by jiml8 » Aug 29th, '13, 18:44
I am not sure that you can install Windows 7 as a dual boot with Linux, when Linux is installed first. If you CAN do that, I don't know how. Windows does not cooperate with Linux.
You could, however, reinstall Windows THEN install Linux in order to have a dual-boot. That would not only work, it is very straightforward to do and most installers will directly support it, though I am not sure the Mageia installer is one of those (haven't tried it).
Probably your laptop has a recovery partition on it. At least, it almost certainly did before your friend worked on it. Most likely, you have to reinstall Windows using that recovery partition. If your friend wiped the recovery partition when he switched it to Linux, then you cannot reinstall Windows unless you have a Windows install CD. This will cost money, but that is your choice to make. Probably the laptop manufacturer will sell you an install CD fairly inexpensively.
If the recovery partition is there, then there should be a boot-time startup option to do a full recovery. If you do not see that option when the machine starts, look in your BIOS for the setting to enable it.
All that said, if it were me I would give the Linux system to the 7 year old (who, after all, won't have any need for microsoft-specific products) and say: "you will like this." Show him how to configure compiz with KDE and he WILL like it. He can have a very bizarre-looking desktop which he tailors to suit himself (KDE is configurable to a truly absurd extent). Also, should he be so inclined, he will be able to dig "under the hood" in Linux to an extent unimaginable in WIndows and therefore learn a lot about how an OS is put together.