Plse, need a little help with a triple boot system

ichirouganaim1

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Jul 24, 2007
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hi folk,
first time on this side of the forum but i have posted before on the hardware side of things.

recently built up a new system with a vista occupied 400 gig seagate hd but have just installed a 74 gig wd raptor which i have already partitioned and formatted 23 gig ntfs for xp, 23 gig ntfs for vista, and 23 gig fat32 for linux, remaining 5 gig still unallocated. my intention is to load these three operating systems respectively onto the raptor and eventually wipe the seagate clean in order to retain it only for general storage and backup. I already have a copy of xp and vista and i have just downloaded and burnt a bootable copy of linux ubuntu. my question is, what is the simplest way to install these three operating systems on to the raptor in a triple boot mode where i can select which os i want to use as the system boots? i understand from a little reading that fat32 is not too happy with linux (or vice versa) and that the file system should be ext3. how can i change the linux partition from fat32 to this ext3 system?

can this all work? how do i go about the whole thing?

ps: just in case this is of any value to the answers, my system also comprise of intel BX975 mobo, 2 gigs ram, GeForce 7300gt vid card, extreme 120 cooler, E6600 CPU, two dvd/cd rw's, 800W ultra p/supply, everything sata.
 

g-paw

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Check out Partition Magic, it will let you format the FAT32. It also comes with Boot Magic that makes it easy to boot with multi OSs. As for the installation, I checked out the Microsoft site to see what they recommend relative to install XP or Vista first.
 

ichirouganaim1

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Many thanks g-paw. Normally only one partition is made active, but in a triple boot situation, are all three to be made active? Seems crazy to me but just want to be sure. Also, on the Microsoft site did they actually recommend which one installs first?
 

g-paw

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Given the boot problems you can run into with one version of Windows, I wish you the best booting 3 OSs. :)
 

ichirouganaim1

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Seems like I am crazy g-paw but I just like experimenting. Actually I am looking forward to getting into what Linux has to offer; been a Windows user for years but have heard alot about Linux so want to try it out.
 

theboomboomcars

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Install XP, then Vista, then Linux. You don't need to worry about pre-formating the linux partition because that will be taken care of when you install. Then you can just use grub as a boot selector, which would be setup when you install ubuntu.
 

ichirouganaim1

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Jul 24, 2007
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Ok, will get down to the task tonight and see how it goes. Will post results afterwards or seek further advice if I run into problems. Cheers.