How to triple boot Windows XP, Win 7 and Ubuntu 12.04

[narain]

Hi,

I just bought a new system with the below config:
Processor: Intel Pentium G630
Motherboard: Asus P8B75-V
RAM: 12 GB
Graphics card: Sapphire HD7750 1GB DDR5
Hard Disc: 1TB Western Digital

I am planning to triple boot with Win XP(32 bit), Win 7(64 bit), Ubuntu 12.04. I have heard about the new partition mechanism that Win 7 uses without a MBR or without making physical partitions. Can you please let me know how to go about triple booting my system. I am planning to install XP(32 bit with SATA drivers) first making physical partitions and then install Win7 followed by ubuntu at the end. Please advice

 

[maheshn]

Hello, the order of installation you mentioned is right. First install XP, then win7. You'll get the Win7 boot menu with options "Windows 7" and "Previous version of Windows" which gives you access to the XP installation. Last of all install Ubuntu, the bootloader will show you all the options.

Also, I would strongly recommend making all the partitions at the beginning itself for all 3, and formatting them only as and when you are installing (ie don't format the partition meant for linux while installing the other OS's).

If you are willing to go through the documentation there is an option whereby linux can be installed to a folder on your windows partition and run from inside windows, just like any other program. The drawback is you will incur a small performance hit.

A 3rd option is to use software like Virtualbox and have only one actual OS (recommend win7 more than XP) and install the others as virtual machines. Gives you a lot more freedom to experiment.

Go through tech sites thoroughly before deciding...

 

[topgear]

12GB ram ( and a 1TB HDD ) is more than enough to run lots of Virtually and simultaneously ( though the dual core cpu could be an issue ) - so If OP does not need to install the OS for some special purpose he better install and test them virtually and if possible use VMWare for that.

 

[narain]

I was thinking of installing the OS itself rather than run them as virtual machines on other OS. Thanks guys, thats very right about partitioning them at the beginning itself during XP! During installation of ubuntu i get the option of choosing the bootloader options like choosing the default OS to load. But after installing ubuntu, if i want to change ONLY the default loading OS, is it possible to do that without formatting or installing ubuntu again?

Got it!..thanks..I would need to edit the grub file for the default boot number.

Found a nice tutorial here

 

[warfreak]

Dual booting XP and 7?
You can give this a try instead.

 

[topgear]

I was thinking of installing the OS itself rather than run them as virtual machines on other OS. Thanks guys, thats very right about partitioning them at the beginning itself during XP! During installation of ubuntu i get the option of choosing the bootloader options like choosing the default OS to load. But after installing ubuntu, if i want to change ONLY the default loading OS, is it possible to do that without formatting or installing ubuntu again?

Got it!..thanks..I would need to edit the grub file for the default boot number.

Found a nice tutorial here

you have found the solution already and it's very much possible with other distros as well - I've done this many time on Open Suse ( by far my mst fav linux distro )

 

[narain]

Is Open Suse so good? I heard Ubuntu was the bext, thats why i was trying to install it!
Need to take a look at Open Suse too then!

 

[topgear]

^^ depends on personal test and needs - for me OpenSuse is best - you can also try Linux Mint.

 

[narain]

Hi Guys,

I followed the below steps yesterday and i know i did a mistake to erase the GRUB:
1) Installed XP on 50 GB partition. Didnt make any partitions before installing XP.
2) After installing XP, made a 100 GB partition for installing Win 7.
3) Installed 7. Didnt make any other partition.
4) Installed ubuntu, creating a 25 GB partition "at the beginning" as suggested during creating the partition during ubuntu installation
5) Everything was fine, but i could not create the partitions for holding data, either in XP or ubuntu.
6) I installed a disk utility, Active partition and created the extra logical drives. And it erased the GRUB and i couldnt boot when i restarted!

Please help me with the below problems. Thanks in advance
1) I now have installed XP and done nothing else. Please help in creating the partitions. Should i create a "Extended Partition" of 100 Gb for Win7 and an extended partition of 25 GB for ubuntu? or should it be primary one?
2) Also, during booting i would want to see Ubuntu alongside Win XP and Win 7. I do not want to see a Ubuntu grub loader and again a Win 7 boot loader. I think i need to select "Win 7 loader" during the ubuntu installation. Please advice if i am wrong.

 

[Rishabhzn200]

Hi Guys,

I followed the below steps yesterday and i know i did a mistake to erase the GRUB:
1) Installed XP on 50 GB partition. Didnt make any partitions before installing XP.
2) After installing XP, made a 100 GB partition for installing Win 7.
3) Installed 7. Didnt make any other partition.
4) Installed ubuntu, creating a 25 GB partition "at the beginning" as suggested during creating the partition during ubuntu installation
5) Everything was fine, but i could not create the partitions for holding data, either in XP or ubuntu.
6) I installed a disk utility, Active partition and created the extra logical drives. And it erased the GRUB and i couldnt boot when i restarted!

Please help me with the below problems. Thanks in advance
1) I now have installed XP and done nothing else. Please help in creating the partitions. Should i create a "Extended Partition" of 100 Gb for Win7 and an extended partition of 25 GB for ubuntu? or should it be primary one?
2) Also, during booting i would want to see Ubuntu alongside Win XP and Win 7. I do not want to see a Ubuntu grub loader and again a Win 7 boot loader. I think i need to select "Win 7 loader" during the ubuntu installation. Please advice if i am wrong.

hi narain,
you should have partitioned ur hard disk while installing win xp....if you have installed xp without any partition then i suggest you to format ur system and reinstall xp and create atleast 3 partitions (one for each xp,7 and ubuntu). Size of partition will depends on how much you are likely to use that OS and how many applications you will install on that particular OS. You can create more than 3 partitions if you want to keep some personal data separately. Lets suppose you have created 4 partitions C: D; E: and F; drive and have installed win xp in C-drive.

Then install windows 7 in D: drive.
Coming to installing ubuntu..I suggest you to install ubuntu 11.04 or 11.10 and later upgrade it.
Now you can run ubuntu as an application in windows. Advantage of doing this are:
1: you will see Ubuntu alongside Win XP and Win 7.
2:you can install ubuntu in a separate drive that is (E: - drive for example).
3: you can remove ubuntu anytime u want in add/remove programs in control panel of windows 7.

Steps to install ubuntu are: (Make sure u are in windows 7)
1:download iso file ubuntu-11.04-desktop-i386.iso from Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) ....desktop cd
2:after downloading, download Daemon tools and mount the iso file.
3pen the iso file and run wubi.exe (windows ubuntu installer). It will ask for the the drive in which you want to install your ubuntu and the space u want to reserve for ubuntu.so select
sufficient disk space in the beginning itself and also select "install as desktop application" option
4:click next and ubuntu installation will begin..
5:after installing restart ur system and u will see 3 OS menus.

So i think this will solve ur problem