dual-boot XP and Vista Beta on new machine

[Uncle Grumpy]

OK... I consider myself something of a power user, and I'm also a
pretty savvy computer builder.

THAT said... I'm treading into untested waters here.

My current XP machine is stable and my copy of XP is a RETAIL COPY .

I am going to build a new machine, and install a 120gb drive,
partitioned in half. I want to clone my current main drive to the "C"
partition of that drive (Acronis True Image will be used for all of
the operations), leaving the second partition empty.

I will do a repair install to set things straight. IF that works (and
it should), I then want to clone that partition to the second
partition.

Once all that is successful, I want to install Vista Beta as an
upgrade on the "C" partition, and setup a dual boot so that I can
choose to boot either the Vista upgrade, or the working XP setup on
the second partition.

Am I making myself clear, or is it all muddled.?

If it's clear... is it workable?

UG

 

[Anando [MS-MVP]]

Hello,

I dont understand how you are going to install and run the same copy of
Windows XP on both your machines...your old machine and the new machine with
the 120 GB hard drive. A retail copy of XP can only be run on one machine at
a time.


--
Anando
Microsoft MVP- Windows Shell/User
Microsoft Certified Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
http://www.mvps.org

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[Uncle Grumpy]

I dont understand how you are going to install and run the same copy of
Windows XP on both your machines...your old machine and the new machine with
the 120 GB hard drive. A retail copy of XP can only be run on one machine at
a time.

Simple: I will only be running it on the NEW machine. The old machine
is being retired.

That said, can you answer my question or are you only able to spit out
the kneejerk corporate line in reply to a few keywords??

 

[Kerry Brown]

It would be easier to leave XP on C: and do a clean install of Vista on the
other partition. Vista will setup the dual boot automatically. If the new
machine is 64 bit and you install the 64 bit version of Vista you can't
upgrade anyway. If you want to stick to your original plan I think you will
have problems. When you image the install on C: then restore it to the other
partition it won't be on C: anymore. You could probably get it to start the
boot process but as many registry entries for programs have the drive letter
hard coded it probably won't run very well.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

It would be easier to leave XP on C: and do a clean install of Vista on the
other partition. Vista will setup the dual boot automatically.

I've a lot of programs installed that I've used for years and don't
want to have to reinstall them, find the registration info, etc. I
definitely need to do an upgrade.

I think I'll just do that first and see how it goes (I'm not building a
64 bit system).

If you want to stick to your original plan I think you will have problems. When
you image the install on C: then restore it to the other partition it won't be on
C: anymore.

DOH!! ;-)

I'd forgotten about that! I currently have two internal drives, with
the second being a clone of the first. The system will boot from
either one, BUT it only works if the first is disabled for any
reason... which then makes the other one "C:".

Thanks for the concise reply.

 

[Guest]

Just so you know, you will have to go through an activation process and
explain to microsoft what you want to do or Windows XP will only be good for
30 days. If you want a hack for it, it is likely that you will find one, but
Windows Update really takes a toll on those nowadays.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

When you image the install on C: then restore it to the other
partition it won't be on C: anymore. You could probably get
it to start the boot process but as many registry entries for
programs have the drive letter hard coded it probably won't
run very well.

There is no "C:" partition. The running OS calls its own
partition whatever it wants. If it was installed with no
other partitions visible, it will then and thereafter call its
partition "C:" - even if it's subsequently moved to another
partition. If the OP clones his OS's partition to partition #1
on another HD, it will continue to call its partition "C:".
If the OP then clones partition #1 to partition #2, the clone
OS there will still call its partition "C:" when it's running



True Image will only clone an entire HD and make it the
entire contents of another HD. It will not *directly* clone
an individual partition and make it just one partition among
other already existing partitions. Utilities which will do what
the OP wants are Ghost and Casper XP. With True Image,
one must do a kludge by "imaging" (i.e. making an image
FILE of) the original partition and then "restoring" the contents
of that image FILE to the destination HD - a two-step process.



Why not just make 2 partitions on the new HD and clone the
existing WinXP directly to the 2nd partition?



There is no "C:" partition. There is partition #1, partition #2,
etc. "C:" is a name that a running OS gives to a partition,
and that name lasts only as long as that OS is running. What
you want to do is to install Vista Beta on partition #1. If WinXP
calls partition #2 "C:" while it (WinXP) is running, what do
you care? But if the Vista installer sees partition #2 when it
is doing its installation of Vista, it will tell Vista to call its
own partition (partition #1) "D:".



To the extent that Vista's installer is designed to work that
way, yes.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Just so you know, you will have to go through an activation process and
explain to microsoft what you want to do or Windows XP will only be good for
30 days.

Guess again guru-wannabe: activation is IMMEDIATELY required. AND THE
FREAKIN' SERVER IS "DOWN" so it can't be completed.

 

[Anando [MS-MVP]]

I would still recommend you to preform a clean install on the new machine.
Thats the safest way to go.
Your 'grumpiness' would not be tolerated in public forums. We are all here
to help and get help from others, but yes, in a nice, civillised and polite
method.

--
Anando
Microsoft MVP- Windows Shell/User
Microsoft Certified Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/mvp
http://www.mvps.org

Folder customizations
http://www.anando.org/folder

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

I would still recommend you to preform a clean install on the new machine.
Thats the safest way to go.

That's what everyone said when XP was first released. And for months
afterwards.

I upgraded. It worked. Everyone was wrong.