installing multiple OS's

Geoff

Geoff

VIP Member
i currently have windows xp home, and i want to install a few version of linkux and another version of windows, now i know that i will have to make a partition for each OS, but when i do that and install to that partition, when i start up my computer will it give me a list of os's to choose from or is there some other way you do it?
 
geoff5093 said:
k, thanks, and how big should i make each partition? I have a 200GB hard drive now.
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I would just make it like 2GB's bigger then how much room it takes. that way there is room for updates drivers and add-ons and stuff like that.


since you have a large harddrive maybe play it save and make it 4GB's extra.?



Also you may have to enter your bios and choose for it to come up with the list, or it might just boot off the first one.
 
geoff5093 said:
i currently have windows xp home, and i want to install a few version of linkux and another version of windows, now i know that i will have to make a partition for each OS, but when i do that and install to that partition, when i start up my computer will it give me a list of os's to choose from or is there some other way you do it?
Click to expand...

Make sure that your OS installs have a packaged bootloader with them. I am unsure if there are any that don't come with one but just a thought. The two most popular choices seem to be Grub and Lilo.
 
Most *nix installations run from 1.5 - 4 GB depending on what you install. Obviously you can use more. More importantly, you need a root partition and a swap partition. Alternatively, you can have a partition for /boot , / , /home, /tmp, /var, and /usr and set up your fstab to mount things in a more secure way. For instance, once the system is installed, you rarely write to the /usr directory so you can mount it read only (unless installign something)...

For a basic home system to kick around, that's probably not worth the effort...

As for booting, just about any installation is going to use Grub these days, it's easier to keep right. This is the bootloader in the MBR, and it's responsible for booting the OS's on your PC. Different distros can share the swap and boot partitions as well...
 
when u install multiple os's also keep in mind to install the weakest/oldest os first, then the the stronger/newer, to the strongest/newest. for example, i wanted to install 98SE, 2k pro, and red hat, so i installed 98 first, then 2k, then red hat.

when i was finished lilo came up asking if i wanted to boot red hat or 2k, if i chose 2k, then the MS boot manager asked if i wanted 2k or 98. . .
 
i remember when i had suse and xp if xp is installed first it doesnt give me a list to choose from, but if boot from suse i can use to boot from it OR xp.
 
I have windows xp pro and Ubuntu installed on my computer and the way I got it to select which OS to use was by using this: http://gag.sourceforge.net This is a graphical user interface which pops up after the boot POST screen thing, and you can select which partition to boot with your keypad numbers. It's really cool actually :D
 
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