10 replies to this topic

[seregil]

Hello all. This is my first time posting here, and I really hope someone can help me with this one.

I used to have a 75gb raptor drive installed with windows xp x64. I then installed a seperate drive (while the raptor was disconnected from the motherboard) with windows 2000 on a 120gb partition of a 320gb seagate. I then reconnected the 75gb raptor drive and installed ubuntu on the 320, creating an 80gb partition for it (leaving 80gb upartitioned), and the ubuntu install detected all the OS's properly and created a boot loader on the primary raptor drive properly.

Now it gets a little more complicated. The raptor drive had mechanical failure, so i lost the boot loading screen, and did a fresh install of windows xp x64 when the replacement drive showed up. I didn't want the 2000/ubuntu drive to have problems, so i had that disconnected at the time.

Now i want to install windows vista 64bit (probably ultimate) on the remaining 80gb partition on the 2000/ubuntu drive, but i don't want to screw up either of those installations. I also would like to, somehow, install the grub loader afterwards so that the 75gb xp x64 install will remain as the primary drive installation, but i will be able to choose any of the other 3 OS's at any time.

The hardest part is that i really really don't want to have to do this mutliple times if i don't have to, so what is everyone's advice on how to do this final install without messing up any of the others

thanks so so much for any advice anyone can give me on this

I almost forgot to add, i'm not sure it helps at all, but my system specs are:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
EVGA 7950 GT KO
ASUS M2N-SLI DELUXE
8GB of G.Skill DDR2 1000
1x75gb WD Raptor (primary&OS)
1x320gb Seagate (OS's)
1x320gb Seagate (storage)

[MedEvil]

As you already seem to know, it's a good way to keep different OS from interfering with eachother, when they can't see eachother during install.
With different HDD that's easy, just disconnect the other ones.

With partitions, you sort of have to do the same. Hide all the partitions that hold other OS and set the one that you want to install to, to active. This way each OS does not only end up in it's own partition, but also it's bootmanager and boot sector do so.

Now once all OS are in place eighter install a own boot manager, or set your old one active again and don't forget to update it!

(If memory serves me right, then VISTA is a pain in the $%#, detecting even normal hidden partitions, so you might have to superhide them.)

[seregil]

thanks so much

i do have a question though. How do i hide the other partitions from vista during the install...or superhide them as you mentioned?

I didn't have to hide them at all when installing ubuntu on the windows 2000 install, since they seemed to play nice when i did that.

Also (i'm trying to remember this from last install, so i might be wrong) when i create the last partition from the 80gb of unpartitioned space, what type of partition would you create? would you make it a primary one in order for vista to install on it? or would it work if i told it to be a secondary?

[ispy]

Hi seregil ,

You might want to read the reviews here on Bootloaders & probs with Vista in multi-boot situations.

http://www.multiboot...k/managers.html
or click here
Watch out for this in quote below:

& When you setup the new OS properties in OSS (Acronis OS Selector part of disk director suite), you'll need to hide the XP partition. The "Super-Hide" option is on the Advanced section. It's not actually called "super-hide" they call it "Force hiding partitions". Check that and it's supposed to hide the XP partition from Win2000. Remember that the XP partition also has to be checked as "hidden" in the partitions section. but watch out fro this - OSS-Failed to read from the sector 63 of the hard disk 2
Finally got it working, following advice from Acronis. I had to tick the "Do not load CD-ROM drivers" box in Tools -> Options -> Startup.

Good Luck!

ispy

[MedEvil]

i do have a question though. How do i hide the other partitions from vista during the install...or superhide them as you mentioned?

Every partition program should be able to hide a partition. Partition Magic can for sure.
The obly program. that i know of. that can superhide partitions is Boot-US.

I didn't have to hide them at all when installing ubuntu on the windows 2000 install, since they seemed to play nice when i did that.

Playing icely together still means that the two got mixed. Deleting one of the OS can affect the other.
As bootmanagers and bootsectors get overwritten.

[seregil]

again thanks so much for the advice as to how to do this....i just have one last thing to ask (at the moment lol) before i go and try to not break my system. That is, do all of you have a specific preference on Partition software to use to do this?

the only one i've used in the past is partition magic with not good results, so i'd probably hesitate to try that one again. Other than that i've never needed to juse any of the others

[was_jaclaz]

...but, rather obviously, setting up a multiboot system where each booted OS cannot see the other partitions is the least "smart" way to set up a system, as you won't have any chance to use "another" system for recovery, backup, etc. and you will need to use a Live CD of some kind or an external device like a USB stick or hard disk for these chores.

If I get it right, the question seregil poses is essentially:

How can I add Vista to an existing system, but to a separate partition?

