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Use a Single Data Store When Dual Booting
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 4:00 AM on January 26, 2008
Dual booting Windows and Linux doesn't mean you have to maintain two separate sets of applications, preferences, and documents. With cross-platform, open-source applications like Firefox, Thunderbird and Pidgin, you can use the same apps with the same configuration automatically no matter what OS you've booted. Always access the most recent state of your Firefox browsing history, IM buddy list, Thunderbird address book, and more from Windows or Linux using a single-point-of-contact data partition. Let's tear down at least part of the wall between Windows and Linux and start sharing files between the two dual-boot desktops. Photo by hsivonen.
This guide assumes you've got a relatively modern Linux distribution and either Windows XP or Vista set up on the same computer. If you're looking for help on setting up your system, try Adam's guide to triple-booting XP, Vista, and Ubuntu as a reference (leaving out one Windows system if necessary), or check out a dual-booting video guide at Linux.com. I'm using Windows Vista (Home Premium) and Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) in my own walk-through, but your mileage should only vary slighly with XP and other Linux distributions.
Find a place for your data
The ideal situation for dual-booting, at least from what I've read, is to have at least four partitions on your system: one for the Windows system, one for Linux and another for its swap space, and then a larger fourth Windows (NTFS-formatted) partition where your documents, music, pictures, and other data are stored. That puts all the items you need to access in an OS-neutral space, one that's easy to back up and is accessible from both systems. Having said that, it's not possible for everyone—my ThinkPad, for instance, must seemingly always have a 6 GB "restore" partition installed, which messes up my boot scheme. In that case, the best compromise is to keep your data on the Windows side. Linux's tools for reading and writing from Windows partitions are relatively new, but far more stable and easy to set up than the other way 'round.Get cross-partition tools
If you're running Ubuntu 7.10 or other newer releases of Linux, you'll likely have built-in support for mounting and writing to NTFS drives. If not, you'll want to download the ntfs-3g tool, available in most distro repositories. Make sure your Windows partition is auto-mounting on Linux start-up; check here if you need help setting that up. On the Windows side of things, download and install the Ext2 Installable File System to get read/write access to your Linux partitions. If the idea of opening up Linux to Windows writing doesn't appeal to you, or if you find it buggy for some reason, you can opt for the read-only, stand-alone Linux Reader and likely not lose out on much.Share Firefox and Thunderbird profiles
If you've got Firefox and Thunderbird set up just the way you want them in Windows, boot into Linux and pull up a terminal (or hit Alt+F2). Make sure neither app is running, then enter the command used to launch Firefox or Thunderbird (usually just those single words) followed by a space and "-profilemanager", then hit enter.
A small window will pop up; hit "Create Profile." Hit "Next" at the following prompt, then enter a name for your new universal profile. Be sure to hit the "Choose Folder..." near the bottom-left next. Find and select your Windows drive (usually bearing its partition name) and navigate to your profile folder. Here's where you can usually find them, assuming you installed with default settings (and switching [User Name] for your Windows user name):Firefox
- Windows XP/2000: /Documents and Settings/[User Name]/Application Data/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles/
- Vista: /Users/[User Name]/AppData/Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles
- Windows XP/2000: /Documents and Settings/[User Name]/AppData/Thunderbird/Profiles/
- Vista: /Users/[User Name]/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles
Profile sharing works pretty well in some ways (Firefox knew to keep my Linux-specific media plug-in settings) and not so well when it comes to OS-specific extensions—you'll have to make the call as to whether those extensions are worth keeping at the price of losing sync between your systems. re-installing and, with add-ons like the Lightning calendar, re-configuring.
If your perfect Firefox or Thunderbird set-up is in Linux, browse to your Linux system's "home" directory, and then into the appropriate hidden sub-directory (that's .mozilla and .mozilla-thunderbird in Ubuntu 7.10). Note that profile folder's name and copy it into the "Profiles" folder in Windows, then open the "profiles.ini" text file found in the directory just above it for editing. Change the last "Path=xxx.default" line to point to your new profile, delete the other one if you'd like, and then go back to point your Linux app to its Windows-based profile.
