How to triple boot Windows XP, Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to install Ubuntu, Windows XP and Windows 7 from scratch as triple-boot system

How can I triple boot Windows XP, Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7? Which OS should I install first?

Solution

From here

If you need an additional resource, you can use the apcmag.com dual-boot guides and adjust accordingly.

Download and burn GParted Live (just do a google search) to a CD and boot your computer. Use GParted to create a new partition (at least 10-15 GB) for W7. Make sure it is associated with the XP partition so that the W7 boot loader will recognize XP. When you boot W7, it will give you the option to boot XP as the "Earlier Version of Windows."

Then, you either need to adjust the W7 boot loader with EasyBCD (instructions can be found on the apcmag guides) or, preferably, reinstall the GRUB Boot loader by doing the following:

Insert the Ubuntu Live CD (or flash disk or whatever) and select "Try without changes to computer." Once it loads up, open a terminal and type "sudo grub"

Then enter the following commands in order.

• root (hd0,0)
• setup (hd0)
• quit
• exit

Reboot, and it will go directly back to Ubuntu. Now you'll need to edit GRUB to get the Windows partitions. You have two options - enter BOTH Windows partitions into GRUB, or just enter W7, and use the W7 bootloader to then select XP. To edit grub, key into the terminal "sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" (or replace gedit with whatever program you prefer) and make sure that the option "hiddenmenu" has a '#' in front of it to make it visible. Then go to the very bottom where all the Ubuntu kernels are listed and add the following (NOTE: The location (hdX,X) may be different for your install):

title Windows XP
root (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Windows 7
root (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Comments

[alex]

This has been asked so many times it's not even funny anymore! Please take the time to search before asking a question.

[alex]

Here's a question related to this topic: superuser.com/questions/41595.