Simply read these:
http://www.multiboot...installing.html

http://www.multiboot....uk/system.html

With particular regards to drive letters assigned.

The point is that if you install Vista booting from DVD, it will assign C: letter to it's own partition, thus "shifting" drive lettering.

But if you install Vista from your booted XP (or 2K) system, it will keep the letter assignments that you have in XP (read 2K).

An example of drive letters messed up:
http://www.vistax64....ve-letters.html

This is of course "by design"

If you post some details on how the drive is partitioned, which partition is First Active Primary and so on, it should be possible to give you some more "exact" advice.

Once Vista is properly setup, with it's bootloader on the First Active partition and drive letters assigned properly, booting will go like this:
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->Vista bootloader bootmgr->Vista
or
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->Vista bootloader bootmgr->Previous windows->NTLDR->BOOT.INI->2K

Then you have all options to use grldr, here is a well detailed method:
http://www.msfn.org/...ith-t95537.html

that I suggest to "improve" by avoiding the renaming in two steps:
1.a run bootsect.exe /nt52 to change the bootsector loading bootmgr to one loading NTLDR
1.b add an entry:

C:\grldr="grub4dos"

to BOOT.INI
1.c add grldr and menu.lst to root of partition, having an entry in menu.lst invoking bootmgr
In this case booting will go like this:
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->NTLDR->BOOT.INI->2K
or
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->NTLDR->BOOT.INI->grldr->menu.lst->Vista bootloader bootmgr->Vista

2 edit bootsector replacing NTLDR with GRLDR, using a hex/disk editor or MAKEBS.CMD:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=2362
Now booting will go like this:
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->grldr->menu.lst->NTLDR->BOOT.INI->2K
or
MBR->bootsector of first active partition->grldr->menu.lst->Vista bootloader bootmgr->Vista

To any of the above you can add in menu.lst an entry for Ubuntu...

jaclaz

[MedEvil]

As already said, with jaclaz methode you will get a mash of OS or more precisely a mesh of OS.
If that's what you want, ok. Else stay away from it.
Everybody has his prefered software for any task. And this goes double for potentialy dangerous operations.
My preference for instance is the DOS version of Partition Magic, as i don't trust the Windows one.

[seregil]

hmmm...i'll do my best to describe the way i partitioned them and see if any of the advice you guys have changes

When i installed the XP 64bit on the raptor drive it was the only OS being installed (no other drive was even plugged into the motherboard). So in this case the XP installation should believe itself to be the only OS there is.

When i installed the windows 2000 drive, it was the first partition created on the drive (so it would have been the active primary one) as a 120gb partition. In the case of the ubuntu installation things are a little more complex. Originally when i installed it, both drives with XP and 2000 were hooked up, and the ubuntu installation detected both and gave me a bootloader screen allowing for which ever one i wanted to load. NOW, however, with the new install of XP 64bit, there is no longer a bootloader screen, and when i installed the new XP installation i did the same thing as last time and had all the other hard drives disconnected.

As i've been writing this a question has come to mind to ask additionally to all the other ones
If disconnect the cables for the storage drive and the XP installed drive, and then use a partition magic type piece of software to go in and hide the installs of windows 2000 and ubuntu, when i install the vista 64bit installation on the remaining 80gb partition, will there be less problems? Can i get away with making the whole process go smoother if after the vista install is complete running a GRUB disc (or something like that) that will find all 4 installs and create a boot loader screen that way?

thanks again, and sorry for making this constantly more confusing

[MedEvil]

Sonce you're still confused, let me outline again my prefered methode.
Which sole advantage is, that at any time any OS/partition can be reformatted and reinstalled, without any effect on the other OS/partitions.

For this to work each OS has to believe that it is the one installing to C:. Though this can be done with extended partitions, it's much easier if primary partitions are used.
For my example, let's assume the computer has just one HDD and we want to set up 3 different OS.
With PM we will create 4 primary partitions.
One for each of the 3 OS and one for our standalone bootmanager.
Now we take PM and set all, but the one partition we want to install to, as hidden and the one we want to install to as active and install the OS.
Now we repeat this last step till all 3 OS are installed.
At last we install our bootmanager into the only partition left.
Depending on the bootmanager, you've choosen, you can eighter install directly or have to use one of the previously installed OS. To boot into any of the 3 OS, but the last installed, you will need PM again. Set the partition, with the OS you wanna boot into, to active and hide all other.

Once the bootmanager is installed, it's parition will be active one.

[seregil]

thanks for the clarification

this week at some point i'll be doing this...expect questions in a few days when i no doubt screw something up lol