Automating Dual Boot (Linux and NT) Installations

This paper presents a solution for automating dual boot Linux and Windows NT 4.0 installations on a PC. The process is automated to the extent that one starts with a PC with a blank hard disk and ends up with a fully customized dual-boot PC. The process involves booting a PC with a floppy disk; choosing what kin of system is required from a menu and then, once the install begins, popping out the disk. The unattended PC goes through installing and customizing the Linux installation. It then automatically boots into DOS and installs Windows NT 4.0. The whole process takes about an hour or two, depending upon the type of installation and network speed. After the process is complete, the PC is ready, fully customized to the user’s local environment. The solution presented in this paper can be used to do either Linux-only or NT-only installs in addition to dual-boot configurations.