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Multi-Boot Setup Guide for Intel® Atom™ Processor-based Systems

Please read Notices and Disclaimers before using this guide.

 

The purpose of this guide is to explain installation and multi-boot setup procedures for Windows Embedded Standard* 7 and Ubuntu*. You may choose to install each operating system individually, or in any combination on the same hard drive. To install an individual operating system, refer to the respective OS installation guide.

 

Introduction

 

This section will demonstrate one technique for installing Windows Embedded Standard* 7 and Ubuntu* on one hard drive. There are many other possible ways of doing this, but this is the simplest we have found.

 

The strategy for installing the aforementioned operating systems is as follows:

 

  1. Use an Ubuntu LiveCD to format and partition hard drive.
  2. Install Windows Embedded Standard 7.
  3. Install Ubuntu.
  4. Configure Grand Unified Boot-loader (GRUB) to recognize all operating systems.

Ubuntu is installed simply to provide a way of configuring the GRUB bootloader. Also, it’s a useful operating system to have for a variety of purposes.

 

As a rule, Windows must be installed before any other OS. If Windows is installed later, it will overwrite the MBR and prevent any other operating systems from loading.

 

 

Step 1: Use an Ubuntu* LiveCD to format and partition the hard drive.

 

  1. Download the latest Ubuntu* ISO file from Ubuntu.com.
  2. Insert a USB stick with at least 2 GB of free space.
  3. Download the Universal USB Installer.

  4. Click Run when prompted.

    Figure 1

  5. If the security dialog appears, confirm by clicking Run.

    Figure 2

  6. Read the license agreement and choose "I Agree" to continue.

    Figure 3

  7. Select Ubuntu Desktop Edition from the drop-down list.

    Figure 4

  8. Click Browse and open the downloaded ISO file.

    Figure 5

    Figure 6

  9. Choose the USB drive and click 'Create'.

    Figure 7

  10. Configure your BIOS to boot from your USB drive. You should see a welcome screen with a language selection box and two options: “Try Ubuntu” or “Install Ubuntu.” Click on “Try Ubuntu.”

    Figure 8

  11. Your LiveCD desktop appears.

    Figure 9

  12. We will now use a disk utility to format and partition our hard drive, to prepare it for OS installation. Select System—>Administration, and then select the Ubuntu utility called GParted. Your view will vary depending on what operating systems you already have installed. It should look something like this:

    Figure 10

  13. To start with a blank slate, first delete all existing partitions. Right-click each partition and select delete. You are left with a block of “unallocated” space of approximately the same size as your hard drive.

  14. You now review the partitioning strategy. There are a few restrictions to consider: You may only have four primary partitions per hard drive. Windows must be installed on a primary partition. For best performance, you should designate one partition as “swap” to be used by Linux* installations, such as Ubuntu or Meego*.

    Three or fewer operating systems Four or more operating systems
    Sda1- Windows Embedded Standard* 7
    Sda2- MeeGo*
    Sda3- Ubuntu*
    Sda4- Linux* swap    		 Sda1- Windows Embedded Standard* 7
    Sda2- Ubuntu*
    Sda3- Extended partition
    Sda6- MeeGo*
    SdaX- Any non-Windows operating system
    Sda4- Linux* swap
  15. First, familiarize yourself with the different types of partitions. Next, plan your partitioning scheme and create it in GParted. Formatting the partitions is not necessary, as each operating system’s respective installer will perform this task independently.
  16. Now, your disk is ready for each OS to be installed. Refer to the above OS Installation Guides, and be sure to choose the correct partition on which to install the operating system. Proceed to the next step only when all of your desired operating systems are installed.

Steps 2 and 3:  Install operating systems.

 

Instructions are provided for you:

 

Ubuntu is installed simply to provide a way of configuring the GRUB bootloader. Also, it’s a useful operating system to have for a variety of purposes.

 

As a rule, Windows must be installed before any other OS. If Windows is installed later, it will overwrite the MBR and prevent any other operating systems from loading.

 

Step 4: Configure Grand Unified Boot-loader (GRUB) to recognize installed operating systems.

 

  1. From the Ubuntu* home screen, select Applications—>Accessories and open up Terminal. Enter the following command:
    sudo update-grub

     

    If you set a system password, you are prompted to enter it. This command will automatically detect MeeGo* and add an entry to the GRUB configuration file. After this step, you can reboot to see MeeGo on the boot list, or continue to the next step.

     

  2. When you reboot your system, all operating systems will be available in GRUB.
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