Keep IM logs and buddy lists synced
The multi-protocol chat client Pidgin can do a lot of nifty things, including encrypt chats, log IMs, and connect through Google Talk. You can avoid setting up and, more importantly, dragging and dropping every buddy back into place in Linux by telling Pidgin to look to Windows for its config files by creating a symbolic link. Make sure Pidgin isn't running, then open a terminal. We're going to first delete the profile folder Pidgin places by default, by entering:
rm -fr ~/.purple- Windows XP/2000: /Documents and Settings/[User Name]/Application Data/.purple/
- Vista: /Users/[User Name]/AppData/Roaming/.purple
ln -s /Documents\ and\ Settings/[User Name]/Application\ Data/.purple/ ~/.purpleCustomize the "Places" menu (GNOME desktops)
This is a small hack, but a handy one. Since I'm keeping all my music, pictures and the like in a Windows partition, the shortcuts on Ubuntu's "Places" menu—"Documents," "Music," and the like— pointing to Linux folders weren't all that helpful. To replace them with links to their Windows counterparts, simply open a Nautilus window (from the Places menu, perhaps!), right-click on the folders you want to replace in the left-hand sidebar and choose "Remove." Then navigate in the main window to your most-accessed folders and drag them into the sidebar to create shortcuts in the "Places" menu. If your system doesn't give you drag-and-drop placement, you can edit the .gtk-bookmarks file in your home directory to add and remove "Places" shortcutsSynchronize folders between Windows/Linux
I'd like to have found and presented the best way to back up and synchronise files between the Windows and Linux portions of your system, but Gina already hit that goal with her super-informative guide on rsync. The command-line wonder is great at backing up data to remote servers, but can just as easily be used with cron (or a GUI for cron) or Windows' built-in automation tools to create local-to-local, cross-partition backups and mirrors. If you're a bit intimidated by all those switches and options, you're still in luck. Windows/Linux backup tool Unison gets the job done as well, with a bit more of a local machine focus. Check out Unison's tutorial for a look at how it works.
Got your own methods of making Windows and Linux become more than just hard disk neighbors? Post your tips in the comments.
Kevin Purdy, associate editor at Lifehacker, can't remember the last time one operating system ruled his computer(s). His weekly feature, Open Sourcery, appears every Saturday on Lifehacker.
Tags: dual boot | feature | file sharing | firefox | linux | open sourcery | operating systems | rsync | syncing | thunderbird | windows
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
jtimberman
Posted 5:35 AM 26/1/08
I used to share my profiles, configurations, etc, between my Windows desktop and Linux laptop via my Samba file server, in a similar manner to the above post.
However, I decided to segregate my work stuff (laptop) from personal/home stuff (desktop).
jtimberman
enine
Posted 6:35 AM 26/1/08
I don't agree with keeping data on the windows side if your not going to make a shared partiton, keep it on the side you will use most. Same with a shared partition, format it a file system native to the mostused OS. My dual boot I have a shared partition running ext3 and am using the ext3 driver for windows for the three times a year I might boot windows.
enine
darthbith
Posted 1:19 PM 25/1/08
The only problem I've experienced in doing this is that not all extensions for FF and Tbird are cross platform, so they give errors when the application launches. Usually doesn't cause the program to crash, but still kind of annoying.
darthbith
Confuzius
Posted 12:42 PM 25/1/08
Full of win for most new-to-linux user who will keep switching back and forth.
Now just make me a tutorial on how to make a cross platform portable thumbdrive thunderbird/firefox installation that uses the same technique.
Feel free to credit me in the post :-P
Confuzius
kbarrett
Posted 12:19 PM 25/1/08
Bad plan if you use LINUX native tools to run with completely encrypted partitions.
Just publish the Windows partition in /etc/fstab as an NTFS drive in case you need to move data to the unsecured Windows side.
kbarrett
weizilla
Posted 4:05 PM 25/1/08
For pidgin, you can set the configuration directory you want it to use at runtime with a command line switch of --config="directory".
See #6: [sandeeppro.blogspot.com]
weizilla
joelena
Posted 5:42 PM 25/1/08
@Confuzius: Umm, use Wine? Yeah, it's not truly cross-platform, but Wine does surprisingly well with my USB apps - even running PStart to execute them all. I haven't tested Portable Firefox or Thunderbird, but a Lifehacker commenter says he uses them with Wine all the time: [lifehacker.com]
joelena
Confuzius
Posted 6:08 AM 26/1/08
@joelena:
Yeah, That could work, but if there was a native portable Firefox for linux I assume you could install it to the same drive as a portable firefox for windows and use the same data store.
Confuzius
elvisplives
Posted 12:43 PM 25/1/08
Why not run both OSes at the same time? Have a virtual machine running the other operating system and use shared folders between the two to store common files.
elvisplives
Masiosare
Posted 11:45 AM 25/1/08
For thunderbird and firefox, I just do what you do with Im Logs
Step 1: Create and configure my FF and TB account on linux or windows.
