Install 5 operating systems in a single hard drive

This might be a bit tricky for those who are new to installing operating systems and partitioning hard drive.

But you might wonder why do we need this many operating systems when all we really need is one? well, it is a matter of choice, I, being a computer geek, I find it useful to test my programs and systems on different operating systems.

Here's how:

1. First, partition you're hard drive and distribute the spaces evenly or as to you're preference. I distributed the spaces in my 160Gb Samsung HDD like this, for my XP SP3, I allocated 41Gb, for Vista SP1, I allocated only 20Gb, for my Windows 7 beta, I allocated 10Gb, for ubuntu 8.10, only 4Gb and for my Server 2003, I allocated just 11Gb and the rest of the spaces is allocated for my files,music and videos. :)

Here is a screenshot:



2. Install your first operating system. I installed Windows 7 Beta first since Windows 7 Beta will likely be removed once the RTM is released.



Just following the instructions on how to install windows 7 or search google on How to install Windows 7

3. Install your second operating system. I installed Ubuntu 8.10 since installing linux is the trickiest and most prone to errors.

-- screenshot of ubuntu desktop


And please note that, instead of (hd#) (in our example it was (hd0), but it may be different on your machine) we're going to use /dev/sda1 - the partition we installed Ubuntu to.
You can determine this number by looking at the drive Ubuntu is installed to in the on-screen text (as in the screenshot above) to get the sd* value, then suffix it with the partition number (starting from 1). So if it says sdb and it's the second partiton on the drive, enter /dev/sdb2 at that prompt.



4. Install your third operating system, I installed Windows XP since installing XP is second to the longest install time.



Just following the instructions on how to install windows XP or search google on How to install Windows XP

5. Install your forth operating system, I installed Server 2003 since it automatically dual boot Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.



6. Install the final operating system, I installed Windows Vista since it is the only operating system supported by EasyBCD. Installing Vista is as easy as ABC :)

-- screenshot of windows vista

7. Now fixing the boot record, download a copy of EasyBCD then add the Ubuntu 8.10 by going to Add/Remove Entries then selecting the drive with Linux File System in it. Then click add entry.

8. Reboot.

That's it! Enjoy! :)

PS:

I assumed that you have already knowledge on how to format and create partitions. This isn't actually a detailed tutorial for beginners but you can get the idea on how to create a multi boot system.