Shared Data Partition

Question

I have researched this as best I can but do not know much about drive partitioning so I can't find answers to my questions.

I want to multi-boot Ubuntu, Fedora, and Windows 7. Also, I want to store ALL my non-program data (documents, media, etc.) for Ubuntu AND Fedora on a fourth [data] partition that both Ubuntu and Fedora automatically mount on startup.

1. Is this possible?

2. Is there anything strange I need to know about this? (I.e. I'll have problems later, I should have Ubuntu and Fedora share a swap partition, etc.).

3. How much space should I allow for a Ubuntu or Fedora partition that only has the system and program files?

4. I read somewhere about a driver for Windows that will allow you to use an ext* filesystem. Could my Windows partition access the data partition as well?

Answer 1

I have tried something similar with Ubuntu, Fedora and Windows XP. It also worked for me when sharing data and documents.

1. Install Windows

2. Install Ubuntu and Fedora in any order. On installation with graphics view, the other OS on the hard disk are automatically detected and shown. You just need to configure the default OS and order of booting. You can also change the names to be displayed in boot-loader

3. It's okay to share the swap partition as long as you don't use the hibernation of OS much. On hibernation of the system it normally stores data in swap for fast wakeup and if you decide to boot a different OS than the one you hibernated, you may end up losing some unsaved program data.

4. For sharing the data, you can create separate partitions for shared data and mount it in both OS. To access the Linux partition from Windows there is a lot of material on the net. Here is one for example:

   http://www.howtoforge.com/access-linux-partitions-from-windows.