On Installing Multiple Linux Distros on a Computer

[hMeU]

Guys, I was planning to install Ubuntu, Fedora and Backtrack on the same computer (along with Windows 7). My Specifications are:

2.67 Core i5
4GB DDR3 RAM
500 GB HDD

I have a system running Windows 7 with 3 partitions (240, 130, 130) GBs. And I was planning on freeing out 30GB of space and diving it into 3 new partitions. And, then, installing one linux-distro on each. Will the idea work ?

I've been running Ubuntu on vmware for some time but I'm quite not happy with it. So, I was planning to install it along with Windows. And, then, the idea came to have Fedora and Backtrack too. But, then, came the fear of conflict between these distros...

So, are there any chances of conflict between these distros when installed side-by-side ?

[DaReaper]

That shouldn't be a problem, I have the same preset as you do - Windows 7 , Windows vista, Ubuntu.

What you'll need is that you partition your drive into 3 divisions, 30 GB for 3 Distros- 10 each would be sufficient but i'd not recommend it if you'd want to have extra application data stored.

You'll have to choose your primary OS and then configure GRUB2. You'll certainly need to configure the bootloader/MBR for this so that you'll have a list of OS to load on boot.

[Stefano Messicano]

If your hard drive is 500 GB allowing only 30 GB for tree operating system is a little bit limiting.
Installations are very personal but you should create a 3 GB partition for swap and have it share it among the tree of them, Then you should at least allow each OS to reside in 20 GB each. that will give you room to install more applications in each and download some data in each one of them.

[Darwin]

If your hard drive is 500 GB allowing only 30 GB for tree operating system is a little bit limiting.
Installations are very personal but you should create a 3 GB partition for swap and have it share it among the tree of them, Then you should at least allow each OS to reside in 20 GB each. that will give you room to install more applications in each and download some data in each one of them.

Would the amount of data on such a small HDD not hamper the speed?

[JimBobIII]

It wouldn't, actually, or at least I assume; if a partition is small, it's really just less space to seek through to find what you're looking to access. There shouldn't be a noticeable difference.

[pane-free]

Suggest copying backup Windows system partition to a directory on C:\, delete the unnecessary backup partition, reboot, then shrink the C:\ by about 40%; get rid of PC makers proprietary BS partition by placing it on a USB stick that will be recognized by Windows as a partition or drive. This will not only get you the space needed for up to three linux partitions, but decrappify Windows.

You will now have Windows on a partition of about 225-230GB and the rest can be used one primary for swap to be shared by other three linux distros contained within an Extended Partition, leaving room for all the bloat that comes with, say, full install of a 'buntu distro!

[enhu]

installing multiple linux system along with windows isn't gonna be a problem even back when we still use LILO. The more its easier to install multiple systems today because grub2 can recognize installed operating systems and can input it in the list of options to boot.

[guiverc]

This system runs winXP, fedora, ubuntu & suse - I choose which when I boot (grub). I've others with win7 & multiple distros or linux alone.

I'd suggest 10gb is a little limiting; I started with 12gb partitions & have shrunk windows (gparted) many times needing to allocate more space to linux partitions. As I store data all to NAS I thought 12gb would do; alas extracting a file from a dvd .ISO, or extracting a dvd .ISO from .tar.bz2 downloads can need 4gb+ of temporary space. But most commonly space problems occurred with updates (esp. with fedora) as they download, expand & install before they clean up (free space again). I'd suggest 16gb each + swap partition; but depends upon what you'll do.

SWAP partition, though all distros can use the same partition if only running one at a time; didn't see mention of this partition!
Me: Currently fedora is 20gb, suse (I forget) & ubuntu 16gb, and I think swap 6gb for this machine (from original 12gb each)
(this machine has 4gb dRAM too - 6gb so I can 'suspend' to disk)

Will you be tempted to "play" with free software you can suddenly so easily & safely download???
If you are (will be), whilst the programs themselves are small in size (compared to m$) total update space needed increases!