tri-boot Q

[Colonel Sanders]

If I decided to re-format my hard-drive, make 3 2GB partitions(or maybe even just divide my 9GB into 3 3GB partitions) then would it be hard to automatically boot into Win2K yet be easy to get into Linux and Win98? TIA

Logan

[freezinbutt]

I don't see much of a problem there. You just need a plan before you start. I dual boot Windows 2K and Linux all the time using the Windows bootloader. I have never tried 98 with 2K and Linux using the windows bootloader, but I don't see why you could not. LILO or GRUB could do this as well. You might want to think about investing in System Commander. It will give you some really nice tools as well as a great bootloader. You can add or remove operating systems very easily and you don't have to worry about what order you install them in.

Hope that helps,
freezinbutt

p.s. What version of Linux are you going to use?

[Colonel Sanders]

I'll probbably used Madrake 8.1, could there be any probs with mixing Win98, linux, and Win2K files on my 15GB HDD?

Logan

[freezinbutt]

No...not at all. As long as they all reside on their own partitions, there won't be any problem at all.

Mandrake is really nice and pretty easy to install and configure. 8.2 is the latest version and I like it better than 8.1. If you have never used Linux before, Mandy is a good way to start.

In your system specs (sig file) I don't see a modem or NIC listed. If you have a Winmodem you are most likely going to have trouble getting it to work in Linux. If you have a NIC then there shouldn't be any problem at all.

I really think you should consider getting System Commander so that you can actively manage your partitions. This will give you a way to boot into all of your operating systems easily without having to screw around with LILO or GRUB. When you get a little better with Linux you can set up custom systems however you want to. System Commander just makes it a little easier. I have done it with the Windows bootloader, LILO, GRUB and System Commander. Without a doubt, SC is by far the easiest way.

Another distro to consider is Red Hat 7.3. I just installed it the other day and I really like it. KDE 3.0 is pretty nice and Red Hat has lots of bells and whistles to play around with. Red Hat caters more toward the server market but it is a great desktop alternative as well.

Hope that helps,
freezinbutt

[Colonel Sanders]

Win modem? I'm using on-board Realtek 10/100 LAN, if problems arise I could plug in my Linksys.

Logan

[freezinbutt]

Cool....no problem then.

Just for grins I checked to see if your video card was supported (sometimes they are a problem too). It checks out ok. I say go for it and have fun.

freezinbutt

[nightsky]

Sure you can goto Eclipse.com and look over the instructions. You can print them if you need to. Be advised these instructions pertain to using loadlin. Also checkout google.com and run a search on multiple booting systems, managers and alike.