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Triple boot preconfigured Vista, XP, and Ubuntu

No need to wait through 2 boot managers and make 2 selections to boot XP.

This was done on a HP Pavillion DV9335nr notebook but the process should be similar on any machine that was shipped preloaded with Vista. There are plenty of dual and triple booting guides out there, each more thorough on certain details than mine. Each added insight that helped me stumble upon the method I finally used.
The difference is that I did not have a clean install disc for Vista (or so I thought). Therefore I was not able to install XP first as oft recommended, followed by a clean Vista install(whose bootloader takes over the duties of XP's) then finally Ubuntu. That is the usual order which works but requires you to make selections in both Grub and Vista boot managers when choosing either windows OS.
I was able to create a set of recovery DVDs from the recovery partition HP puts on the hard drive, however when I run them following a XP install I end up with a system that will boot neither.

Before you start you may want to gather some materials.
A floppy drive supported by XP.
A blank floppy for each driver that needs to be loaded by hitting F6 before XP instal
2 blank DVDs to make a restore set
Almost any other Vista disk. For example the Anytime Upgrade DVD that came with your PC or is for sale very cheaply at retail or the Vista Automated Instalation Kit a free download from Microsoft, or an OEM install DVD.
EasyBCD from http://neosmart.net
Activation Backup and Restore tool from
http://forum.noteboo...ad.php?t=120228
The hard drive you plan to install to can hold all the programs and drivers you will be needing during this process with careful planning, but it is easier and safer to store them all on a second hard drive, CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or on a network until needed.
Collect recent windows drivers and wanted programs from your working Vista install(swsetup folder)computer manufacturer website, hardware vendors, Microsoft Service packs and updates, antivirus, current internet security updates and backup on your medium of choice. Luckilly this is mostly automatic or unnecessary for Ubuntu or Linux.
The solution is;
1. Disable native sata support in the BIOS.
2. Using your 'as shipped' Vista installation right click on 'computer', select 'manage', select disk management.
3. Delete the recovery partition, shrink your Vista partition to whatever size you want to give it. Create 2 new partitions. If you like, rename each partition to the name of the OS you plan to install on it.
4. While Vista still works, download any drivers you will need for XP to a public folder on your Vista partition. Your SATA driver is especially important if it is your only type of installed hard drive. You may need to get it from Intel, Nvidia, or whoever makes your SATA controller. You need to put it on a floppy disk. Yes, thats right a floppy. Not a CD, not a flash drive. Buy or borrow a drive if you must.
5. Just in case, back up your Vista activation with ABR.
6. Install XP as normal on the 2nd partition. You may need to hit F6 and install SATA driver. If you don't, or if you missed step 1, XP wont find your hard drive. Once XP is installed you can install any remaining needed XP drivers and programs from the Vista partition.
7. XP now works fine but you can't boot Vista. So boot from a Vista Disk. If you want to keep your current Vista installation select startup repair and proceed to step 9.
8. If you want a clean vista install without all the bloatware that ships with a new PC proceed with the install from the Vista Disk(not recovery) as shown at http://forum.noteboo...ad.php?t=120228 Restore your activation from step 5.
9. Install EasyBCD. Make sure EasyBCD has entries for Partition 0 and 1 for Vista and XP and that you can boot both reliably. Then add a 3rd entry for Ubuntu and point it at the remaining empty partition.
10. Install Ubuntu. During the partitioning stage, shrink the 'end' of the Ubuntu partition by the amount you want your swap partition to be. (I couldn't remember how many primary partitions you were allowed to have on 1 drive. I thought it was 2) So in my case I made the Ubuntu partition an extended partition containing 2 logical partitions, so 48GB sda(0,5) reiserfs is mounted at / and the remaining 2.05GB sda(0,6) is swap. At the next step, click the advanced button. Leave "install Grub boot loader" checked, but I changed the location(0) the MBR to (0,5) my root partition. Ubuntu install finds the Vista bootloader and adds its entry to grub.
11.Done. Probably. You may want to change the EasyBCD entry OS names and defaults.
When booting, you are presented with the Vista Bootloader which gives you all three options.
Click Vista or XP and you are sent directly to the OS you chose.
Click Ubuntu and you are sent to the grub boot loader. Since Ubuntu is the default OS in Grub if you do nothing the timer runs out and Ubuntu boots. Or if you changed your mind you can select Vista bootloader and go back. And if you are really indecisive you can pick Ubuntu again and go round and round admiring your plethora of options untill the charm wears off. If you edit grub and change the time to 0 Ubuntu boots right away when selected within Vista bootloader. With iReeboot from NeoSmart you can select which OS to reboot into the next time you shut down. Which means you dont have to wait in front of your computer for just the right time to select an OS. Instead, use that shut down and reboot time to use the bathroom and/or refill your coffee or Mountain Dew.