Vista/XP dual boot

Lysander

Lysander

Lysander

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Fiddling around at home I came across a disc I burned of Vista Beta 2 back when it was released for download. Seeing as my old setup couldn't handle it, I thought I'd give it a go now that I've upgraded.

The question is, how do I configure a dual boot system with XP on one side and Vista on the other? I know it's a pretty basic question but it's been years since I've done it.

And yes, I know that the final version is being released at the end of the month but I'm still keen to give it a go before it's delivered since I haven't seen it in action yet.
 
First you'll want to create a separate partition on which to install Vista. Then boot from the Vista DVD and select to install to the new partition you've created. Setup will then sort out the dual-boot options etc.
 
If the new partition you want is on the same drive as your XP installation, you'll need to use something like Partition Magic to do it. Take a backup first though - Partition Magic can screw up, leaving you with a corrupted drive that requires complete reinstallation of XP.
 
i installed vista on another partition but my PC would only boot into vista when the vista dvd was in the drive (i don't mean the installation, i mean the actual OS). If i took the DVD out, it would boot into XP.

Is there a better way than that?
 
mrochester said:
If the new partition you want is on the same drive as your XP installation, you'll need to use something like Partition Magic to do it. Take a backup first though - Partition Magic can screw up, leaving you with a corrupted drive that requires complete reinstallation of XP.
Click to expand...

There's no way I'm touching Partition Magic again. It totally screwed up my XP last time - I'd rather wait :)
 
Question:
I have 4 hard drives. 3 have xp and xp stuff on, could probably get that down to 2.

Let's just (for the sake of argument) say
C:\ Windows XP
D:\ Stuff
E:\ More Stuff
F:\ Nothing on it

I'd like to try my lovely MSDN Vista. Can I just install that on the spare hard drive and dual boot.
What happens if I don't want to have vista on anymore and just go back to XP.
Anyone tried this?
How do I get my boot loader back to how it was?
 
snow patrol said:
i installed vista on another partition but my PC would only boot into vista when the vista dvd was in the drive (i don't mean the installation, i mean the actual OS). If i took the DVD out, it would boot into XP.

Is there a better way than that?
Click to expand...
It's because you have XP on your Sata drive and Vista on your IDE, mine does the same (64bit edition).
 
Jono said:
Question:
I have 4 hard drives. 3 have xp and xp stuff on, could probably get that down to 2.

Let's just (for the sake of argument) say
C:\ Windows XP
D:\ Stuff
E:\ More Stuff
F:\ Nothing on it

I'd like to try my lovely MSDN Vista. Can I just install that on the spare hard drive and dual boot.
What happens if I don't want to have vista on anymore and just go back to XP.
Anyone tried this?
How do I get my boot loader back to how it was?
Click to expand...


You should be able to put it on another drive, I do that with two versions of XP.
Before installing the second version I change the booting order in the bios to make in your case F:\ think it's C:\ drive and then install it as if it were a clean install.

Then to select which OS I want to use I change it in the bios or if your lucky you may have a key that will bring up a Boot From Which Device Window (F11 on my PC)
 
PiKe said:
It's because you have XP on your Sata drive and Vista on your IDE, mine does the same (64bit edition).
Click to expand...


nope, they're both on the same hard disk, albeit on different partitions obviously. Sata seagate drive...

odd...any ideas?
 
snow patrol said:
nope, they're both on the same hard disk, albeit on different partitions obviously. Sata seagate drive...

odd...any ideas?
Click to expand...
You've probably created a new logical partition. The partitions for a dual boot must both be primary partitions.
 
Meths said:
You've probably created a new logical partition. The partitions for a dual boot must both be primary partitions.
Click to expand...


nope, they're both primary partitions...the dual boot does work...ie i can get vista and xp to boot, but as i said, vista only boots when the dvd is in the drive. It's ok, i guess, but i'd rather have the standard 2 options when booting.
 
Sounds like windows boot manager isn't loading at startup if you're not getting the choice between XP and Vista.

This should be loaded by the boot sector of the main hard drive but I don't know how to edit this to start bootmanger.

You might be able to load it by adding a line to the boot.ini file but I'm not sure how to do this.
 
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