup image was 10.56)
11. install dellefi 1.1 custom (reinstall boot pcefiv9 bootloader and dell mini 9 extensions)
12. reboot and see dellefi booloader and testboot either os.
12a. with hibernate feature of winxp, choosing xp os from the dellefi boot loader starts win xp
. .in less than 20 seconds.

requirements:

a. a fully configured windows xp system (all apps loaded and running well)
b. a fully configured os x system (all apps loaded and running well)
c. osx retail dvd v. 10.50 +
d. bartpe bootable CD or usb with the driveimage xml plugin
e. external DVD drive (or usb flash where appropriate)
f. gparted cd (or bootable usb flash or different partition program)
g. dellminiboot123v8.01 cd and dellminiboot123v8.01b cd (or bootable usb flash with the image)
h. usb-to-ide cable kit (with power) and an old ide drive for use as os x timemachine backup (sacrificial drive)
i. an external drive (usb flash) big enough to hold the driveimage xml backup
j. a bigger ssd that can hold the size of the windows xp partition and the os x time machine backup

see following post for details...

.

[palawan]

ok, here we go, another dual-boot win xp and os x.

a. why dual-boot win xp and os x?
because windows is still "needed" sometimes. if you say you don't, then you're one of the few lucky ones and you don't need this guide. how about vista and win7? vista is too much load for the mini 9 (imho), and win7 is still beta. os x? coz it's an awesome os.

b. the requirements are too much, no?
yes, because to be able to dual-boot means running 2 independent operating systems. for most people, the windows xp is a "freebie" system already running on their ssd. this guide says back it up (more than once to be safe), then follow the comprehensive how-to install os x, then back that up also. or, you can have STiMULi install os x for you i-will-install-your-osx-if-you-need-help--t7537s50.html the instruction steps 7-11 assumes ability to install os x, though.
the preferable and safe method is to have a separate ssd for win xp and os x. just sell both ssd's later after you successfully get the dual-boot working on the big ssd.

the reward: to have a 2-pound notebook (netbook) computer that is actually 2 computers in 1. you can go to a lot of places, whether it's business setting or creative setting and know you have a very good resource for either one.


i made a lot of mistakes, so if you follow the steps in the same order i listed and using the same tools, you (hopefully) won't make the ones i made that cost me a lot of time. also, since my level of programming skill is limited to batch files (dos) there is no programming needed to complete this guide. modifying the boot.ini (for winxp) is the closest to programming this will get.


details of the steps:

notes: win xp driveimage backup will not restore to a smaller partition. a separate thread can be started on how to shrink the xp partition so that the driveimage backup will be of this small partition.

1. so, you have your win xp the way you like it? you got all your apps loaded? everything running fine? good. we're going to boot to a bartpe cd/usb that has driveimage xml plugin. when booting to bartpe, make sure you don't plug in the external drive (target for backup) until bartpe has started to boot as the mini-9 may try to boot from the external drive causing problems to the boot process. google driveimage xml (which has the instructions for creating bartpe bootable cd/usb) google bartpe (if needed). bartpe cd/usb can be created using the winxp home sp3 that came with the dell mini 9.
2. well, you didn't get os x 10.56 by magic, but it's good that you're here. so, you have your os x the way you like it? you got all your apps loaded? everything running fine? good. plugin your "sacrificial" drive. this drive can be a 16gb flash, but i don't think it can be a sdhc memory, as step 9a may not be able to see the sdhc memory. open up time-machine and backup the entire system to the "sacrificial drive.
2a. pretty self-explanatory
3. google gparted. gparted makes partitions that are "friendly" to bartpe/driveimage xml. make sure you eject any sdhc card you have.
4. we're going to boot to a bartpe cd/usb that has driveimage xml plugin. when booting to bartpe, make sure you don't plug in the external drive (source of backup) until bartpe has started to boot as mini 9 may try to boot from the external drive causing problems to the boot process. use driveimage xml to restore to disk0#1 ntfs partition (per step 3b)
5. optional, but needed if you backed up the original windows xp that came with the mini 9, it was on partition 2. reboot to bartpe (no need to plugin the external drive). go to the command prompt and execute the following: 1. c: [return] 2. attrib boot.ini -h -s -r [return] 3. notepad boot.ini and modify the partition(2) to partition(1) two instances. save and exit notepad. 4. attrib boot.ini +h +s +r
6. pretty self-explanatory
7. pretty self-explanatory (assumes you know how to install os x)
8. pretty self-explanatory (assumes you know how to install os x)
9 pretty self-explanatory (assumes you know how to install os x)
10. boot to the ssd by selecting 80, and you should see both win xp and os x, may need to do -x or -f (or both) to boot to os x
11. pretty self-explanatory (assumes you know how to install os x)
12. pretty self-explanatory
12a. pretty self-explanatory

all done. the good news, is that if for any reason you ever need to restore windows xp or os x, you know how to do it and you have the backup. you also have the tools to backup win xp separately and os x separately as you need to. i actually had to restore my windows xp from a driveimage backup as i got hit by a virus (eventhough i have mcafee). i borrowed an infected usb, and mcafee alerted me, but i continued working and i guess it was active in the memory. i noticed i coldn't open usb or sdhc drives, and autorun.inf and recycler kept getting created. both hidden. anyway, i restored a driveimage backup i had and it was fine. no more virus.