Windows Vista: How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista?
- 10/24/08 4:00 PM
How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 10/24/08 4:00 PM
Question:
To begin with, I am not totally literate when it comes to
knowing what goes on "inside." I would like to know if it is
possible to partition two different operating systems on the
same computer. I am using Windows XP, but I would like to try
Vista. I have heard good and bad things about it, so I’m
reluctant to dispose of XP unless I’m convinced that I really
like it. Can you please give me some detailed directions as
to how I can accomplish this? Thank you.
--Submitted by Jay S.
Here are some featured member answers to get you started, but
please read up on all the advice and suggestions that our
members have contributed to this member's question.
Two Operating Systems on one computer --Submitted by Watzman
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=312655&messageID=2884616#2884616
It's possible... --Submitted by Wolfie2k5
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=312655&messageID=2884767#2884767
Try out Vista without dual booting... --Submitted by caskater4
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=312655&messageID=2884741#2884741
If you have any additional advice or recommendations for Jay, please click on the reply link and submit it. Please be as detailed as possible in your answers. Thanks!!
This Has Alreadu Been Addressed in the 'Vista Tips'...
by Grif Thomas - 10/17/08 5:02 PM
In reply to: How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
....which are at the top of this Vista Forum.. Here's just one of the links about the issue:
Creating a dual-boot setup...
It's also been discussed in other forum threads as well. Here's a link to one previous discussion.:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7813_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=264088&messageID=2583952#2583952
Hope this helps.
Grif
What about the other way
by coolskid - 11/15/08 1:23 AM In reply to: This Has Alreadu Been Addressed in the 'Vista Tips'... by Grif Thomas
Hi i have 2 internal hard drives a 500gig running vista home premium, and a 250gig used for storage shows as local drive k,i want xp on there but have been told its not possible by my pc shop as its an older os than the one already on is there a way round this and if so how in idiot proof steps thanks,and ill need to know how to get pc to ask which i want to use on starting pc skiddly
No idiot-proof way...
by John.Wilkinson - 11/15/08 1:27 PM
In reply to: What about the other way by coolskid
In short, you can install XP but that will render Vista unbootable until you repair the Windows Boot Manager, a task noted in this forum's sticky. It is entirely feasible, but it is advisable that you backup your files first, just in case something goes awry.
John
The best way to dual boot XP & Vista
by igid49 - 10/17/08 8:17 PM In reply to: How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The way that allows you to use both OS's without either OS conflicting with the other is to use 2 separate drives. Put XP on one drive. Unplug that hard drive. Put Vista on the second drive. Plug in both drives. You now have 2 separate systems that do not cause incompatabilities. When you wish to change the disk that boots you can just do it in the BIOS or make the change when the computer boots up--if your BIOS allows you to.
Before using this method every time i did the 'standard' way to dual boot the System restore always was messed up
Absolutely concur - use two drives
by Rick75230 - 10/25/08 2:17 AM In reply to: The best way to dual boot XP & Vista by igid49"The best way to dual boot XP & Vista
by igid49 - 10/17/08 8:17 PM
In reply to: How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) Moderator
The way that allows you to use both OS's without either OS conflicting with the other is to use 2 separate drives. Put XP on one drive. Unplug that hard drive. Put Vista on the second drive. Plug in both drives. You now have 2 separate systems that do not cause incompatabilities. When you wish to change the disk that boots you can just do it in the BIOS or make the change when the computer boots up--if your BIOS allows you to.
Before using this method every time i did the 'standard' way to dual boot the System restore always was messed up"
I absolutely concur. I have a similar setup with two complete XP installations. Hard disks are downright cheap. It's not worth the time or risk involved to revamp an existing system. You can get a large HD for under $50. If you value your time at $16 per hour (including aggravation), you would have to be totally up and running in less than 3 hours. If converting to dual boot takes 3-1/2 hours you have lost money by not using the two-disk approach. Since you have no experience with Vista, it is unlikely you could install Vista and all relevant programs in 3 hours.
