Proper load order of OS

If a person was to install both xp media center , vista , and linux what would be the proper load order. Vista, XP then linux or XP, Vista, linux

 

It doesnt matter one bit.

 

Yes, it matters. Load Linux last because it has the least problems with other operating systems. Load the other operating systems from oldest to newest.

 

Why does it matter? If each OS is on a separate partition then what does the install of one have to do with another?

 

Microsoft operating systems have a long history of wiping out the boot sector and assuming they are the only operating systems installed. This means if you already have Linux installed, Linux will no longer boot. In the past, though this is much less true now, Microsoft operating systems would even stop other Microsoft operating systems from booting.

 

I have worked with many different versions of linux and windows at the same time on separate partitions of the same HD, and never encountered the problems u describe.

 

So when you install Linux and then Windows XP, which boot menu comes up? Are you immediately able to boot both operating systems?

Try installing Windows 2000 and then Windows 98. You'll find that Windows 98 prevents Windows 2000 from booting (or at least, that's what everyone found when these were common operating systems to install).

 

I know that the original installer for XP (I haven't tried with any of our SP2 discs) will even wipe any partitions before the one you choose to install on. So if you install Windows on /dev/hda3 it will also wipe /dev/hda2 and /dev/hda1.

 

As said above, Microsoft has a long and proud history of making it hard to multiboot OS'es.

If you install Wind98 after XP, it'll wipe out XP's boot data, and only allow you to boot from 98. if you install 95 after 98, it does the same. if you install XP over Vista, I assume it'll do the same. So with MS OS'es, always install the oldest OS first.

And every Windows OS will certainly wipe out a Linux boot sector, so install Linux last.

The partitions themselves aren't affected, but the MBR is. Microsoft likes overwriting that every time you install an OS. If they can find an older MS OS, they'll add that to the new boot menu, but they won't recognize a Linux MBR, for example, and will simply overwrite that.

 

FYI guys, MBR = Master Boot Record. It's the bit of program code at the beginning of the hard disk in a specific place that the BIOS reads automatically to decide how to load the rest of the operating system(s). When you install Windows, it writes some code to the MBR that says "Just boot into windows immediately", overwriting anything like grub or lilo that lets you choose which system to load.