multi booting

[fatgaz]

hi all,
can some one please tell me if the following is possible, i run my computer with xp pro but have a usb external hard drive 400gb, if i partition it 4 times could i put vista basic, windows 7, ubuntoo and kubuntoo on those partitions and then choose which one to boot up when my computer first boots. i have in the past installed all but kubuntoo on to my "c" drive and they all work fine
i would like the answer to be yes but dont want to waste time installing them all and then not work, hope to hear soon

fatgaz

[ACtheTROLL]

booting from usb isn't ideal

window's boot.ini describes the disc/partition to boot from ... and I'm not sure that a usb drive gets an id number

there are special distros of windows xp that will load onto a usb disc ... but that's a straight hack - and it's very slow
multibooting can be hard enough on an internal drive so I think you'd be pushing it.

having said that ... you'd be using a linux boot loader ... that's not my area

my gut says an internal drive would do it - but USB no -
and vista isn't exactly straight forward to dual boot
but I'd be pleased to be proved wrong

a definite yes would be using virtual PC 2007
and the images would sit on the usb

[ChuckFickens]

yes it's possible...

As AC says, booting from USB is not the best idea though....

What I want to know though.... why do you want to have so many OS's installed on one machine?

Either look into virtual machines, or buy a few cheap second hand puters and get a KVM

[fatgaz]

thanks for your replies
because it is possible although not simple i will give it a go, and the reason i would like so many o/s installed is that if i become bored of one i can switch to another, and being unemployed i cant afford to buy computers even second hand then there is the space issue of storing them when not in use. so i will give it a go and let you know how i got on but dont expect a quick reply cause if it goes pete tong i might just throw the lot out the window LOL

[fatgaz]

well i have done it, after a bit frustrating juggling everything is working fine