# Dual-boot Windows XP and FreeBSD using gpart



## troberts (May 15, 2011)

I know Windows XP will not boot from GPT, but can I have my FreeBSD slice partitioned using gpart and still be able to dual-boot Windows and FreeBSD? If I can, would I still use the FreeBSD boot loader like I am using now or would I have to use GRUB/GRUB2/Windows boot loader?


----------



## ahavatar (May 16, 2011)

As far as I know, you can't mix MBR and GPT on the same hard disk. XP is MBR only.


----------



## troberts (May 16, 2011)

ahavatar said:
			
		

> As far as I know, you can't mix MBR and GPT on the same hard disk. XP is MBR only.


That is what I thought. I did not expect to be able to boot from a GPT partition but with support for MBR I was hoping to be able to keep my Windows and use a boot-loader to start either system. Anyway, I decided to wipe Windows from my system and dive into FreeBSD-CURRENT and have it as the only OS on that computer. If I truly need Windows then I will just have to max out the RAM (4GB) and buy Windows 7, then install FreeBSD AMD64 and learn ZFS.


----------



## bbzz (May 16, 2011)

troberts said:
			
		

> I know Windows XP will not boot from GPT, but can I have my FreeBSD slice partitioned using gpart and still be able to dual-boot Windows and FreeBSD? If I can, would I still use the FreeBSD boot loader like I am using now or would I have to use GRUB/GRUB2/Windows boot loader?



You can use gpart tool to create MBR, slices, and use boot0 loader to boot both WindowsXP and FreeBSD.
Not sure if that's what your asking for.


----------



## troberts (May 17, 2011)

bbzz said:
			
		

> You can use gpart tool to create MBR, slices, and use boot0 loader to boot both WindowsXP and FreeBSD.
> Not sure if that's what your asking for.


I was running Windows and FreeBSD8-STABLE without a problem but after I saw the du command get mentioned I used it to look at my system and decided to reinstall with a different filesystem layout. Since I could not use fdisk/bsdlabel to create all the partitions I wanted on one slice, I either had to create two, or use gpart. I decided it would be easier to use gpart which is why I posted my question. Windows came with the computer and I only kept it as a fallback option, but now it is gone.


----------

