how can i make a triple-boot (WinXP, Win7, Linux) that's "portable", or rather usable with various motherboards (to test them)

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giantbucket

giantbucket

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as per long-winded title... is there any way to "install" the three OSes onto a hard drive but make it usable with any motherboard that i connect it to when i test my hardware?

i know that there's live-dvd of linux, and i guess that's step 1 of 50. can that be made to run from a HDD instead of a DVD? and can that same HDD also host a "live" WinXP and a "live" Win7 on there?
 
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n0ns3ns3


CPUs are not relevant.
The chipset and storage mode/drivers are important.
so here you can start http://www.dowdandassociates.com/blog/content/howto-repair-windows-7-install-after-replacing-motherboard/
another topic to research is sysprep.
With general linux distro like mint or ubuntu you can do whatever you want. It does not care what hardware to boot.
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JQB45

JQB45

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Jun 23, 2006
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No windows and linux will puke all over themselves if you change the motherboard after the initial install. For linux running from a live cd/dvd/boot drive is the best case scenario.

Lets assume for a minute that Windows works with Motherboard B after being installed on Motherboard A. It can invalidate your windows registration.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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You can do that just fine, just remember that windows does not like changing the MB - storage drivers and will lose the activation.
first install windows (both of them), and than linux.
Use the linux bootloader to select which OS you want to load.
There are tricks to make windows boot on other HW (force hw scan on boot)
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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well, since i'd be using this to test hardware like boards, cpu, and whatnot, i'd probably never activate the Win installs in the first place as they'd have a pretty short shelf-life before moving to a different mobo/cpu combination. and i'd use it all offline, never connect to network - just in case.

re.: bootloader. so i should not use the windows loader? normally when i dual/triple boot with linux i install in the right order (oldest to newest, linux last), but during linux install i put the loader onto the linux partition and lastly use EasyBCD to update the MBR stuff.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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The order between windows is not important. Linux should be last unless you want to fix the boot loader manually later.
Windows bootloader can boot only windows. So you may see something like booting grub or lilo, and when choosing the last installed windows, you'll get a windows boot menu to choose which windows to load.
IDK (or care) why you need the XP, but before shutting down windows, make sure you know how to make it boot on other HW. you will get BSOD if you just transfer the disk. Windows 10 will boot just fine though.
 
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giantbucket

giantbucket

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ok, good advice. so maybe i'll just stick with 7 and Mint. the only thing to learn is how to make 7 boot on other hardware, especially if i could move from intel to amd or vice-versa. oh, in that case, would i be better off doing the initial install on intel or amd based hardware?
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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CPUs are not relevant.
The chipset and storage mode/drivers are important.
so here you can start http://www.dowdandassociates.com/blog/content/howto-repair-windows-7-install-after-replacing-motherboard/
another topic to research is sysprep.
With general linux distro like mint or ubuntu you can do whatever you want. It does not care what hardware to boot.
 
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