Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Creating a vista - xp dual boot

  1. #1
    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    St. Albans
    Posts
    1,829
    Thanks
    145
    Thanked
    104 times in 49 posts

    Creating a vista - xp dual boot

    Hi all

    I've been thinking recently about trying vista out, and i was wondering what would be involved in creating a dual boot machine. I want to keep Windows XP installed on my current hard drive and i was going to buy a second hard drive to install Vista.

    I can get Vista business through the MSDNAA, is there anything major that i will be missing out on with this version as opposed to having home premium or even ultimate? I'll only be using it for uni work (coding, word processing etc) and gaming. If it has any bearing on things my system spec is to the left.

    Thanks

    Andy

  2. #2
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    As far as I can see all you miss in business compared to the premium/ultimate editions is the media centre and dvd movie maker software, which from what you've said you'll be doing shouldn't be a problem. It shouldn't be any more trouble in creating a dual boot than just booting from the dvd and installing into a new partition/drive, windows will create the bootloader, but I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong!

  3. #3
    780 nanometres redlight's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    East Herts
    Posts
    859
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    26 times in 19 posts
    • redlight's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit QuadGT
      • CPU:
      • Core 2 Quad 6600@3.1
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Geil PC6400
      • Storage:
      • 2x250GB Samsung 400GB Seagate
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Leadtek 8800GTS 640MB
      • PSU:
      • Tagan 580w
      • Case:
      • Gigabyte Aurora
      • Monitor(s):
      • Fujitsu Siemens 22" + 42" plasma
      • Internet:
      • 2MB Tiscali
    I put Vista on a separate drive and it did all by itself. First time I booted it asked if I wanted to boot up Vista or earlier version of Windows(XP on the other drive).

  4. #4
    not posting kempez's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Basingstoke
    Posts
    3,204
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Well you could use a partition utility to make a partition on your current drive.

    What I did was start by installing XP and creating 3 partitions:

    1 for XP ~30gb
    1 for Vista ~30gb
    1 storage (the rest)

    Then I installed XP, then Vista

    When you boot Vista gives you a boot manager before it loads asking if you want to boot Vista or an older OS (XP). Leave it alone and Vista boots, switch it for XP
    Check my project <<| Black3D |>>
    Quote Originally Posted by hexah
    Games are developed by teams of talented people and sometimes electronic arts

  5. #5
    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    St. Albans
    Posts
    1,829
    Thanks
    145
    Thanked
    104 times in 49 posts
    awesome, thanks for the info and help. I'm always a bit paranoid messing with hardware since it's always gone wrong in the past for me, but it sounds like a fairly simple process so i'll give it a go when i get some spare time and money.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Lancashire
    Posts
    291
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked
    1 time in 1 post
    • Boon72's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK
      • CPU:
      • Intel i5-8500 @ 3.0Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 2666Mhz
      • Storage:
      • Samsung EVO 960 256gb NVMe, 2 x Toshiba 2TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Zotac GTX1060 AMP 6GB
      • PSU:
      • EVGA 500w
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake F31 Suppressor
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Home x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • iiyama Black Hawk 27"
      • Internet:
      • Vodafone Max Fibre
    ive got my Vista business instaled on a small 40gb sata seperate from the my other OS's, when you install it just ask's where you want it installled and thats it..... just gives you a new boot menu.

    but if you install XP after it on a seperate drive (like i did) you'll find out that you wont be able to access Vista anymore without a quick goggle for the dos command to reinstate the boot manager again over boot loader

  7. #7
    Senior Member kasavien's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    St. Albans
    Posts
    1,829
    Thanks
    145
    Thanked
    104 times in 49 posts
    Cool, well i'll be leaving windows xp installed as is since it's set up how i like it and there was a bit of fiddling to get it that way. One other question am i correct in assuming that if i installed vista on one drive it would be able to see the files on the other and xp would be able to see the files on the vista hard drive?

