Wow do I create a dual boot XP/Vista install?

Associate
Joined
11 Dec 2003
Posts
599
Location
London
Quick question re: dual boot installation.

I'm new to Vista, never having used it or tried installing it before. I want to set up a dual boot system with XP Pro. How can this be accomplished?

I was planning to use Partition Magic to create a new partition and installing to there. Will Vista provide instructions and the option during setup to install as a dual boot system?

and if so, should I attempt to install from within windows (XP) or boot from the Vista DVD?

[edit 'Wow'?! - I meant 'How', naturally :D]
 
the most fool proof way is to install xp first. then use disk management within it to format either a partition or whole drive ready. now insert your vista dvd and run vista setup from the windows xp desktop. do not choose the upgrade option (obviously :p). just follow the prompts and point it at your partition or drive that you prepared moments ago. and that's it. windows will automatically setup the dual boot menu for you. tis easy. :)
 
fab. actually I have XP already installed and so figured Partition Magic was perhaps the easiest method for creating a fresh partition. does that sound right?
 
depends - assuming you left some unallocated space or have another drive, just use the builtin disk management tool. right click my computer>manage>storage>disk management

if you don't have any unallocated space, then you'll need to use partiton tragic to shrink your current partition first to allow you to create a new partition for vista.
 
One further question. It's for a recently purchased laptop (a Samsung R70). I have a recovery disk for the preinstalled XP Pro, however none of the drivers for Vista - I've gone to Samsung.com/uk/ and downloaded all the device drivers they list for Vista.

Is it a simple matter to get Vista to use these 11 odd drivers (which are currently compressed in zip form)? presumably this should be attempted after the Vista install?

http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/d...del_nm=NP-R70&mType=DR&vType=L&disp_nm=NP-R70
 
Sounds about right.

Once you have both installed, Vista takes over the boot management. XP was boot.ini. In Vista (and therefore also dual boot) it's bcdedit. Once Vista is running, install easy BCDedit and set up your boot ptions in there
 
Back
Top Bottom