Hi, being new to linux and a bit long in the tooth ,i would like to set up multiple boot, i have seen the tutorial on chainloading in linux ,can anyone please take me by the hand and show me where to start so i can try different distro s. i have a 250 hard drive with windows and Frespire on it,so i have plenty of room.

thanks fred

1) Windows is good to be installed first, it helps
2) You need empty, unpartitioned space on the harddisk
3) Download a Linux installation cd; typically it's an .iso image file that you'll need to burn to a cd/dvd using a burn iso image option (not a regular data burn)
4) Go through the installer as it guides you, or download/print a help file/manual for doing the installation (from the distributions website; the "biggest" distributions have pretty straightforward setups, so they don't need any additional help usually). Remember to either set the installer partition your harddrive automatically and not format the whole disk, but leave existing partitions in place or if you partition manually, create needed root, boot and swap partitions (swap: twice the amount of your RAM, boot: enough, the installer tells you if it's too small, don't make it too big)
5) When asked for a bootloader installation, install it to MBR (Main Boot Record), if setup detects your Windows let it do so. In other case after booting you won't see your Windows but it's ok, you can add it later (instructions can be found here at LQ or from Google, easy piece of cake)

That's about it..it's pretty easy, easier than Windows installation in some cases, the only "danger part" is if you choose to format your whole harddisk. Be careful when doing the partition, if it's automatic, make sure it knows you want to spare your Windows or otherwise do it manually. If you happen to screw up the bootloader it's not that big a problem, you only need a bootdisk after that to set it up all right. At least Fedora, RedHats and Ubuntu have very easy setups, so with them you won't run into big troubles.

Well, that's one way to do it.

Although, it could be much easier...especially if you are just wanting to play around with multiple different versions to see what you can see.

Step 1). Drop an install of Windows on your machine.
Step 2). Go to the VMWare website and download the free version of VMWare Server and install it on your machine.
Step 3). Launch VMWare Server and create a new Virtual Machine
Step 4). Insert the OS CD/DvD of your choosing, or map the CD-ROM drive to the ISO file on your hard drive, and start the Virtual Machine
Step 5). Install the new OS and enjoy playing with it knowing that no matter what you do, you will not bring harm to your host machine.

This will also provide the benefit of being able to move an entire OS installation from one machine to another (provided that the other has VMWare Server installed also) without having concern of hardware incompatibilities or driver dependencies.

Enjoy!

This link has everything you need to know to multiboot: http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20040614

Have fun!

thanks for your help everbody

fred

I wouldn't really consider 250 GB "plenty of room." Media tends to take up quite a lot of space, and unless you intend to use the computer solely for work, you may want to consider getting another hard drive. But that's just my own opinion. After all the pictures, music, and videos, 250 GB really looks tiny. What I have going is 1 disk for Linux, 1 disk for Windows, and then I have a third disk I don't know what to do with it. I definitely have to have Linux on it if I want to use it because of how my motherboard works. Well not definitely, it's just a lot more convenient.