partitioning question
 

I would like to do a triple boot with WinXP/Win2K/RH7.3. I have a SCSI HD that I plan to install Win2k as my main OS. My IDE HD is 40Gb partitioned as follows:

- 10gb (currently has Win2k - will be unallocated following successfull install of Win2k on SCSI)
- 20gb FAT32 - has my mp3s, and important documents
- 10gb will be unallocated shortly

I'd like to put XP and RD on this drive. Can I put XP on the first 10gb partition then install RH on the 3rd partition which will be 10gb (broken up during install for /boot and /), leaving the 20gb partition in the middle? Or will unallocating the space move the 20gb partition to the beginning of the drive?

I keep reading about installing to the first 1024 cylinders, but I am unsure how that works and if my setup will work.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

When you delete the partition with 2K, its space will be free (unallocated). The second partition (data like mp3) will not be moved. Then you can resize the second partition and include the free space inside or divide it between Linux and Windows data. Both things can be done using parted.

Don't worry about 1024 cylinder. RH7.3 has new LILO that has this problem fixes. You'll only see a warining message during partitioning.

Partition sizes matter not as long as they're 2.5GB+.

The install order should be XP, 2K and Linux. I could be wrong, but I know XP has a tendency to overwrite and ergo remove your 2K bootloader. Since 2K is your primary, do XP first. And as soon as you're done, copy c:\boot.ini elsewhere. Install 2K. Open the first boot.ini and copy the paste that XP line. Now you have 2 selections at boot. Install RH and lilo on the 1st sector of its partition, NOT MBR!! Make note of where it's installed. After, do

# After you installed XP on /dev/hda1
# & Linux with lilo on /dev/hda2
#
# Replace /dev/hda2 if need be
#
Boot Linux & open terminal
mount /mnt/floppy
dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/mnt/floppy/boot.lnx bs=512 count=1
cp boot.lnx /mnt/floppy
umount /mnt/floppy
Boot XP
copy boot.lnx c:\
edit boot.ini
After multi(0)..., add a new line
C:\boot.lnx="linux"
Reboot