How to Dual Boot Windows XP and Vista?

[James Franks]

Right, I think its time for me to try Vista again, but this time I would
like to dual boot, ie leave my Windows XP Pro as it is and install Vista on
a separate partition on the same drive. I have plenty of space (its a 500GB
drive) and only using 170GB of it. So how do I do it and how do I choose
between WindowsXP and Windows Vista at start up? Is it straightforward?

Thanks in advance. I would apprecaite hearing from anyone who has acheived
this sort of setup.

Regards
James

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Just install Vista onto the new partition. Vista will install its own boot
manager which will pick up Windows XP. After install you should see a menu
asking you to choose to boot between Window Vista and Legacy Windows. Your
legacy windows being XP.

For an illustrated guide to installing Vista see this link from my website:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_vista.htm


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--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Ron Badour]

It can probably be done with the system's boot manager; however, the way I
would do it would be to get a third party partition manager such as this:

BootIt Next Generation is available from:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html and it does partitioning,
makes a compressed image, does many other partitioning chores and is a boot
manager. It is not quite as easy to use as Partition Magic but it is half
the cost and has more features. Unlike the crippled PMagic demo, BING is a
*full function* demo you can try for FREE for 30 days. The web site has a
lot of support articles.

With this product, you can create a partition for the Vista installation and
leave lots of room for XP to grow. You could also create another partition
to hold files that are common to both systems. When you install Vista, BING
would allow you to hide the XP partition so that it did not accidentally get
upgraded. Once the systems are installed, you create a boot menu page that
allows you to choose which system will be booted. If you think this might
be the right thing for you, there are articles that will be of interest
located here:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/support-bootit-next-generation.htm

I no longer dual boot--I use VirtualPC and install W98 within it; therefore,
I am unable to provide information as you requested. However, on various
occasions I had four versions of Windows installed using BING and everything
pertaining to dual booting worked flawlessly.
--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Mick Murphy]

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm

Have a read of the above link.

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Mick I had considered adding that same link to my reply; however the
mentioned article is to dependent upon diskpart which, to me, is not the
easiest of applications to get on with for the average user. It's fine if
you have used it before, but its not something I would readily recommend. To
be honest it is just as simple to partition the drive from the Vista DVD; it
certainly less hassle.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Ron, Dual booting using a VM is another alternative; however, it does have
its limitations. You, as you have pointed out, use a VM with Win 98
installed. In the case of Vista there are some features that simply don't
work in a VM because of the VM's limitations. Aero, for example, available
in Vista Premium upwards, cannot be displayed. This is due, mainly, to the
generic VM display driver used by all VMs. USB connection is also none
existent in VPC 2007, but is available in VMware Workstation (but you have
to pay for this VM). It is also important that you have adequate memory for
the two operating systems to run side by side.

I use VMware Workstation with Windows XP, but this is only for 'support'
issues.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Ron Badour]

Hi John

There are also things that do not work in W98 when installed in VM. One
thing that comes to mind is that there is no XP update for my MS digital
sound system (yeah, I still have one of those antiques) software. So I
tried to install the software in W98 which caused it to starting throwing
error notices galore so I quickly canned that "great" idea. Like you, I
just use W98 for support issues and it works good enough for that.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Peter]

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:36:10 -0000, "John Barnett MVP"

Can you install Windows Vista and Windows xp multiple times?

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Not the same copy. You need separate licences for each copy of Windows you
install. In other words if you want to install 2 copies of Vista and two
copies of XP, for example, you need product code licences for each one.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..