How can I install multiple operating systems into my laptop? Is it okay to have multiple OSs? I also have an external hard disk. Can I install an OS there? It is connected via USB. Can it boot other computers?
2007-12-14 00:58:50 · 5 answers · asked by usteaf 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Laptops & Notebooks
Yes you can install multiple OSs on your PC and your only limitation is hard drive space. You must install them on separate partition to prevent compatibility problems or conflicts. As far as installing one on your USB drive, well that depends on your PC. If your PC supports booting from a USB device then yes you could and you could realistically take that and plug it in to other supporting PCs that support the same boot technology.
2007-12-14 01:18:31 · answer #1 · answered by Slick 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An alternative to booting multiple OS's is to run a virtual machine on your existing XP box. You won't be able to install Mac (as far as I know), but you can install as many flavors of Linux, WIndows and DOS that you want. VMWare is probably the best out there, but it's not free (there is a free trial download if you want to try it). VirtualBox is probably just about as good (I haven't used it myself, but have heard good things about it). It's much easier (and safer) to go virtual. You don't have to worry about finding drivers for your specific box....the virtual machine has it's own "hardware" that will just work with most modern OS's. And you don't have to worry about bodging your XP install. You do need a fair amount of disk space and RAM to do this.
2016-05-23 22:20:29 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a number of 'Portable Operating Systems' that you can install on an external hard drive. They are usually condensed versions of the normal OS, eg Portable XP. You can also try BeOS, it's quite powerful and customizable.
2007-12-14 01:05:26 · answer #3 · answered by piir8d 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah,you can have atleast two operating systems on your machine.But the compatibility of the two has to be verified.I have win98SE and win XP running on my computer.No you cannot have one separate OS on your external drive.In case you load one OS on your external HDD then you can at best have another on your original HDD.No it cannot boot other computers,as what I think.But better still check up with a pro.
2007-12-14 01:11:25 · answer #4 · answered by MrKnow_All 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can install mulitple OS's on the same laptop. However, each OS has to be in its own partition. It can be a little tricky. I.e. new versions of windows dont always play nice with older versions.
2007-12-14 01:07:47 · answer #5 · answered by Pawn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