Beater Computer with Windows 7, Multi-Linux Distros, and Partitioning
 

Hi, this is my first post!

My dad just recently turned to the dark side and bought a Mac Air, but he gave me his old Netbook: Dell Inspiron Mini. So I am thinking about using it as my beater computer.

What is a beater computer? A computer that I can reinstall OS's at will and still be able to use it for school.
I would like to have the 149 GB hard drive partitioned as such:

______________________________________________________________________________________________
|Primary | Primary | Primary | Extended Partition Extended Partition Extended Partition |
|Partition| Partition | Partition | Logical | Logical | Logical | Logical | |
|---------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|---------|---------|----------------|
| boot | Windows 7 | / | /home | Images | Media | swap | |
| loader | Starter | | | | | | |
| grub?? | 32-bit | | | | | | |
| 1 GB | 32 GB | 20 GB | 32 GB | 16 GB | 32 GB | 4 GB | 12 GB |
| ext4 | NTFS | ext4 | ext4 | FAT32 | FAT32 | ??? | RAW |
|_________|___________|___________|___________|_________|_________|_________|________________|

I would like to use Windows 7 for class. Maybe 32 GB is too much, as I will be installing MS OneDrive and DropBox and the combined 30+6 GB is enough to be able to hold all the school data I need. But I will be installing eclipse for Java, C/C++, Python, Prolog, and others that I encounter throughout my school career.

The /, /home, and swap partitions are self explanatory.

The Media partition is where I would like to store the videos and pictures I take, as I like to work with recording and editing movies. I would like to use both Linux and Windows to edit the movies, and so putting them on a big FAT32 partition seems like a "logical" choice.

Images is a partition I would like to store various ISOs for the Linux Distros I would like to reinstall.

I would like to use many different Linux distributions. I would like to use ArtistX or Ubuntu Studio when I am editing videos. I would like to also have Debian 7, Puppy, Kali (formerly BackTrack), and maybe Fedora 20.

tl;dr Partitioning windows 7 and a linux distro in a way I can quickly switch between distros.

1) Is there a custom Grub installation that I can use to do the reinstallations for me during boot???
2) Where should I add the extra 12 GB? Are my partition sizes effective?
3) Is storing videos in a separate partition formatted with FAT32 a good way to be able to edit them with windows and linux together?

Thank you

I might also consider making a good fast usb flash drive install that doesn't mess with original OS's.

The only quick way to switch between os's is to use a vm.

Windows will need at least 50 gigs especially if you get a large update.

I don't really need to switch between OS's quickly. I would need windows always there in order to use school programs and basic movie editing when I am away from home, but the linux OS would be switched around when I want to explore Debian vs Fedora vs Ubuntu vs ...

When I am at home, then I could use my Dell Precision to host the VM of ArtistX or Ubuntu Studio.

Okay, so I will add the extra 12GB to Windows partition.

Easy to make usb flash installs if you are careful. A fast usb works pretty good.

yeah i have a few old usb sticks lying around, and my netbook doesnt have a cd drive so its the only way to install.

I think i was asking for something a little too hopefull. Thanks anyway.

Well, just not a lot of choice for old style partitions that are easy. Up to you and your choice of installers. It might work or not.

What are the fat partitions for? You would be better off with ntfs because of the file size limitation.

My partitions will be used for sharing movies, music, and pictures between windows 7 and linux, and of course using the windows 7 and linux operating systems.

I think EDDY1's point is that movies frequently are larger than the 4GB limit for FAT32. Linux has been able to deal easily with NTFS for several years now.

Oh I see, I was thinking about how Macs are Unix based and can't deal wit NTFS. Thanks for the heads up both of you. Makes great sense.

I know this is solved but to make things easier you might want to use easy2boot which allows you to load multiple isos on one usb drive. Works very well.

Hmm, Ill take a look thanks!