Windows 7: Installing Linux to "triple-boot" with XP and Win7

Hi,
I've got a fine working dual-boot system with Windows XP Professional SP3 and Windows 7 Ultimate. I'm gonna install Ubuntu Linux 10, but I also want to keep both Windows systems. I googled after it, and I found many tutorials showing how to install Ubuntu to dual-boot with either XP or Vista(Windows 7), but none of them explained, what to do if I want to have three systems. I've got a SATA hard disk with a capacity of 320 GB(298 GB actually) There are two partitions, C: (198 GB) and D: (99,3 GB). Windows 7 is installed on C:, XP on D:. Since there's no more free space I'm planning to shrink the C: volume to make space for Ubuntu, without formatting it from within Windows.(approx 30-40 GB) Then I'm gonna install Ubuntu by letting it to use the largest continuous free space available. I'm gonna use GRUB instead of the Windows Bootloader.



My only question is, whether this will work(I mean whether such problems can occur, e.g. XP won't start up, data lost etc.), and if there are additional things to do, when installing such a "Triple-boot-system"? When I follow the steps explained above, will everything work, will the bootloader show all operating systems? Or if not, please let me know how to configure it. Thanks in advance.

Hello.



Yes what you propose is possible but you will be asking for all sorts of future issues between Windows and GRUB, please, the first thing to do is make reliable back-ups of all the data you don't want to lose before you do anything to change the way the system boots now.


The smart way to do this is to install Linux to a separate Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and use the BIOS to control the boot between the Windows HDD and the Linux HDD at system startup; have a look at the info below for some ideas and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

Thanks for your response, but unfortunately, since I'm gonna do this on a laptop, there's no possibility to connect another HDD. As you've written above, what I'm planning to do, may work, but you also wrote that I might encounter some issues between Windows and GRUB. What problems may then occur, what things require more attention? Thanks for your help.

BTW, I was testing Ubuntu right now without installing it, and it worked fine, and I was able to access all data on the hard drive, so there won't hopefully be any problems with the system itself.

If you are worried about problems, why not virtualize? I don't understand why people are still messing with multi-boot systems anymore. Simple, free, and it leaves your host OS untouched.

Finally it succeeded to install Ubuntu without any problems. During the installation I created an ext4 and a swap partition for the ubuntu system. In GRUB, there are three options to select: Ubuntu, Ubuntu in safe mode, and Windows 7 loader, and by selecting this, you'll get the old boot screen, showing only the two windows systems. It seemed to be quite easy, with no problems.(until now ) Thanks for your help!

Running an operating system on the machine is much better than virtualizing, because I was planning to install this Ubuntu for everyday use, but I also wanted to keep the Windows systems. An emulated system is much slower, and since the virtual machine has limited performance, some features of the guest os don't work.

Hello again.



Good to see you found a solution that works for you and thanks for the update.

I'm not sure where you are getting your info from, or who's been telling you this, but I wouldn't listen to them anymore, to be honest.

Have you used a virtual machine in the last year or so? You get nearly native speed, and now you can even run 3D apps, like games, with support as well. USB and external peripherals are all accessible as well. VMs have direct host access to memory, processors, network adapters, etc.

If you truly believe what you posted to me...do yourself a favor and read up on the subject. You're missing out on a better, cleaner solution.