Triple Boot!

[ut1205]

Before I proceed to "reinvent the wheel" I thought I'd ask for assistance. I currently have my hard drive partitioned into 2 drives (c & d) and have Win 98 on "c" and win2k on "d". On boot it gives me the choice of which OS I want to use. Now I want to fdisk and make 3 partitions (c,d,e) and install Win98 on "c", win2k on "d", and linux mandrake 8.0 on "e". Any suggestions or pitfalls before I start? Will I still have a choice on "boot" of which OS to use? I know that "c&d" will have to be formated for the Win OS but should I also format "e" or will linux do that for me? Will linux even see the "e" partition? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[OOPS!]

Hi,

The only thing to be concerned about is the installation order. I would install 98 first, then 2000, then Mandy. I know 98 will overwrite the mbr, because it thinks that it is the only OS in the world. I've never used 2000, but I think I would install it second. Just in case its' bootloader dosen't play too nice. Perhaps someone else will know more about 2000 than me. Mandy should play nice with everyone. And I would try to let lilo or grub do the bootload. I personally use LiLo for my bootloader over GRUB, but they both work very well. Go ahead and format "e" Mandy will see it and all the other partitions no problem. You just tell it what partition you want it on, and it will format it for ext2.

One thing, when you are done installing all your OS's, your "e" drive will disipear from veiw under the Windows' Os's.

OOPS!

[ut1205]

I have my Win 98/2k saved as Ghost Images. When I Fdisk and create my three partitions I will reimage "C" and "D" with 98 and 2k. Do you think that will cause any problems? Thanks for your response.

[Statica]

A couple of things to add to OOPs helpful comments..
1) Only partition that which you need.
98: When you use FDISK in windows .. just create the partition you will be using .. that is C drive .. leave the rest of the space unpartitioned!
This situation is if you intend to use NTFS on Win2k's "D" drive. If you are going to use FAT32, then partition out D drive as well. This is to reduce all the errors that 98 & win2k will have in addressing your drive letters. The CD ROM drive will change otherwise and if you've had to use your windoze setup CD, you will realize what a pain it is
Then setup win2k, and leave the space u want to allocate to linux alone.
2) as a precaution backup your partition table when you use mandrake's partition utility during setup.

HTH