  8. #8
    not posting kempez's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Basingstoke
    Posts
    3,204
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    It did when I had RC2 + XP installed. Still waiting on my Retail Ultimate to come through tho
    Check my project <<| Black3D |>>
    Quote Originally Posted by hexah
    Games are developed by teams of talented people and sometimes electronic arts

  9. #9
    780 nanometres redlight's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    East Herts
    Posts
    859
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    26 times in 19 posts
    • redlight's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit QuadGT
      • CPU:
      • Core 2 Quad 6600@3.1
      • Memory:
      • 4GB Geil PC6400
      • Storage:
      • 2x250GB Samsung 400GB Seagate
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Leadtek 8800GTS 640MB
      • PSU:
      • Tagan 580w
      • Case:
      • Gigabyte Aurora
      • Monitor(s):
      • Fujitsu Siemens 22" + 42" plasma
      • Internet:
      • 2MB Tiscali
    Quote Originally Posted by kasavien View Post
    One other question am i correct in assuming that if i installed vista on one drive it would be able to see the files on the other and xp would be able to see the files on the vista hard drive?
    Yes you can transfer back and forward. If you are like me I downloaded everything I needed(drivers,patches antivirus etc.) for Vista with XP into one folder then set up Vista and copied the folder across to install them all. Saves going on the nasty net with a new build until you are sure all the security is in place and working properly.
    Last edited by redlight; 04-02-2007 at 07:06 PM. Reason: add

  10. #10
    not posting kempez's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Basingstoke
    Posts
    3,204
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    Quote Originally Posted by redlight View Post
    Yes you can transfer back and forward. If you are like me I downloaded everything I needed(drivers,patches antivirus etc.) for Vista with XP into one folder then set up Vista and copied the folder across to install them all. Saves going on the nasty net with a new build until you are sure all the security is in place and working properly.
    That's what I did...and I have a folder for everything there ready as I re-install all the time anyway
    Check my project <<| Black3D |>>
    Quote Originally Posted by hexah
    Games are developed by teams of talented people and sometimes electronic arts

  11. #11
    ***** Lurker
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    724
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked
    15 times in 15 posts
    • d3fiant's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GB X58A-UDR3 FB11
      • CPU:
      • Core i7 950
      • Memory:
      • Corsair 12GB DDR3 1600
      • Storage:
      • 2x 120GB OCZ Agility SSD + 500GB SP F3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • GB Windforce GTX670 2GB
      • PSU:
      • 850W Akasa
      • Case:
      • Fractal R3
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64 HP Retail
      • Monitor(s):
      • 24" 1920x1080 Iiyama LED
      • Internet:
      • 60MB VM
    word of warning, just dont install XP after Vista, Vista uses a new boot config database which can read entries on the old method and integrate exisitng XP installs into its database, however if u install XP after Vista, XP destrys the database by writing its own method in the drive header

  12. #12
    Senior Member charleski's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    1,586
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    52 times in 45 posts
    If you need to install XP after Vista you can re-install the Vista boot loader fairly easily. I'd recommend VistaBootPro, which is free and also allows you to manage the Vista boot configuration.

  13. #13
    ***** Lurker
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    724
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked
    15 times in 15 posts
    • d3fiant's system
      • Motherboard:
      • GB X58A-UDR3 FB11
      • CPU:
      • Core i7 950
      • Memory:
      • Corsair 12GB DDR3 1600
      • Storage:
      • 2x 120GB OCZ Agility SSD + 500GB SP F3
      • Graphics card(s):
      • GB Windforce GTX670 2GB
      • PSU:
      • 850W Akasa
      • Case:
      • Fractal R3
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64 HP Retail
      • Monitor(s):
      • 24" 1920x1080 Iiyama LED
      • Internet:
      • 60MB VM
    Quote Originally Posted by charleski View Post
    If you need to install XP after Vista you can re-install the Vista boot loader fairly easily. I'd recommend VistaBootPro, which is free and also allows you to manage the Vista boot configuration.
    nice find fella, will take a look

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. how to setup dual boot xp pro & vista rc2
    By itsanobscureid in forum Software
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 23-11-2006, 03:19 PM
  2. How to create a dual boot OS XP ide drives using ghost 9??
    By Pete the Painter in forum Help! Quick Relief From Tech Headaches
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 20-11-2004, 01:26 PM
  3. Replies: 5
    Last Post: 28-10-2004, 06:32 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •