Gaming Quadruple-boot Possible?

[swimmeringer]

I was wondering if it's possible to do a quadruple boot on a computer, using

Windows 7
Windows Vista (or XP)
Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.)
Some form of OS X (leo4all, iDeneb)


The reason I'm including 2 types of Windows is because, while Windows 7 is much, much nicer (in my opinion) than Vista or XP, it expires on August 1st.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[juggernaut911]

I'm going off foggy memory but install OSX first. then both windows through bootcamp. then ubuntu and be sure to install grub and you should be fine

 

[notnarb]

I'm fairly sure a hard drive can't have more then 3 primary partition, however I'd wait for someone else to back me up on that

 

[Problematique]

He's cunning
Screw that
I couldn't even dual boot windows and ubuntu cause the tutorial said there would be a guide line and there wasn't

I'd for one piss xp/vista off
Theres a program called timer nuke to well, you know, stop the timer
or just get on to microsft connect and

quad boot..blah

I wish one day to do a hackintosh but its a pain in the ass..
Dirvers...ahhh

don't even think about leo4all

I don't want to feck up my best computer

I'm fairly sure a hard drive can't have more then 3 primary partition, however I'd wait for someone else to back me up on that

I've seen quadies done before...

 

[Ferrariman]

Don't you think juggling 4 OSes is a little, excessive?

 

[juggernaut911]

I'm fairly sure a hard drive can't have more then 3 primary partition, however I'd wait for someone else to back me up on that

I was screwing in my partition tables and there was room for 4 entries. Not sure about main but quite possibly 4 can co-exist.

 

[SirSweeps]

Yes you can have four partitions (3 primary and 1 extended which then can have multiple logical partitions).

Now your problem is this:
In order to boot an operating system it must be contained in a Primary partition ... so you want to have 4 OS'es but can only have 3 primary partitions. So really your question is "how do I boot from a logical partition?"
Thus far I have only come up with 1 solution (tho I am sure there are more ... What I choose is the simplest route) ... the answer to your problem is get a hold of a boot manager that is able to boot from any logical partition ... My favorite choice for such a task is gag.
Graphical Boot Manager
Will do the job with no problems and as far as installing said OS'es go with mac > xp and/or vista >win7 > then Linux (linux should always be the last install for both simplicity and the fact that grub likes to be on top) ....
then install gag to your MBR (or boot it with a cd or usb stick) .... and set up gag to use your installed OS'es...


If you need any help with this or anything else, feel free to PM me ....

 

[Scorpei]

Or you install both windows versions on the same partition... In all fairness though I'd just go and get more hard drives (so you have at least 2) installing 2 OS-s on each drive (windows and ubuntu {} windows and OSx).

 

[rhyguy]

If you format your drive as GPT it uses one primary partition as an efi partition

 

[Taza]

SirSweeps and NotNarb are both very wrong.

A disk can have 4 primary partitions, and one of those can be replaced with an extended partition.

And I'm fairly (if not completely) certain that GNU GRUB can boot fine from a logical partition. And GRUB comes with Ubuntu by default.

So yes, Mac OS X, bootcamp Vista and XP, and then Linux.

 

[da_head]

yep it's possible. my harddrive is currently split into: vista(came with comp), 7, about 100gb for extra files, and a recovery section.

 

[Jiggah]

Does bootcamp even work on hackintoshes?

Also, I'd highly recommend you picking whether or not you want to install XP. If you do, it should go first because it has issues with letter assignments.

 

[SirSweeps]

@Taza

Ok since you are right (I was simply trying to make it simpler for the fellow to understand)...
How would you assume he would go about making the swap partition for linux????
How wouldn't be able able too, the hard drives mbr won't allow it. So he would have to go with 3 primary and at least two logical...

And it's been a while since I used grub ... but reading up on it, It should be able to handle all your boot needs ... I would still recommend GAG as it can point to other boot loaders as well ... but hey that's just me...


at least we agree on the order...

 

[Filter]

http://www.osloader.com/

* Lets you have up to 100 independent operating systems.
* Lets you have completely independent copies of Windows.
* Lets you even have multiple copies of the same Windows.
* Lets you boot Windows (all versions) from logical partitions.
* Lets you boot Windows (all versions) from the second hard disk.
* Supports Windows (all versions), Linux, DOS and most others.
* Supports boot from hard disk, cd-rom, floppy, usb, zip & more.
* Supports command-line mode, batch files, desktop shortcuts, etc.
* BootMenu sports a elegant, customizable yet powerful interface.
* Has tons of advanced features like Stealth, AutoBoot, AutoScan, AutoSense, SafeBoot, AutoHide, MenuLock with password, Self Timer & more....
* There are no feature limits. All features are available to users.
* Absolutely no configuration required! Simply 100% automatic.
* One click install. 100% automatic (takes only a few seconds).
* Does not require a FAT or NTFS partition to install.
* Uses the state-of-the-art UltraIO® boot engine to operate.
* Can be installed from Windows (all versions) and DOS.
* Uninstaller gives you a clean uninstall, if required.
* Has excellent HTML based documentation.

Im sure there are more or better ones out there.

 

[Taza]

Yeah, there are better ones.

Like GNU GRUB that comes with Ubuntu!

It is THE best boot loader out there, bar none. Pretty much every major Linux distribution these days uses it.

@SirSweeps: Linux doesn't require a swap partition. Admittedly, it's sometimes beneficial to make one, but he could do the install fine with just 4 partitions. Not that Vista nor Linux react badly to being booted off a logical partition.

 

[SirSweeps]

lol ...
Sweet, shows how long I have been out of the game ....
but I never much liked grub tho I do admit it is pretty powerful (tho just because the major linux distros have agreed to use it does not make it the best... It was made as a standardization for the end user)

 

[Problematique]

what about:

1.hackintosh
2.boot camp xp/vista
3.windows 7
4.wubi the ubuntu
5. done

no need for 4 paritions
just 3 and you could have a swap too.
im not to smart on having multi-OS's but thats what i'd do

 

[SirSweeps]

That Will also work ...
Now I guess all this should work ...
But which route did you go swimmeringer? Let us know how it worked out for you...

 

[Taza]

I'd suggest:

1 Primary Swap.
2 Primary Hackintosh.
3 Primary XP.
4 Extended
5 Logical Vista
6 Logical Ubuntu