On 2004-09-24 dan@geek.com.au wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 24, 2004 at 12:46:48AM -0700, The Grey Wolf wrote:
>
> > > it can be only done well by installing windows first.
> >
> > That's absurd.  Any chance we can fix this?
>
> There's nothing to fix, it's patently untrue.

  I entirely reinstall both NetBSD and Windows on occasion, but almost
always at different times.  The only minor annoyance I have encountered is
that windows ME insists on installing its own MBR boot code, which boots
the active partition (which will be changed to the windows partition).
Even if you don't happen to have a NetBSD boot disk you can change the
active partition from DOS, boot NetBSD, and reinstall the multiboot code
(or just use one of the dozens of such things that can be installed from
DOS).  Oh, also, Windows ME also does not give you a partition editing
tool in the standard install; you need to exit the installer and run
fdisk or it will use the entire disk.

  If you install NetBSD first and windows really wants certain partition
properties (I'm not sure about this; I think the last time I repartitioned
I did so from the windows side), you would at worst waste a little disk
space that should be entirely insignificant on modern disks (and, most
likely, insignificant even on not so modern disks).

  The last time I installed windows, it turned out I couldn't do a direct
install because I had converted my CD drive to an external USB drive which
my motherboard could boot fine but could not be accessed by the install
tools.  With NetBSD I was able to copy the install directory to the DOS
partition, then boot from the windows CD and install from the hard drive
(this would have been possible just from a NetBSD install disk too).  I
have encountered quite a few different situtations where having even
minimal access to a unixy system makes dos and windows management much
easier.

Matthew Orgass
darkstar@city-net.com