But keep in mind that means "less than 3-1/2 hours" to CONVERT to dual boot. What if you screw something up? What if you don't like Vista? Then you have to spend time UNconverting. With the separate disk, if you totally screw up the Vista install it has no effect on the XP drive. If you don't want Vista, you just wipe the drive.
(By the way, you won't just wind up stuck with an extra drive. WinXP allows you to "mount" a hard disk in an empty FOLDER. For instance, you can mount Hard Disk 01 as C:\Data. Then when you write to C:\Data the data actually winds up on HD-01. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307889 )
I assume you don't want to do a full-install of Vista, you want to use the cheaper upgrade install. I haven't tried Vista, but every upgrade version of Windows I have ever seen will let you do a full install. Run the upgrade disk and when it doesn't see Windows on the new drive it will ask you to insert the install disk for the previous version of Windows. Once you do that it will continue. The new (Vista) installation will not tell Microsoft "WinXP Product ID 123-456-789 has been upgraded to Vista, so consider the old WinXP installation invalid."
Two program installations
by Rick75230 - 10/25/08 2:34 AM In reply to: Absolutely concur - use two drives by Rick75230"Absolutely concur - use two drives
by Rick75230 - 10/25/08 2:17 AM
In reply to: The best way to dual boot XP & Vista by igid49"
However, there is one potential problem with the two-drives method: you will have two installations of the various programs, some of which may have product activation. Although you will be using the same physical hardware, each install creates new ID numbers. So, for instance, if you installed Office 2007 on XP and now you install it on the second drive under Vista, Microsoft's activation program will see it as a second install on a different computer.
For instance, where I have two XP installs on the same computer, I have to have a Norton Antivirus subscription FOR EACH INSTALL.
In most cases "multiple install" is not a big problem. However, I have had several programs (Avanquest's PowerDesk Pro and Corel Paint Shop Pro 10) say that the program has been installed too many times and refuse to install again. This happens because DURING the install process the program accesses the vendor's website (BEFORE registration). However, in both instances the program has been reinstalled numerous times (switching hard disks, motherboards, multiple installs needed during troubleshooting, etc.) which is probably not your situation. 2-3 installs total doesn't usually trigger the "too many installs" problem. If you DO run into that problem, just call the vendor and tell them you had to reinstall the program multiple times because of hardware problems and that it is only installed on one computer. (Don't mention "multiple independent drives in the same box".) They will either reset the activation count or issue a new activation code.
having 2HD is defenitely the best solution!!!!!!
by Randolf Neo - 10/30/08 1:07 AM In reply to: Absolutely concur - use two drives by Rick75230Obtaining 2 separate HD on each OS would likely gives you 2 machine in a lower price!!!!!
I was also planning to make a dual OS but was reluctant since it may cause me trouble in the future and was thinking of having a separate HD on each OS...
It is simply like having 2 wives at a separate house!!!!!! they won't mess up with each other!!!! hehehe!!!!! Don't mixed them together to prevent conflict....
Dual Booting Made Easy
by cruzansailor - 10/27/08 10:59 AM In reply to: The best way to dual boot XP & Vista by igid49I initially tried installing both OS's on one HD, and had several problems with that approach. I recently purchased a Samsung 500GB drive, and installed my old XP OS on there. I installed all the programs that I like, such as Super-Ad Blocker, and a couple of security items, along with Photo Shop etc. This drive is completely free standing, and I plug it in when I want to boot to XP, having unplugged the Vista drive. Then I have a third HD, a 500GB LaCie Porsche, external USB drive, that I channel all my completed work to, as well as downloads I want to have accessible for both OS's. I keep my Computer on my desk, with the side cover off, because after experimenting with several devices to keep my HD's cooler, I discovered that a little $10 fan blowing Air directly into the computer lowered the temperature by as much as 30 Degrees. My Bios apparently recognizes both OS's without a problem, and I am able to use my machine, as if it was two different machines, completely independent from each other. Life made easy!
