thinking about a triple boot system

[Byte 2.0]

I am thinking about taking my 80GB hard drive

partition 1, Win 98SE Fat 32 20 GB

Partition 2, Win XP PRO (NTFS I guess) 20 GB

Partition 3, Win 2k pro (NTFS I guess) 20 GB

Partition 4, remaining hard drive space for a shared drive they can all read. (FAT 32 I assume)

Thinking I can put some programs on the 4th Partition that do not need to be installed to run correctly then I can try those programs in the different OS's and compare the preformance right?

Example, EverQuest does not need to be re installed, I have backed up my Everquest directly many times and just copied it over after a Format and run the Exe and it starts up and runs without any data lost. So if I put my EQ directly on Partition 4 and short cut it correctly it should run on which ever verision of windows I have active.

Question, what is going to be the best way to do this.

1. Format my Hard drive and start from the begining, that is my plan. Since I am able to back up any important files I have.

Any other suggestions I am open to all ideas.

I would like to hear ideas on the best order to do this, assume I have a blank, 80 GB hard drive. Which OS should I install first, second and 3rd so i get the correct boot menu.

I guess I should partition first 20 GB to win98se, install it and then let the other OS's make there own as I install them? then get the shared drive last?

[reboot]

Win98 first, then 2k, then XP.
Even programs that do need to be reinstalled, you could install anywhere, and then reinstall to the same place in each OS. This works in most cases.
Go for FAT32 if you want 98 to read/write to the other OS's, otherwise NTFS is good.
The 4th partition as FAT32, so all can read/write it.
I would do a slightly different partition scheme though.
Win98 will do nicely in about 10 gig, and 2k and XP will run OK in 15, leaving you room for a swap partition about 500 meg, and the rest for programs, backups etc.

[Byte 2.0]

I am still working out my plan. But that makes sense.
maybe I will do my email that way, so all my OS's can read my email. Reboot You just gave me a world of things to think about.

I could do a 10 gb
15 gb
15 gb
say one 500 meg for a swap
and the rest for share space.

I guess the swap 500 meg woudl have to be NTFS but could be used with either win xp or win 2k, which ever one is loaded right?

for the win 2k partition, i could really go lower space because I just want to to pratice trouble shooting on, 5 GB would be more then enough i believe for it.

[reboot]

Swap could be FAT32 and used by all 3 OS's.
Make it about 1.5 gig, and set the swap in each OS to be about 384 meg min/max.
Leave more room in the partition of the OS you're going to be using most.
If 98, then make it about 12 gig, if 2k or XP, make it about 20 gig, the rest is up to you.
2k on a 5 gig partition is plenty, if you're only using it to mess with, and not your main OS.
I use Eudora for email, and only 1 install works on 95, 98, 2k, and XP. I set it up originally in XP, then reinstall from each OS into the same location to update the reg entries for each. It works well.
At the same time, make sure you specify a common folder for all attachments to go into, not the default.
Dig up a copy of Partition Magic and then you can change anything you like afterwards, if the setup isn't quite what you want.

[Byte 2.0]

I am using a 30 GB hard drive on PC 2 right now just for pratice. '
going to do a win98 and xp right now.

Just getting the feel of othings before i do it to my main.

I am also going to play with a swap partition as well.

Question. if the swap for each OS is set to say 384, there will be a file on that partition for each OS swap, and that is why u would make it just over 3 times the 384 meg, so there is room for each swap.

I was going to make one 500 meg partition and aim them all at it, thinking they would just write over what they did not use or need.

[reboot]

Yes to your question, although some may say that's redundant, as Windows will write a new swap on it's first boot, and overwrite anything already on that partition. Just to speed things up, allowing enough for 3 swaps makes sense. Think about it, 1.5 meg really isn't that much considering the remaining free space.
Try it on your test system and see how you like it.
FYI, I made the swap partition 2 gig, and put all swaps and all temp and temp internet files on it as well, so they don't clutter up the main OS's drive(s).
My other option (even faster) is to put the swap on a ramdisk, and put all temp files/cookies etc. on it as well, that way it's as fast as can be, and gets a fresh start every time I restart.

[Force Flow]

I was wanting to do a triple boot too, byte. If you finish it first, be sure to tell me how it goes

[reboot]

It's a lot simpler to do, (though time consuming) than it is to describe it.
Basically, you need a partition/drive for each OS you are going to install, then start with the dumbest first.
Win95, then 98, then 2k, then XP, then Linux (if you're inclined to have 5 OS's ).
Linux will install a super nice boot loader that puts the Windows one to shame (it's a GUI).
There is another way to do it, described briefly below:
If you've got enough hard drives/partitions, you can install as many OS's as you have drives/partitions this way.
Put in one drive, leave the others out.
Fdisk, partition, and format the drive, install any OS.
Take the drive out, put in another drive.
Fdisk, partition, and format, install an OS.
Do this for every drive/partition/OS you have/want.
When done, put all the drives in the computer, doesn't matter what order, but make your most used OS the primary master C drive.
Get a 3rd party boot loader like www.xosl.org and install it.
Set it up to boot to all the OS's.
XOSL has a great GUI interface, and is too simple to use.

[tmp]

I understand that the swap partition is for swap files and temp files for all installed OS. But in each OS, how do you make the swap and temp files to be saved on the swap partition?

[reboot]

Check this out, explains how to move things to the swap partition/drive. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=52780

[jeresimo]

Reboot, is it really possible to have 5 OS in a one HD? I thought the maximun primary partitions for a single drive is only 4? I have Win98SE, Win2KPro, XP Pro and Win2K Server right now. I am planning to put Linux to practice on it.