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“Tri-Booting” OS’s

Tags: Operating Systems

I have Windows 10 and Linux Mint 19.3 installed on my PC. I am looking to install Windows 7. Will the option to boot it be in my main grub or just when i select Windows Boot Manager

Topic

Tri-Booting

In reply to “Tri-Booting” OS’s

You can tri-boot. I’ve done it, BUT be aware that Windows will demand to be placed on the first hard drive – it won’t let you install it to a hard drive directly any other way. Now, you CAN use Vmware or any other virtualizing software to direct Windows to another hard drive and it will install.

I’ll let you decide which way to go based on the Pros and Cons:

Direct Install to Hard Drive Virtual Install
————————————— ——————
Pros

Easy to install. Easy to Install
Runs great. Runs Great
Won’t be affected if you update Linux / Kernel. Can be linked to Linux
Can be linked to Linux via SMB shares. Can be allocated to
Can use all cores on the computer. one or more cores
Can use all memory. Can be allocated to
all ram or less ram

Cons

Drivers must be installed to see If you use Lilo, you
external devices. may need to edit it
Will not boot if you upgrade your CPU manually.
Will need to be
You’re only installing the Operating reinstalled if you
system. Everything else is extra. upgrade your linux
Windows will insist on being in kernel.
the first hard drive only .
Could potentailly wip out your Lilo Upgrading your
or Grub configuration and not even virtualization software
warn you! may force you to reinstall
windows.

For me, it boiled down to how often am I using Windows at home, and what do I need it for. I run Linux primarily and use Windows at work (different computer – not mine) (If I had my choice it would be Linux and Emacs for pretty much any office task – yeah I’m that much of a geek!).

I run Windows in VMWare…..

Tri-Booting , Part 2

In reply to Tri-Booting

and keep a DVD handy in case VMWare upgrades or I upgrade my Kernel.
I use Grub to allow me to choose what to boot and it’s worked great for years!

Hope I was able to help you out!

RE: “Tri-Booting” OS’s; Just use a VM

In reply to “Tri-Booting” OS’s

Honestly I can’t recommend anything other than a virtual machine for running windows alongside Linux.

Pros:
Don’t need to reboot between OS’s
Cloning OS’s prevents reinstalling and slowdowns
Can run both Linux and Windows at the same time
Secure
Fast (depending on your setup)
Guest OS’s can game (depending on your setup and your hypervisor, don’t attempt gaming on anything other than QEMU)
QEMU is built directly into linux.

Cons
Tricky to setup if you choose QEMU
Can be slow (depending on your setup and your hypervisor; I seriously recommend QEMU)
Certain games may tell that it’s running in a VM and not work; workarounds are your best friends and hardening the VM is always not a bad idea.

Like I said, I recommend QEMU, I use it everyday and works beautifully. There’s a ton of guides out there to explain how to setup QEMU but you can go with VMWare or VBOX if you need to.

Reply To: “Tri-Booting” OS’s

In reply to “Tri-Booting” OS’s

Step 1: Boot in to live USB.
Step 2: Configure install options.
Step 3: Set hostname.
Step 4: Setup user details.
Step 4: Partitioning HDD.
Step 5: Select software to install.

Regards,
Will

[Author]

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