Quad Booting New Laptop

Dave09

Member
Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum/multibooting in general, and in a couple of days I will be doing a quadruple boot on my Vista-preinstalled laptop, hoping to add Windows XP/Vista, Ubuntu x64 and Max OS X. Right now, I'm pretty clueless about how to go about doing this, so can someone either please link me to a guide or very kindly explain how to do this? Thanks so much!
 
^ hello Dave ^_^

its okay this place is very helpful, i was new to it too :smile:

so well i will say now, and say this once, becuase i know Computer Guru will agree. DONT USE x64! enough said, its too hard to find the programs that actually run on it, and as the moment everything (ie 32bit) are all runnable on a x64 system, so you dont need to use that. The normal ubuntu should work fine and ive never had a problem with it, it runs easily much better then my vista.
---

okay...

Quad-boot eh?

there shouldnt, in theory, be any problems with this at all.

the first thing you will want to do is get easy BCD on your vista: Download EasyBCD 1.7 - NeoSmart Technologies

after that is on your machine, things will be alot easier.

okay. next up. the partitioning. you need three more partitions besides the Vista one, which will be a problem if you have a small Hard Drive.

i dont know about OS - X so i wont even try to explain that.

XP should be installed before vista is, for easy-ness. but CG will help us figure that out.

Ubuntu i can do. i would think, seeing as i had better partitioning on that, you should just Live CD (or DVD) into ubuntu. they have a partition program on the Live CD(DVD) which you can use to partition your hard drive. which is helpful. so you would want to partition the hard drive.

know, CG would know more, but i think you will want to Partition first in Vista. and then in ubuntu. so that you dont mess up you vista.

i hope that has been of some help. CG will know more
 
Hey, thank you so much for the quick response and help. I have decided to go with Ubuntu 32 bit (I was really confused on the issue as it was) and have no problem with wiping off any prior installs before embarking upon this task (ie wiping off Vista, then going with the proper boot order). Where can I get a Ubuntu Live CD/DVD? I've already downloaded the install disks off their website. Finally, is there anything I should know about installing OS X on my PC laptop? I was just planning on using my sister's install disk as she has an Intel mac, will this work??

Thanks again,
Dave
 
^ okay

do choice on the 32 bit lol

um, well let me read again lol

do you have the full real install to vista, not a recovery disk, other wise it just messes everything up.

as to the install order, XP, VISTA and then Ubuntu i would think would be the best. but wait for CG to confirm what i tell you.

as to OS-X i dont think you will be able to install it. im sorry to say. Intel Mac's are different then PC laptops even. but you can put vista,XP,or ay linux distro on to her mac.

im sorry if that didnt help much :frowning:
 
I recommend doing XP -> Ubuntu -> Vista -> OS X

NeoSmart Technologies doesn't provide any support on the actual installation of OS X, but once it's installed we can walk you through adding it to EasyBCD.
 
So, I should wipe clean Vista off my new machine, then install XP, then EasyBCD, and all instructions will be given within that?
 
No.

It all depends on what you want to do. You can install them in any order, that's the just the recommend (most trouble-free) one. If you don't want to wipe Vista off your system, you don't have to.

Tell me the order you're planning on installing them in, and I'll tell you what you need to do.
 
My preferred method would be the most trouble free one, and I'm totally open to wiping off Vista and then installing it at a later time (as long as I have the install disk, which I should, my laptop should come tomorrow), so I would go with XP -> Ubuntu -> Vista -> OS X, though OS X might be at a later date. Thanks for taking the time to help me CG
 
Yep, that'll work just fine.

Install XP normally. When installing Ubuntu, press the "Advanced" button to select where GRUB will install to. It'll install to a hard drive by default, change that to the partition that Ubuntu is installed to. Install Vista normally.

Install EasyBCD on Vista | Add/Remove Entries | Linux. Pick the Ubuntu partition and add.

Should do the trick :smile:
 
Quick, stupid question but I should partition my harddrive prior to the installs of Vista/Ubunutu right? Does Ubuntu require more than 1 (I've heard of a swap drive for it or something)? And how much size would ubuntu itself take up on its partition?
 
You don't have to partition before you do that, assuming your drive is set to 'Unallocated' with no partitions on it, you can just create them as you go. But, yes, partitioning beforehand isn't such a bad idea.

Ubuntu does not require more than one partition, but if you give it a second "swap" partition preferably on another drive you'll notice that performance should improve quite a bit.

Ubuntu doesn't take much room for a standard install.. 5GB is more than enough, but you'll want at least 10GB for wiggle room in the future.
 
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