How do i set my hard drive up for this?

I would like to dual (triple?) boot Geexbox, Windows XP, and PClinuxOS 2007 on a 100 gb hard drive. My question is, what is the best way to set up the partitons? I need at least 35 GB for windows.

Thanks

 

I'm not totally familiar with those distros of Linux, but if they come with GRUB, then it should be simple.

I assume you'll be installing on your Compal HGL30, so...
hda1 --> 35 GB for Windows
hda2 --> Geexbox/PCLinuxOS --> 20 GB
hda3 -->Geexbox PCLinuxOS --> 20 GB
hda4 --> shared parition for backup/sharing info between OSes --> remainder of HDD space

install GRUB to (hd0, 1) I guess. (hd0,2) may be okay too... just don't overwrite the MBR that Windows wrote to. Be sure to install Windows first.

If you want, you could add swap paritions to each of the Linux paritions and just make your Linux paritions 15GB each... Linux isn't a very big OS, so you don't need much space.

 

thanks! thats perfect! I wasnt sure if I should install windows first or not. Now i know

 

Yeah, you should always install Windows first. It doesn't like to play nicely with other OS', so it will overwrite the MBR and only let you boot Windows if you install it last.

 

I would like to add a bit to Aurora's recommendation:

hda1 --> 35 GB for Windows
hda2 --> Geexbox/PCLinuxOS --> 20 GB
hda3 --> SWAP FILE --> 1.5GB (1.5x quantity of RAM)
hda4 -->Geexbox PCLinuxOS --> 20 GB
hda5 --> shared parition for backup/sharing info between OSes --> remainder of HDD space

If you're unfamiliar with the Linux swap file, Windows does the same thing using a page file.

Swap file def/n: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,289893,sid9_gci213077,00.html

 

Q.1) just confirming: you use FAT32 for the partition that can share info right?

Q.2) what about the other mounts? like /, /usr, /boot, /tmp, /var?

Q.3) is the swap file going to be accesible to BOTH linux OSes?

Q.4) What about RHEL5 Desktop?
thanks!

 

nice topic,i have similar question like that:
In windows,i had 2 NTFS partition (C and E),so i intend to use Partition Magic to create a blank partition (about 3 gig) for Ubuntu.Would you pls tell me how to make boot magic (pop up when booting machine for choosing what os to enter)
In addition,should i create another partition for sharing data between 2 OS (film,music,documents) ??? how to do it
thx

 

FAT32 is okay. Linux has just got v1.0 of ntfs-3g, so NTFS should be okay too. Unfortunately, Vista still doesn't read ext3 filesystems, so you're stuck with one of the other two for a share, if you're thinking of upgrading from XP. Otherwise, XP has a program called Ext2IFS, so you could even make the share an ext3 FS.

Automatically handled by their respective OS, don't worry about them.

Yes, but check the mount settings to confirm when setting up each OS.

What about it?

 

nice topic,i have similar question like that:
In windows,i had 2 NTFS partition (C and E),so i intend to use Partition Magic to create a blank partition (about 3 gig) for Ubuntu.Would you pls tell me how to make boot magic (pop up when booting machine for choosing what os to enter)
In addition,should i create another partition for sharing data between 2 OS (film,music,documents) ??? how to do it
thx

 

1. You want more than 3GB. 10 is okay, but minimal, because chances are, you might want to install something.
2. By installing Ubuntu last, you wont have to worry about Boot Magic. Ubuntu installs GRUB, a program that automatically gets your list of installed OSs, and puts them in a nice menu for you.
3. Yes, you should, if you want to save on hard drive space. Read the other posts in this thread for tips on effective ways of arranging your partitions.

 

wow thats nice, ty for that info!

which one would you use?
I'm thinking of sticking to NTFS because you wont have to install that Ext2IFS... it'd be hard if you want other networked win xp pcs to see your partition.

 

Alright so just to recap. I should install windows first, on a 35 gb partition. Then install Geexbox on a 20 gb partition (all the partitions it needs spans only 20 gb) then install PCLinuxOS on another 20 GB partiton, and then use the remainder as a common storage (ill use ext3 since i have Ext2IFS). That is the best way right?

 

I would advise inserting a swap partition between the two Linux installations.

 

Sounds like a good plan.

Remember the swap, like bc135 said.