Step 2: Symlink directories.
If the accounts where created on windows I just symlink the windows drive
ln -s /media/windows/Documents and Settings/User/thunderbird .mozilla
If the accounts where created on windows I just use Junction to create a symlink.
Works like a charm, except for a few things, namely some extensions.
in thunderbird the lightning extension doesn't work in one OS. In firefox there are some minor glitches, like the foxyproxy extension, but mostly everything else works.
Masiosare
brandonjp
Posted 4:35 AM 30/1/08
I ran this setup on my laptop and desktop for nearly two years, only I created 3 main partitions (+ swap):
- Windows XP (ntfs)
- Ubuntu 7 (ext3)
- The TANK (ext3) (really my linux home folder)
Except I also moved my Windows Desktop, Music, Docs, etc to the TANK's home folder, so that when switching back and forth my desktop was the same as well as other folders whether in Ubuntu or XP.
IT WAS AWESOME!!!
...until i had problems with Windows hanging - I tried several fresh installs, lots of test, lots of forum help and found eventually that the ext2fs was *part* of the problem, but not the full culprit.
But this was all before the fs-driver.org updated with Vista support and other new features; I'm interested to try it out again. I really was an ideal setup.
brandonjp
evoblade2000
Posted 5:35 AM 6/2/08
The Unison program mentioned at the end works well, but the interface is kind of kludgy and hard to use (at least the last time I tried it). A better alternative in my opinion is GoodSync. I use it regularly to back sync my docs, music, etc to my NAS.
evoblade2000
d00dle
Posted 5:35 AM 6/2/08
I had blogged about the same thing a long time ago at [www.smart-techie.com]
Guess the trick is becoming more popular with time!
d00dle
bachya
Posted 5:35 AM 6/2/08
I'm in a situation where I'm dual-booting between two hard drives: one Sata drive for Windows XP and a normal IDE for Linux. This is by far the easiest method I've found for dual-booting, since you can easily set Linux to auto-mount the Windows drive and can use the Ext2 File System package for Windows to access the Linux-specific stuff. Removes the need for a FAT32 partition sitting anywhere.
Of course, I realize that most laptop users aren't going to have two internal hard drives ... but I'd definitely recommend it to PC users (just be prepared to POSSIBLY deal with some bootloader weirdness).
bachya
El_Greco
Posted 11:50 PM 12/2/08
I just installed ubuntu 7.10 on my laptop's secondary hard drive, and I must say that I'm actually enjoying the experience of having it on an actual machine, not just having it on a live CD or booted portably.
One thing with the Firefox settings though, when I try to substitute the profile folder for the Ubuntu 'Fox with the Windows folder - the one with all my info and stuff, I get this weird thing where all my tabs and bookmarks and things are recreated, but none of my extentions show up. I can see them in the addons folder, but they aren't in the actual browser window. Anyone had this problem, and if so, do they know how to fix it?
El_Greco
beau.raines
Posted 12:20 PM 13/2/08
This is a great post. I've recently partitioned my laptop's HD into a linux and windows partitions and have been using an external disk for the shared data.
But this is such a better method!
And its almost getting annoying that my browsers aren't configured quite the same in the two OS's. I'm glad that you posted instructions how to do this.
beau.raines
Kevin Purdy
Posted 3:01 PM 22/2/08
@El_Greco: How do you mean, exactly? The buttons/status bar icons for your extensions aren't present?
Kevin Purdy
ahersh
Posted 5:16 AM 4/3/08
Not a codehead, but managed to set up a Vista-Gutsy dual boot on my Lenovo 3000 Y310. I followed the instructions for sharing FF profile (from Ubuntu side, pointed FF to Windows FF profile). But now, in Windows, I can't launch FF. It keeps telling me FF is "already running but not responding," saying I must first close FF or restart. But I cannot find the application or process in the Windows Task Manager, and rebooting does not solve the problem. From the Ubuntu side, FF runs, but does not have my Windows-FF profile.
Help, anyone, please?
ahersh
kumarnarain
Posted 4:30 AM 15/3/08
I am really surprised by some of the posts I see on the web on mounting ext2/3 partitions on windows...why would someone mount a file system of a relatively safe OS like Linux onto an unknown and unsafe file system of windows...Today everything that is needed for Office/Home use is available on Linux ad there is no need to have a dual boot...as for software guys who need both there is always Vmware
kumarnarain