tripple boot question

[Negative Decibel]

Ok, here's what I got so far...

Laptop with vista. dual booting with ubuntu, using GRUB boot loader. how do I go about making another partition and go about installing xp also?

 

[Desdichado]

boot into linux and use parted to shrink either your windows or linux partition. Then install xp on the blank space. After your done, go into /boot/grub/menu.lst (I think) and add something like

title Windows Xp
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

except change hd0,0 to whatever the partition number of your xp partition is.

 

[SilverTalon]

Once you install Windows, it'll most likely overwrite the boot sector of that drive. You might want to take a look at your current GRUB setup and do what is needed to save the settings. That way if it does overwrite your current install, you can just reinstall it via Windows and reset it.

 

[DeaconFrost]

It gets repetitive on my end, but considering today's hardware, and that some good ones are free, there's very little reson to run a multi-boot system anymore, when you could simplify and use VMs. They are even portable across different machines.

 

[Bones]

Windows won't damage grub itself, just the MBR. Install Windows, then boot a Linux liveCD to fix the MBR and tweak the grub config file. It's simple, and there aren't any settings to save.

 

[eeyrjmr]

THe problem here is windows is /very/ rude, and not just in the fact it writes its own MBR without asking... but in it wants to be the 1st partition ...

The fact you have Vista installed might be ok tho I don't know how a Vista->Linux->XP and keeping all three booting will work

a XP ->{Vista,linux}->{linux,Vista} is fine.
Basically the linux side of things is ok, just dont know how what could be viewed as a "downgrade/upgrade" w.r.t. Vista still booting would work, what with vista having a new bootloader for XP/2K and all

 

[Desdichado]

Interesting. I've never gone that way, so I've never run into that problem. I've always had windows installed and then installed linux, and then used grub for everything, so I guess it took care of the mbr.

 

[Negative Decibel]

update:: I haven't had much time to fiddle with it, but I'm issues using parted to make a new partition from the loads of extra space in one of the Linux partitions. I'll do some research, and get back to you... (i have been way too busy with finals comming up, and writing term papers for almost all of my classes... AAUUGGHH!!!... {too much stress})

 

[Fark_Maniac]

It gets repetitive on my end, but considering today's hardware, and that some good ones are free, there's very little reson to run a multi-boot system anymore, when you could simplify and use VMs. They are even portable across different machines.

+1

wife has an application that must run under XP for her new laptop that came with vista...vm it and she doesn't notice a thing.

 

[criccio]

If it was me, I would run BCDEdit in Vista, and reinstall the Vista bootloader. Its simple and easy to use with BCDEdit.

 

[Negative Decibel]

It gets repetitive on my end, but considering today's hardware, and that some good ones are free, there's very little reson to run a multi-boot system anymore, when you could simplify and use VMs. They are even portable across different machines.

+1

wife has an application that must run under XP for her new laptop that came with vista...vm it and she doesn't notice a thing.

I agree, and if my laptop were not as weak as it is, I'd totally run a vm off of it, ( I do it from my desktop all of the time.) The biggest reason that I want to do this is my college ip department put on a firewall that I have no control over on my laptop. (seriously, I've located and dissabled services, startup programs, task manager ,etc.) and what makes it the bigest bitch of all, is that its blocking all traffic from the wired ethernet port. Wireless stuff is just fine. but If I use my laptop for a spare player when we play starcraft, he has to use wireless, (which is fine and all I guess... it lags a little.)...

I just want to put a minimal install of xp, just for starcraft. that's all.