Multi-Booting on Single Disk Drive

Multi-booting on a single computer disk is the process of installing more than one operating system into your computer. After which, you will be greeted with a menu that allows you to select the operating system to boot from when you power up your computer. Multi-booting provides flexibility to users who need to operate various platforms on a single machine. The Benefits And Tradeoffs nderstand the benefits and tradeoffs before implementing multi-booting. !nstalling multiple operating systems in your computer allows you to run older software that are not supported by modern operating systems. "rograms developed during the #indows $% era may not run under the #indows &''' environment. Thus having a secondary #indows $% installation may resolve this problem. (isk space and file system compatibility, can however be an issue as the drive has to be divided into segments to contain each operating system. This might posed further complications to users whom are new to computers. Taking Into Account There are some factors to consider before diving into a dual installation. !t is important to understand the capability of the various operating systems and also evaluate your ob)ective before you start. *ere are some pointers to get you started+

Different Operating System ,ome popular operating systems used in a multi-boot installation+ -edhat .inux nix /,0& Microsoft (/, Microsoft #indows $% Microsoft #indows &''' Microsoft #indows 1" Microsoft #indows 2ista Each Runs On Separate ile Systems .inux nix /,0& Microsoft (/, Microsoft #indows $% Microsoft #indows &''' Microsoft #indows 1" 3xt "("-4 5AT, *"5,, 65,, *"5, 5AT 5AT7& 5AT7& 0 8T5, 5AT7& 0 8T5,

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9ou could look at the differences between 5AT and 8T5, file system to understand more.

!ogical actors 3ach operating system must be installed into a separate drive or partition :such as drive ; < (=. 9ou can divide your disk into multiple partitions to create separate logical drives. This helps to

prevent clutter and ensure that critical files are not overwritten by the other /,. A disk can contain up to > primary partitions and each can be formatted for use by a file system. Take note also that /, installations can only reside in the primary partitions of a disk. 9ou may need to reformat and repartition your hard disk to do this.

Installations Arrangements 9ou need to install the earlier version /, first before the latest version. 5or example, if you are intending to setup a #indows $% - #indows 1" configuration, you will have to install #indows $% followed by #indows 1". !t is generally not advisable to also install on a drive compressed by the 8T5, compression utility. Supporte" #om$ination 9ou computer can be configured to support the various /, except for the combination of #indows $?, #indows $% and #indows M3. This is because these /, use the same Boot.!8! file and are thus not supported. /nly #indows 8T, #indows &''' and #indows 1" can be combined with those mentioned previously and other /,. Different %ames 9ou need to assign different computer names for the various operating systems if it resides on a #indows &''' or #indows 1" secure domain. 3ach computer name must be uni@ue as the system assigns a different security identifier :,!(= for each installation. Soft&are Installations To run programs across the various operating systems, you have to install them separately when you boot into each individual /,. ,ay, to operate on Microsoft #ord on both #indows $% and #indows &''' installations, you need to install the software twice. This includes device drivers, software patches etc. Though this can be seen as a short-coming, it can actually help to provide some level of flexibility when different /, cater to various application of use.

;ase ,cenario+ #indows $%01" Multi-boot Assuming we are to install #indows $% and #indows 1" into a new hard disk. 5irstly, the hard disk must be divided into as least & primary partitions. The 7rd partition:optional= can be made into an extended partition, further sub-divided into logical partitions to contain miscellaneous data. The first partition will be formatted into a 5AT7& volume which #indows $% will be installed first. After that, #indows 1" can be installed into the &nd partition which is formatted into a 8T5, volume. After all installations, the system will display a menu to allow you to select the operation system to boot into when you restart your computer.