Dual booting Windows 7 + CentOS, which one goes first?

[NewYork]

I need to setup a laptop with CentOS(32) and Windows 7(32), which one goes on first?
And does order even matter anymore?


Thanks

 

[NewYork]

Never-mind, I finished the install before anyone responded.

 

[ambientZ]

I'd probably go with linux second, grub or which ever bootmanager you install generally is more flexible and will automatically detect the windows install.

whereas the windows boot manager only detects other windows installs?

 

[NewYork]

Yup, I already had Windows 7 installed so I just threw CentOS on with grub and it worked good.

Thanks though.

 

[LittlePud]

You can use either Linux or Windows as primary boot. Which one you use is largely a matter of personal preference.

Option 1: Install GRUB to the MBR over the existing Windows boot loader so that you boot into GRUB first and can choose Linux/Windows from there.

Option 2: Leave the Windows boot loader in place. Install GRUB to your Linux partitions and copy the boot sector to a file. Edit the Windows boot.ini to create another entry allowing you to select Linux (GRUB) from the Windows boot menu.

 

[NewYork]

Leave the Windows boot loader in place. Install GRUB to your Linux partitions and copy the boot sector to a file. Edit the Windows boot.ini to create another entry allowing you to select Linux (GRUB) from the Windows boot menu.

I appreciate the help but somewhere, I got lost. If I install the GRUB loader, won't the computer be using it to start?

Copy the boot sector to a file?

Sorry but I'm lost.