suggest partitioning strategy..

[sagar_coolx]

dudes, i already had a 160 gig sata...n now i got a new 250 gig sata...
now i want u ppl to suggest me a way to set up...
im gonna do a 4 os boot..
1. vista
2.xp(1)
3.xp(2)
4. linux(will change flavors from time to time)
so how do i go about doin it?

[PcEnthu]

Considering that you will install XP and Vista in the first drive and XP and Linux in the second drive, this is what i suggest:

First disk:
1 Primary Min 10 GB for XP install and hosting bootable files (Increase the limit if u install too many programs/games)
1 Logical Min 20 GB for Vista install (I am not sure abt vista installation)
Max 3 logical partitions for your programs/data/backup

Second disk
1 Primary Min 10 GB for XP install and hosting bootable files (Increase the limit if u install too many programs/games)
Max 2 Logical partitions for your programs/data/backup
Min 20GB Unpartitioned space for your linux install

[sagar_coolx]

ok ya...but can we install vista after xp or is it other way round or both are poss? n where does linux come in?

n maybe im wrong, but i heard vista uses a different boot loader dan xp....if its true then including linux, ill have 3 bootloaders! how do i manage dat?

[PcEnthu]

You can follow this guide and first install Vista+XP Combo in the first harddisk. Now you will have the vista bootloader active which will handle theVista+XP combo. Then you can install *nix in the second hardisk and install the *nix bootloader in the primary partition of our harddrive. Now the *nix bootloader will handle will the *nix booting and also transfer the control to vista bootloader (Vista+XP) in case you chose to boot into windows.