Dual booting linux with bootmagic instead of grub....Help

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I'm a new linux user who has been experimenting with linux for a month now. I want to use boot magic as my bootloader because my pc is a family pc and it's just easier to use for my family. Well this is how i tried to do this. First I used partition magic to create a linux partition and swap partition so I could install Kubuntu on my pc. After I did that I installed boot magic as my boot loader. Then when I tried to install linux on my computer, it couldn't read the partition I made with partition magic(which was active for installation). I reformatted the partition and installed linux but then when I loaded windows and checked partition magic it gave me an error.(I figure its becuase I reformatted the partition) Right now both OS work fine but I could only use Grub as my boot loader,,but I would really like to use BootMagic. If any body could help me with a solution....or perhaps recommend a different distribution(with ease of use in mind) that allow this.....I would really appreciate it. By the way my friend recommended Slackware to me, I would also like to hear you opinion of this distribution and experience....Thank You.
 
Grub is easy to use. I haven't tried using Bootmagic so I recommend using Grub or Lilo. As for slackware, it is an 'advanced linux distro'. If you like installing linux with nice and colorful GUI's and dont want to always edit text files, then slackware is not for you. But using slackware can help you learn how linux works.

I'd recommend Fedora or Suse for you. I haven't used Fedor or Suse yet but as what I've read, it's good for beginners on linux.

BTW: Slackware was the first the distro I've ever used ;)
 
When you installed Linux, you were asked whether to install GRUB to the MBR of the hard disk or to the Linux partition. You should have chosen the second option.

You can still do it though. In Linux, run "grub-install <your Linux partition>" The linux partition device may be something like /dev/hda4, but it depends on your specific setup. After that you can reinstall bootmagic to the MBR and create a Linux entry there that would call GRUB from the Linux partition when you feel like spanking the penguin.
 
Nodsu said:
When you installed Linux, you were asked whether to install GRUB to the MBR of the hard disk or to the Linux partition. You should have chosen the second option.

Exactly. Unlike GRUB or LILO, BootMagic will NOT be able to load a Linux kernel, however it can load any boot sector (well, fortunately so, that's the role of a bootloader to start with :p).

And loading a boot sector is what you want to do here.
 
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