Vista & XP booting - now Linux?

rabrol

Member
Hi all.
I'm excited to have used EasyBCD 1.7.2 to get Vista & XP running on the same laptop. Now I would like to add my favourite Linux distro - Linux Mint to the equation.

Any guidelines on how to install a Linux when 2 other OSes are already installed? Do I just follow the normal instructions for installing a Linux?

What happens if Linux Mint doesn't give me the option of where to put its bootloader? I know I want it to go in the PBR of the linux partition, but what if it writes itself to the MBR? What would happen and how would I fix it?

Thanks!
Rob
 
Hi rabrol, welcome to NeoSmart Technologies.

Your best bet is just letting it write to the mbr, so that its settings are correct and you know straight away whether or not the installation went smoothly. However, you'll need to use startup repair from a Vista DVD to recover the Vista bootloader. Adding an entry for it from EasyBCD should then be pretty straight-forward. Just go to the linux tab under add entries, select the partition, and give it a name. You don't haft to worry about any other steps such as installing NeoGrub. It'll automatically be installed for you with the correct configuration when the linux entry is added. Make sure however that you pick the option that grub ins't installed though. Most who didn't check the option still had entries that didn't work until they re-added with the option selected.
 
Thanks for the reply.

Can I use the repair from an XP Cd, or does it have to be a Vista DVD? I ask because I do not have a Vista disc...just the recovery DVD images I made myself when I bought the laptop.

Also, when you say "Make sure however that you pick the option that grub ins't installed though" do you mean don't install grub when Linux mint installs, or are you referring to the EasyBCD option "Grub isn't installed in the bootloader"?

Rob
 
Yes. You want to select the option in EasyBCD that it is not installed, but you well want to install it any way when installing Linux so that EasyBCD automatically picks up on the settings needed to boot Linux without you having to manually track down configuration files to do it yourself.
 
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