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Old 10-01-2005, 01:40 AM   #1
JSLayton
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Triple booting - Is it possible??


Is it possible to have three OS's on a PC? I have Windows XP as my primary OS, I also have Slackware Linux installed on a separate partition. I would also like to run Fedora on another partition on my second drive. Is this possible??
 
Old 10-01-2005, 01:49 AM   #2
aysiu
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Re: Triple booting - Is it possible??

Quote:
Originally posted by JSLayton
Is it possible to have three OS's on a PC? I have Windows XP as my primary OS, I also have Slackware Linux installed on a separate partition. I would also like to run Fedora on another partition on my second drive. Is this possible??
Yes, it's possible. I currently triple-boot XP, Mepis, and Ubuntu.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 01:52 AM   #3
JSLayton
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OK, now my next question. With XP and Slackware installed now, everytime my PC boots it asks me whether I want to boot to Windows XP or Linux. This is what I want. But if I choose Linux, then it brings me to another screen asking if I want to boot to Linux or Windows. Basically, if I select Linux, I have to select it twice, but if I select Windows XP, only once. The second screen where I choose Linux I THINK says LILO on it but I'm not 100% sure.

What I would like is to have the boot.ini handle the choosing of which OS to boot to and leave it at that.
How would I go about this?
 
Old 10-01-2005, 01:57 AM   #4
PaganHippie
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The answer to your query depends on which bootloader you are using. LILO, GRUB, or something other?

If LILO is giving you headaches, you can either reconfigure it from wthin your Linux setup or install & use a different bootloader (i.e. GRUB). What Linux distro & version are you using? (WinXP isn't smart enough or courteous enough to recognise when it's sharing a disk with Linux.)

Last edited by PaganHippie; 10-01-2005 at 01:59 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 01:59 AM   #5
JSLayton
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It's all in the first post. Windows XP, Slackware Linux, and about to add RedHat Fedora.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:02 AM   #6
PaganHippie
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Which version of Slack, & which version of Fedora? iirc, Slackware uses LILO. Not sure what Fedora uses. There could be a conflict between them.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:03 AM   #7
JSLayton
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Fedora hasn't been installed yet. Only XP and Slackware now. As I said, I would like for the boot.ini to handle all of the boot process, but is this possible?
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:12 AM   #8
PaganHippie
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2 Linuces & 1 Windows.... My inclination is to say "probably, but I'm not sure."

My suspicion is that the most recent OS (to be) installed (Fedora in your case) would take precendence over the others, and that would be the place to make any config tweaks.

Anyone else? (I know there are *many* of you out there who know more than I about this.)

[also....
It's none of my business, but why 2 Linux distros on a single HDD? Testing? Different apps? Hobbyist? Sheer chaos?]

Last edited by PaganHippie; 10-01-2005 at 02:13 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:13 AM   #9
JSLayton
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Well, there are two HDDs in this box, the first has XP and Slackware, but we just started using RedHat at work and I wanted to be able to play around with it at home to figure out some things. I'm installing Fedora on the second drive.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:18 AM   #10
PaganHippie
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Then my belief would be....

Go ahead & install Fedora & if/when the install procedure asks you about booting, let it know aout hte 2 partitions on the 1st HDD. it *should* handle things intelligently.

However, if you can, make *full* backups of both the Slack & Win partitions before attempting the Fedora install. Safety 1st, don'cha know.

==========

Or to be REALLY safe....

Physically disconnect the Slack/Win HDD before installing Fedora. That way there's NO CHANCE your trsuted partitions could be compromised.

Last edited by PaganHippie; 10-01-2005 at 02:20 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:19 AM   #11
aysiu
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Quote:
Originally posted by PaganHippie
2 Linuces & 1 Windows.... My inclination is to say "probably, but I'm not sure."
I'm running it right now. It definitely can be done.

Quote:
My suspicion is that the most recent OS (to be) installed (Fedora in your case) would take precendence over the others, and that would be the place to make any config tweaks.
That's one way to do it. For example, I had Windows installed, shrunk the partition, installed Mepis, then I installed Ubuntu and installed the Grub to the MBR, and Ubuntu's Grub recognized and made entries for both Mepis and Windows.

Quote:
[also....
It's none of my business, but why 2 Linux distros on a single HDD? Testing? Different apps? Hobbyist? Sheer chaos?]
Why triple-boot? Well, the reason I do it: I need Windows XP for iTunes and just general reference (to do screenshots of XP and such or to test out websites in Internet Explorer). I need Ubuntu because it's my primary OS. Then, I use the third partition to test out new distros. I used to have both Kubuntu and Ubuntu. Now I have Kubuntu and Mepis.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:21 AM   #12
JSLayton
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I don't really have a way of making backups, but thanks anyway. I need to get a magnetic tape drive or something.

Well, anyone got an answer about how to make the boot.ini handle all three OSs without me having to select any option twice?
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:24 AM   #13
PaganHippie
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Quote:
Originally posted by aysiu
> I'm running it right now. It definitely can be done.

I never doubted it.

> That's one way to do it. For example, I had Windows installed, shrunk the partition, installed Mepis, then I installed Ubuntu and installed the Grub to the MBR, and Ubuntu's Grub recognized and made entries for both Mepis and Windows.

You're braver than I. otoh, I've been lucky enough to have h/w donated to me to play with various distros on.

> Why triple-boot?

Because you can. Do you need another reason?

Last edited by PaganHippie; 10-01-2005 at 02:28 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:25 AM   #14
PaganHippie
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Quote:
Originally posted by JSLayton
I don't really have a way of making backups, but thanks anyway. I need to get a magnetic tape drive or something.


Sure, you do. If you have 2 HDDs, you can use 'partimage' or something similar to clone your existing partitions before Frankensteining your system.

Well, anyone got an answer about how to make the boot.ini handle all three OSs without me having to select any option twice?
I humbly defer to the experts here.

Last edited by PaganHippie; 10-01-2005 at 02:28 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2005, 02:53 AM   #15
aysiu
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Quote:
Originally posted by JSLayton
Well, anyone got an answer about how to make the boot.ini handle all three OSs without me having to select any option twice?
Well, having Windows' boot.ini do it is a lot more complicated than having Grub do it. I suspect, too, that that's why you get the option twice. You probably have Windows' boot loader on the Master Boot Record. So...

You boot up
Windows' boot.ini says: Slackware or Windows?
If you choose Windows, you get Windows.
If you choose Slackware, Slackware's Lilo says: Slackware or Windows?

I would just install Fedora. As part of the Anaconda installer process, you'll be asked whether you want to install Grub on the MBR or not--install it on the MBR... let Fedora handle the boot menu. It should recognize both your Slackware and Windows partitions and offer them as boot options. If it doesn't recognize them, you can always add them to Grub as part of the install process

Last edited by aysiu; 10-01-2005 at 02:54 AM.
 
  


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