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I have a laptop with two partitions- one with a Windows 8 Pro, and the other with a BackTrack5 Linux OS. I can easily switch between the two, provided that I restart the laptop.

Is it possible to run the Linux in the background but boot into Windows 8? I know that I can virtualize Linux via Hypervisor, but I need full hardware control to use BackTrack5 efficiently, and Hypervisor forces me to use legacy drivers and no usb access.

My Galaxy Note can do this, boot via Android, run BackTrack5 ARM in the background, then VNC into it.

(can anyone think of a better title for this question? and better tags too..)

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What is your end goal of using both OS's at the same time? –  txtechhelp Dec 4 '12 at 7:53
My Job Description is C# Application Developer and I use Visual Studio 2012. However, I also assist my coworkers as a Security Consultant, and I need BackTrack's toolset with full access to the hardware to do so. I usually just restart my pc and boot the other OS, but there has to be a better way.. right? –  LantisGaius Dec 4 '12 at 8:58
not to be Captain Obvious but, Backtrack on a Virtual Machine in windows, with exclusive access to a USB ethernet device if necessary? –  cloneman Dec 5 '12 at 6:21

2 Answers 2

There is currently not a direct way of doing this (for many reasons), and to clarify a littly bit let me expalin what your Galaxy is doing.

First, Backtrack is NOT an OS. Backtrack is a suite of linux tools that can be used for pentesting (pentration testing). The 'Backtrack OS' that can be downloaed and installed (like you and I both have dual booting right now on our laptops) is actually a modified Ubuntu Linux that's been prepackaged with the full suite of Backtrack tools and other fun stuff (as you see when you play with it). Backtrack ARM is the same suite of tools compiled for the ARM processor and when it's started on your Galaxy (which is running the Android OS, a derivitive of the Linux kernel), it's actually starting a VM in the background that loads a slimmed down Backtrack that the Backtrack team put together to make specific use of the Anroid kernel and drivers available to it.

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Maybe a workaround. You can use a CoLinux Kernel side by side within windows. If you try to install BackTrack in a CoLinux Distribution like SpeedLinux (with Ubuntu dev 12) AndLinux, maybe this could be possible for you (as there are Backtrack ubuntu packages)

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