Two Operating Systems on one computer
by Watzman - 10/17/08 8:34 PM In reply to: How do I dual boot my computer to run Windows XP and Vista? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Re: "I would like to know if it is possible to partition two different operating systems on the same computer."
Jay, it's not only possible but it is done VERY often. But you may need to get some help in actually doing it.
What you want is called "dual boot" (or, for more than two OS', "multi-boot"). As long as you are doing no more than two OS, you can do it with just the OS' (e.g. software on the OS CDs), providing that you can repartition your hard drive into [at least] two partitions; while you can have two OS' on the same hard drive, they generally have to be in separate partitions. If the hard drive is currently fully used (fully partitioned), you may have to do some repartitioning first, so you may need "Partition Magic" or a similar partitioning software. Then you can go after setting up dual boot. The general process is to install the older OS first, then install the newer OS in a separate, blank partition (so you might have XP in C: and Vista in D:).
However, with XP and Vista, there is nasty catch: Due to a conflict between how XP and Vista work, if either Operating System sees the partion containing the other, there will be some corruption of the "other" OS. The most serious consequence of this is that the System Restore function will be lost for both OS', and there may be some other , less serious consequences. The choices basically are to live with this, or to arrange to "hide" the partition containing whichever OS you did not boot into (whenever you reboot you will be given a menu of the two OS' and the chance to select which one to boot up from). If you choose the "hide" approach (probably best), you will need a 3rd party "boot manager" since the Microsoft boot manager doesn't implement this function. If you do a web search for "dual boot" or "boot manager", or similar, you will get a lot of hits that should help you to both select a boot manager (some are free, some are not) and give you instructions for setting things up.
What I usually recommend for people setting up dual boot is this:
-Oldest OS on C:
-Newer OS on D:
-All data for both OS' (including "My Documents") on E:
Setting this up takes some effort to get all the programs installed under either or both OS' to store their data on E: (including making a "My Documents" folder on E: and having both OS' recognize it as THE "My Documents" folder), but it gives you the flexibility to use either OS and see the same data. System Restore won't work on E: if you do this (since both OS' will, by definition, see that partition), but system restore doesn't deal with DATA anyway, it only deals with system files such as drivers and the registry, which won't be on that 3rd data partition.
As to specific instructions, again, that can get pretty lengthy, and the best advice I can give you is to do a web search. There are plenty of sites that do have step-by-step instructions, but the length of the instructions makes it kind of prohibitive to actually put them directly into this post. One such good site is:
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm
And a good, widely used boot manager is VistaBootPro.
Hope this helps, Barry Watzman
Partition Magic
by Dave Ankenman - 10/19/08 12:13 AM In reply to: Two Operating Systems on one computer by WatzmanI purchased Norton Partition Magic a couple of months ago and found out after installing it that it will not work with VISTA, and had to get my money back from Norton....FYI...Heads UP !!! It was Version 8.0...Good Luck.
Partition Magic
by Zouch - 10/24/08 7:25 PM In reply to: Partition Magic by Dave AnkenmanPersonally, I prefer to use Partition Magic from the bootable distribution CD (mine is Version 8 too) that way, you can adjust your partitions independent of any of your "production" operating systems. I've never had a problem using it in this way. The only reservation here is that the bootable version doesn't support USB drives, so if you only have Vista, that might be a problem.
I found that out about Partition Magic too, Dave.
by Paul C - 10/26/08 2:26 AM In reply to: Partition Magic by Dave AnkenmanAcronis Disk Director does everything Partition Magic does, works on Vista and is $20 cheaper.
Partition Magic does work
by sredd68 - 11/1/08 3:48 PM In reply to: Partition Magic by Dave AnkenmanAs long as you use PM 9.0 or better (if there is one). I'm using it on my Dell 4600 Vista Ultimate/XP PC right now. Never used PM 8 on it. And it's published by Paragon.
I was wrong...
by sredd68 - 11/1/08 3:51 PM In reply to: Partition Magic does work by sredd68Actually I'm wrong. I have Partition Manager by Paragon. My mistake. That one works great.
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