Installing Multiple OS

About multiboot
• In one PC multiple OS can be run, choosing one
at a time
• We can add a newer one to the existing older one
• The latest Macs also offer the ability to dual-boot
Mac OS X and Windows via the company's Boot
Camp utility.
• And both Macs and PCs can run popular versions
of the GNU/Linux operating system, such as
Ubuntu and openSuSE.
 Warning
• Creating multiboot configurations often
involves using disk-partitioning techniques
that can damage or destroy your data. Before
adding, removing, or resizing partitions,
modifying boot loader software, or altering
the master boot record, be sure to back up
your files
 Install Vista along with XP
• When you install Windows Vista, choose the Custom install option,
and then install to a different partition than your existing Windows
XP installation.
• To delete and create partitions, boot your system with the Vista
install disc rather than running the installer within an earlier
Windows version; this approach gives you additional options for
creating and deleting (but not resizing) partitions.
• To shrink existing partitions and make room for a new one, use a
third-party partitioning program. After you install Windows Vista,
the operating system's boot menu will give you the option of
booting either Vista or your previous Windows version.
 How to change which operating system to
boot first
• In Windows XP, open the Control Panel's System applet, select
the Advanced tab, and click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Select the default operating system from the drop-down list in the
System Startup section, and select the delay time in the field next to
'Time to display list of operating systems'. Click Edit under System
Startup to open the boot.ini configuration file in the Notepad text
editor; this editor lets you modify the default text label (enclosed in
double quotes) for each operating system in the menu.
• Windows Vista's boot menu options are nearly identical to
those in Windows XP (click the Advanced system settings link in
Control Panel's System applet, and then choose the Advanced tab),
but Vista lacks the Edit button.
 Removing a Windows Partition

• Q. I've decided that my system is better off running Windows XP. How do I remove the Vista
partition?

A. Deleting the Windows Vista partition (using either the tools in the recovery console of the
Windows XP boot disc or a third-party tool) is only part of the job: Windows Vista's boot
loader will remain behind. To restore the Windows XP boot loader, boot the PC with your XP
install disc, press R to enter the recovery console, and log on to the Windows Vista partition.
Enter the command fixboot to write a new partition boot sector to the Windows XP partition,
and then the command fixmbr to write the Windows XP boot loader to the Master Boot
Record of the hard disk where the Windows XP partition is located.

Q. I like Vista--how do I remove the XP partition?

A. Deleting the Windows XP partition gets the OS off your hard disk, but not out of Windows
Vista's boot menu. To delete Windows XP's entry from Windows Vista's boot menu, first open
a command prompt with administrative rights (using the same steps described above for
removing Vista); then enter the command bcdedit /delete {ntldr} /f.