new system dual boot

[Destroyer^]

ill be ordering my new parts tomorrow and thinking about getting vista now if i do get vista would it be recommended to dual boot with windows xp? as in having windows vista for general work and browsing and using xp when gaming as it obviously uses less memory?

[pepsi_max2k]

you could always just give vista a miss. you can get the educational upgrade version from ebuyer for about £55 without having to buy anything else.

if you do dual boot, there's some good info at TweakHound - Installing Windows Vista which bascially says install xp first then vista.

[Thorsson]

If you do get Vista I recommend the Upgrade rather than OEM, and if you can get the Student version that is a bonus. I've bought 3 from EBay without any problems.

[Destroyer^]

can i ask what the differences are?

[themaidenmaniac]

Make sure you install XP first, then Vista other wise it will probbaly go tits up!

[Lucio]

If you want to dual boot, you'll need to install XP first onto one partition of your HDD, then install Vista onto another partition, I'd be careful about using an Upgrade edition to do this, as I'm not 100% sure if the terms of the license let you dual boot.

The main difference in the licensing terms are that OEM is only good for one PC, so if you're a serial upgrader, then you have to buy a new copy of Vista each time you change your motherboard. That said, it's dodgy to pick up a "student" licence anyway, unless you are actually a student!

Best advice is to not worry about dual booting. Just take the plunge with Vista and take the time to learn the OS.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I just did this, and with an Student Upgrade disk, no less. Here's what you do:

1. After building your PC, go into your BIOS and set your CD/DVD drive to boot. Also, be sure you have your SATA drivers on a floppy or flash drive. Save and exit.
Insert your Windows XP disk, reboot, and begin your XP installation. Hit F6 when instructed to load SATA drivers, and install disk when it asks you do (it'll ask again later in the installation too).
2. At the part of the XP install where it asks you where do you wish to install XP, make two partitions (of the size of your choosing) and then install XP on the first partition you made. The second partition will be for Vista; do not worry about formatting it yet; we're just setting aside disk space.
3. Continue XP installation as usual. When its complete, activate XP. Now, insert your Vista disk into your DVD drive, and reboot. Do not install it from XP.
4. When prompted, opt for a Custom install. Upgrade should be greyed out; this is ok for the time being. Go through the install as usual, BUT DO NOT ENTER YOUR CD KEY OR ACTIVATE YET! It would fail anyways. It will ask you if you are sure, say yes. Choose fro mthe list which version of Vista you are using (if you enter the wrong one, you will not be able to activate later. Now, continue through the install as usual. Do not opt to download newest updates; we'll get to that in a minute.
5. When you get to the Vista desktop, eject & reinsert (or simply re-run) your Vista disk. Choose Install Vista. Now you are doing the "Upgrade" that will make your copy of Vista able to activate with a clean install. When prompted, choose Upgrade instead of Custom. Your computer will reboot, and you will go though installation again. It will take longer this time, for some reason. THis time, enter your CD key, and you may activate now, or wait until you boot into Windows later. Installation should continue as normal, and when its done, you will have a clean install with your upgrade disk. Activate if you did not do so during installation, grab all the Windows Updates, and enjoy!

Now, you might wonder about the legality of this. As far as I can understand the EULA, if you already have XP on your system, this is completely legal. Of course, if you don't, its not.

Taken from Paul Thurott's WIndows SuperSite (you can also read more detailed instructions on how to do this on the same page):
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...rade_clean.asp

Is this legal?
One might naturally wonder whether the aforementioned instructions describe an action that is legal or ethical. After all, anyone could purchase an Upgrade version of Windows Vista (therefore saving a lot of money when compared to a Full version) and use it to perform a clean install even if they don't own a previous, compliant Window version.

After telling my "Windows Vista Secrets" coauthor Brian Livingston about this workaround, he wrote that using this process was indeed ethical, in his opinion. "Microsoft itself created the upgrade process," he wrote in a newsletter article describing the workaround. "The company designed Vista to support upgrading it over a previously installed copy of XP, W2K Pro, or Vista itself. This isn't a black-hat hacker exploit. It's something that's been deliberately programmed into the approved setup routine."

Fair enough. Of course, if you do use this workaround to clean install Vista with the Upgrade media, and you don't own a previous, compliant version of Windows, you're most certainly violating the Windows EULA and, thus, breaking the law. Proceed at your own risk.

Take it for what you will; I'm just providing the information. In my eyes, it would seem quite legit; MS did set it up this way AND in our case, we do already not only have XP but have it installed. *shrugs* All I know is it works quite well.

[Destroyer^]

ok cool... would it be reasonable to say that all the latest games coming out work alot better with dx10 and the only way to get that is vista right?

[2Cold Scorpio]

Well, it depends, and likely will be the truth down the road. But right now, any DirectX10 games are built to still work with DX9 (since not everyone has Vista yet, and therefor can't have DX10), and those games still tend to work better in DX9 mode under XP, however, DX10 mode in Vista opens up more vidual effects (Crysis does this: you can only run Max settings in Vista...tghere are, however, tweaks to make this work in XP too, though).

Also, many older games don't work in Vista well, if at all. KotOR and KotOR II seem to be i nthis group (you *can* get them to work, but with no sound), though some people say it works fine for them. *shrug* I just finished a new rig myself and I decided to put XP in just for my games (because I want all the eye candy I can get and still good FPS in my older DX9 games). Its a pain setting up two OSs so that I could do day-to-day work on either one, but it'll be worth it when I can run Oblivion on Max at 1680x1050 w/ HDR and still get 30+ FPS.