You can install more than one operating system on one computer disk, but as many as you like. Usually, two operating systems on one computer are enough for games and work. Moreover, it is quite successfully possible to combine such systems with different architecture as the Windows family and Linux-like systems. With this combination of systems, it is imperative to first partition the hard disk into partitions. The installation of the second OS on the disk does not begin before the installation of the Acronis OS Selecter boot loader. This utility will put a menu in the boot area of the disk to select all available computer systems.
Necessary
Partition Magic application, Acronis OS Selecter utility, OS bootable CD
Instructions
Step 1
Before installing the second OS on your computer, allocate the necessary space on your hard disk for it - a new partition. To do this, use the Partition Magic application or use the built-in fdisk utility of the system itself.
Step 2
The file system of the new partition must correspond to the architecture of the OS that you intend to install together with the existing system. For example, NTFS and FAT-32 file systems are common for Windows operating systems, and for Linux it is worth setting one of the Ext2fs file system varieties.
Step 3
Having selected a separate partition for the new OS, install the Acronis OS Selecter loader utility on your computer. This utility provides the user in the graphical menu with the ability to select all installed OS on this computer.
Step 4
After installing Acronis OS Selecter, restart your computer. On a new boot, you will see a menu where you can select boot options: your OS or boot from floppy. After installing the second operating system on your computer, one more item will be displayed in this menu. Thus, you can choose from the two installed systems the one you need at the moment, and the installer will download it exactly.
Step 5
Reboot and install the new operating system from the bootable CD in the usual way. After installing the second OS on a new boot, the bootloader selection menu will appear on the screen. Select with the mouse the OS you need that you want to load. You now have two OSs installed on the same disk.
