Multiboot 4 versions of Windows

[pmstirling]

Hi -

I'm setting up a computer lab and want the ability to boot into any of the following versions of Windows:

XP English
XP Spanish
Win7 English
Win7 Spanish

I also want to use "Deep Freeze" to return the system to a fresh state on every reboot. However the students in the lab will need space for their own persistent data, so I would like to set up a 5th partition and point the Documents folder for each OS/Account to a location on the 5th partition.

Now, the issue is that Windows supports only 4 primary partitions per drive, and the systems have only 1 drive.

Is it possible to set up BCD to boot Windows from a logical drive in an extended partition? Or am I better off doing something else, like using a commercial product such as Acronis Disk Director?

thanks in advance
patrick

 

[Terry60]

Any Windows since XP (SP1 I think) can be installed in a logical drive, as long as the boot files are in a primary.
You can make 3 of the OSs primary, including the one controlling the boot, and the 4th and your data partition logical.