Hypothetical triple boot XP, Vista ,OS 10.5.1

Hi all
If I was going to ask for any help in here regarding above hypothetical subject, would I be breaking forum rules?
Hypothetically I have dual boot machine, XP and Vista on two separate SATA II hard drives. I am, hypothetically speaking, going to slot in 3rd 500Gb hard drive to install Mac OS 10.5.1. So far, hypothetically speaking, I managed to find instructions on how to install Kalyway on separate partition on the same hard drive but nothing on separate hard drive.
I am being paranoid of destroying boot loader, but I can not tell for certain which boot loader I am using when booting into Vista and which boot loader when booting into XP or they are two totally different ones. Basically when I turn my machine on, after a few seconds I get promoted to choose which OS I want to go to. That's what I want to get if I was, hypothetically speaking, going to install Mac OS 10.5.1.
Any help would be appreciated :D

While I haven't actually tried it with that (hypothetical) configuration, it sounds like a job for GRUB.

:D

mike-cow said:

While I haven't actually tried it with that (hypothetical) configuration, it sounds like a job for GRUB.

:D

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I am reading about GRUB but I don't understand it.....
Are you able to share some light on what I am suppose to do

I've never used it without a linux installation, which makes it tricky. There is a guide HERE if you want to know more. If the instructions spook you, it's not a solution for you I think. There's probably other easier dedicated bootloaders that would do the job out there too, just that grub came to mind because it's free and readily available.

mike-cow said:

I've never used it without a linux installation, which makes it tricky. There is a guide HERE if you want to know more. If the instructions spook you, it's not a solution for you I think. There's probably other easier dedicated bootloaders that would do the job out there too, just that grub came to mind because it's free and readily available.

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Thank you
What do you think about EasyBCD? I am not sure if, hypothetically speaking, Kalyway 10.5.1 OS will destroy anything, as in corrupt it.

If you get in trouble, restoring the bootloader for vista is easily done. Just run a repair off the vista installation media. I wouldn't trust BCD to run anything but vista though, MS isn't known to play well with other OSes.

mike-cow said:

If you get in trouble, restoring the bootloader for vista is easily done. Just run a repair off the vista installation media. I wouldn't trust BCD to run anything but vista though, MS isn't known to play well with other OSes.

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That is one way, It looks like GRUB is easy to use but how do you install it....:huh:

I would definately suggest you take a look at EasyBCD as it shows a lot of hypothetical setups in the documentation and has specific options for MAC os.

btw I have had problems with Grub and vista in dual boot situations. none at all with easyBCD.

Another option of course in your situation with three HDD with an os on each is to use the Bios Disk Boot option just switch the option on in the bios and select the correct drive to boot from when you boot, and no messy multi boot loaders .

barman58 said:

I would definately suggest you take a look at EasyBCD as it shows a lot of hypothetical setups in the documentation and has specific options for MAC os.

btw I have had problems with Grub and vista in dual boot situations. none at all with easyBCD.

Another option of course in your situation with three HDD with an os on each is to use the Bios Disk Boot option just switch the option on in the bios and select the correct drive to boot from when you boot, and no messy multi boot loaders .

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Bios Disk Boot option is another one I heard about it... I am going to look through my motherboard manual. If you know where to find it please show/ direct me there. I have MSI P35 Neo 2

not sure about specific mobo but is normally in boot options page of bios with and entry something like "show boot menu on startup" check your manual if you have it or try MSI website. the option may not be available but I would be suprised on a recent board.

barman58 said:

not sure about specific mobo but is normally in boot options page of bios with and entry something like "show boot menu on startup" check your manual if you have it or try MSI website. the option may not be available but I would be suprised on a recent board.

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I will thanks...
One more thing remains hypothetically speaking. Once I put my third hard drive in, do I need to format it first on let Mac OS do it.
I read somewhere that new hard drivers were formatted to FAT32 before installation attempt

not having done anything with a mac in about 10 years not really qualified to say but should really be a case of using the install disk to set up a completely new install on the blank new HDD maybe one of the forum mac users could jump in now and guide you through the next step

barman58 said:

not having done anything with a mac in about 10 years not really qualified to say but should really be a case of using the install disk to set up a completely new install on the blank new HDD maybe one of the forum mac users could jump in now and guide you through the next step

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Do we have Mac users that can help this hypothetical question please?

if noy then you could try here good luck with the hypthetical project



---------------- Now playing on XMPlay: Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

barman58 said:

if noy then you could try here good luck with the hypthetical project



---------------- Now playing on XMPlay: Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

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I don't think I'll get any help there. Is there any Mac users in this forum

there are some who multiboot, i think, but you would probably find it quicker in a specific MAC forum or even on the support area of the apple site there is an install section there

Technically, no - because Mac OS is not allowed to be installed on non Mac hardware. So, getting your questions answered at all is asking someone to either admit they have knowledge that is illegal to disseminate or asking them to flat out admit they have done something illegal.

However, I can say I have had no issues with neither GRUB *nor* EasyBCD when it comes to multiple booting. I can say this - I have found that disconnecting other drives and manually changing the boot order in the BIOS when booting works even better, as then I don't have to worry about boot managers and the like. Finally, I can *suppose* that if you find a way to triple boot Vista XP and any form of Linux, then the differences between that tutorial and using Leopard in place of the Linux listed should be *minimal*.

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Double post

johngalt said:

Technically, no - because Mac OS is not allowed to be installed on non Mac hardware.

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I read EULA

johngalt said:

So, getting your questions answered at all is asking someone to either admit they have knowledge that is illegal to disseminate or asking them to flat out admit they have done something illegal.

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I agree with that

johngalt said:

However, I can say I have had no issues with neither GRUB *nor* EasyBCD when it comes to multiple booting.

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I have EasyBCD instilled on both of my hard drives currently running XP and Vista. I take it, it would not be hard to add another OS to boot menu

johngalt said:

I can say this - I have found that disconnecting other drives and manually changing the boot order in the BIOS when booting works even
better,

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This part right here is what I don't understand. I know how to change boot order, how to boot form CD,. Do you mean, that I need to find out which drive (drive number) my OS X is and change boot order to boot form it.

johngalt said:

as then I don't have to worry about boot managers and the like. Finally, I can *suppose* that if you find a way to triple boot Vista XP and any form of Linux, then the differences between that tutorial and using Leopard in place of the Linux listed should be *minimal*.

Click to expand...

So far I have installed SATA controller and new hard drive. Both are seen in device manager and disk management. I have left new hard drive unformatted for the time being. It did my head in for about 2 hours. After initial hardware install I couldn't see hard drive in BIOS or any of disk management. Searched high and low to find out the cause but it turned out I didn't plugged the controller properly. How silly.....:D All is good

I can just add a small thing here;

I live in Sweden.

This country has a few things that are really nice about the legal system. One thing is that an EULA is not considered a valid legal document, and, regardless of there being an "I agree" box to click or not, it's not going to magically transform into one.

Another thing is that I'm LEGALLY allowed to do whatever it takes (as in decrypting, hacking, converting, disassembling, I can't kill people for it even though it could be useful at times, lol) to get something I bought working on my equipment. So Apple have no say whatsoever if I decide to run Leopard on my computer as long as I buy the OS. It's the same thing that makes it entirely LEGAL for me to rip a CD and use it in my mp3 player, or convert a movie to play it on my PS3. You can't sign away your legal rights in this country, just opt to not enforce them...