ok, i have windows xp and suse 9.2. i have 6 partitions, therfore i have 4 open. when i went to install the other 4 linux's i could only boot in the latest linux i installed and windows...? everytime i install a new linux the old ones vanish and i cannot boot into them. how to i prevent this.

i know i am not overwriting the partitions. i install to a fresh one every time

you will get other answers here, more technical.

But what I do, and I have 4 linuxes on one HD, i simply install the bootloader to a floppy.
So, I have 4 floppies, one for each linux.
BTW: I am using Mandrake ( Mandriva ).

but if you want to be safe, spend """some time learning"""LILO or GRUB and you are out of trouble for always.
Don't learn, and you will be in trouble many times.
.........I know ................!!

have fun

have you got boot disks? these are essentials for multiple linuxes + windows (I'm working on this on my box at the moment)

umm... Ajarn is right, everytime you set up an other distro (linux distribution) or windows for that matter, it overwrites the MBR (master boot record) Slackware was nice, it didn't mess with the MBR when I told it not too- other distros weren't so nice.

So, how do you go about getting multiple linuxes? well, everything is still there. Keep installing and CREATE THE BOOTDISKS until you have your last linux installed. Now, look for a good grub or lilo tutorial (I prefer grub, hence the link is for grub) and set up the boot loader the way you want it.
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html
post back if you have problems with grub (or lilo).
EDIT: grub and lilo are bootloaders- programs that go on the MBR (either or, not both) and tell the computer to boot what.

welcome to LQ!
titanium_geek

I'll add a suggestion here...

On my distribution test box I typically have about 5 systems installed. The way I do it is by using a shared /boot for all distributions and a seperate root partition for all distributions.

Most, I've found, allowed me to skip installing a boot loader all together. But the ones that force it on me I just wiped out and use my own grub to handle.

please note that my **one floppy per install*** is the lazy way out.
there are maybe some distros who don't give you that option, I don't know.

the best way is to spend time to learn either Grub or Lilo , as you are hopefully going to spend many computing years together.

It is fairly easy, I am told, and I think I am going to follow my own advice

Sounds like you are installing the bootloader of each new os into the mbr overwriting the previous one.

Like someone else said, learn how to add operating systems to lilo or grub.

I just do it the really lazy way because I'm constantly installing distros. I install each distro's bootloader into the superblock or root partition. I have GAG boot manager installed into the MBR which in turn boots all my partitions. This saves me loads of time and effort. GAG needs no further configuration even after you remove/install a new os.

I have run into a couple of distros which do not give you the superblock option for boot loader.

thanks for the intro to GAG.
I am going to give that one a try.
I was first thinking of BootitNG, but it costs $34