Hacking Linux Kernel

Want to try out a Linux Distribution on your Windows PC without nuking your Windows MBR?
Here is how you go about it.

Assuming you partition your drive as follows

• grub code (hda0,0), fdisk code /dev/hda1, primary, NTFS, Windows XP: 60 GB
• grub code (hd0,1), fdisk code /dev/hda2, primary, ext3, Ubuntu Linux: 14 GB
• grub code (hd0,2), fdisk code /dev/hda3, extended
  
• grub code (hd0,3), fdisk code /dev/hda5 Linux Swap: 1 GB (the rule of thumb is twice as large as your RAM)
• grub code (hd0,4), fdisk code /dev/hda6, FAT16: 5 GB for sharing

Install grub on (hd0,1). The "0" immediately after "hd" indicates the first hard drive (counting starts at zero instead of one). The "1" after the comma indicates the second primary partition.

Use QTParted to make the Windows partition active (instead of the Linux partition)

1. mkdir /mnt/shared
2. mount -t msdos /dev/hda6 /mnt/shared
3. dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/mnt/shared/ubuntu.bin bs=512 count=1
4. Reboot into Windows.
5. Copy ubuntu.bin to C:\
6. Add C:\ubuntu.bin="Ubuntu Linux" to boot.ini