Installing Vista but wanting to keep XP.

[truebluecfc]

Okay, in under a month I'm gonna need Vista for a few DX10 Games such as Bioshock.

What i want to know is, is it possible for me to install Vista on another partition giving me time to sort all my programs, install all my games etc whilst still being able to go on XP, then if i find i have no problems with it delete the XP Partition or is it better to just format my Harddrive completly and put a fresh install of Vista on as it may be "cleaner" or w/e, i have 1 WD 500GB AAKS SATA-II Harddrive, thnx in advance.

 

[truebluecfc]

Thnx for your help but can i ask a few more question quickly.

What do you think is the best way to partition everything on a single 500GB HD, obviuosly 2 for XP & Vista but what about games, program files & music for example.

Also when i install XP and all my program files on 1 Partition then Vista on another would i need to install the same programs again on the Vista partition or should i just have XP & Vista by themselfs on a partition with another partition for all my program files.

I've also read about X-Images(?) and this Norton Ghost where if i understand it correctly copys a certain partition and if anything goes wrong with it you can use this Norton Ghost to restore what you had previuosly, if so how big are these images and is it advisable to make a partition purely for keeping these images on.

 

[truebluecfc]

With a 500gb drive i would have

C: Vista (100gb)
D: XP (100gb)
E: back up (265b)

I' msure when the drive is formatted it is only 465 out of the 500gb

If the version of vista is 32 bit you could create a directory for installs and share that between the two os.

Thnx for the reply and yeh it sais 465GB, anyways i have Vista 64 so would i have to install all my program files for both OS partitions or would it be easier and would it work if i had a made a seperate partition for Program Files, same goes for Games.

 

[truebluecfc]

So if i wanted to be able to use the same programs/games for both XP & Vista i would have to either install them twice on each partition or could i just create a seperate partition for Program Files and games and be able to use them in both XP & Vista, sorry if i sound daft but want to get it right first time.

 

[truebluecfc]

It's not like the good old DOS days, where a OS change meant games worked. I find some games just don't work after a OS wipe (previous install) And installing applications install there own system files.

So you'll need to install them twice. For program files not too bad, but bit impossible for games.

Damn, is it not possible to make a seperate partition just for games? or will i really need to install them twice on both OS Partitions, i was thinking of doing this "if" possible so everything worked for both OS's

Partition 1 - XP Home Edition SP2 [ 25GB ]
Partition 2 - Vista Home Premium 64-bit [ 45GB ]
How big are XP & Vista?
Partition 3 - Program Files [ 60GB ]
Partition 4 - Games [ 150GB ]
Partition 5 - Music [ 100GB ]
Partition 6 - Backup Images (such as Norton Ghost) [ 85GB ]
Anyone any clues how big these are?

If this isnt possible then I'll just make 2 x 232.5GB Partitions and install all DX9 Games on the XP Partition and all the DX10 Games on Vista.

 

[truebluecfc]

Thnx guys, ha didnt relise XP was that small

Well I'm gonna try the Partitions how i mentioned with obviuosly smaller size Partitions for Vista and XP as i didn't relise them being that small.

Partition 1 - XP Home Edition SP2 [ 5GB ]
Partition 2 - Vista Home Premium 64-bit [ 15GB ]
Partition 3 - Program Files [ 70GB ]
Partition 4 - Games [ 150GB ]
Partition 5 - Music [ 100GB ]
Partition 6 - Backup [ 100GB ]

and 16GB left over which is fine as if i ever need any more space I can just use Partition Manager and change the Partition Size, If this doesnt work out eg; some games/programs dont work then I'll just make 2 Partitions, one for Vista and one for XP no problem.

 

[truebluecfc]

I would create a larger XP partiton, add 2GB swap file, that's already 5GB. Plus you might have things like Photoshop, Office and Autoroute which are pretty big. My brothers partition is 5/6GB and I'm going to have to re-size it sometime. Then you have temp files and net cache ontop of that.

3) You can't have a shared program files directory for both OS, install each set of program files to each OS partition.

I'm trying to delete installed updates under Vista, in XP it's blue folders with $*.* but Vista is different. Usually once update is installed I don't need to uninstall it, therefore waste just sitting there (talking hundreds of megs, more if you did Service Pack after a install, unlike slipstream disc which means smaller install)

#

damn ok thnx for that.

 

[truebluecfc]

Ok I've installed both XP & Vista on 2 seperate Partitions and backed it up using Norton Ghost on a seperate Partition again. One final question though, i think i do but i wanna make sure, do i have to install my Sound, Mobo, GFX, Mouse etc drivers on both XP & Vista?

 

[truebluecfc]

Yes you do.

Some tips for Vista

Disable hibernation (don't need it for desktop) 2GB saving, if computer has 2GB of ram
disable indexing and system restore
lesser tips, auto login, disable balloons

Thnx