Install on second HD

[Kate]

My laptop has a two HD's on board. I was thinking of replacing my larger D
drive where I store data with the original smaller HD that came with and
using that to install Vista. If I do that I can still access my data with a
USB connection. Seems like the perfect solution! Does this then give me dual
boot options? Will my programs installed on the XP drive work with Vista or
do I have to install them again on the Vista drive? Even if I have to
install them on the Vista drive it seems like I could go at it slowly as
time allows and continue using XP until it's all up and running well. Does
that make sense or am I missing something? I keep good backups but I like
having the XP drive intact in case I missed something. Lots of senior
moments these days!

If this is good, will I be able to eventually just swap my Vista drive into
the first postion where the XP drive is now? Or is there and another way to
move or it to the C position?
TY, Kate

 

[DL]

You would have to onstall the Programs on Vista, you cannot 'share them'

An option might be to image your current o/s drive then simply upgrade to
Vista (assuming your hw is capable)
If it all goes wrong then you simply restore from your image

 

[Kate]

I am going from XP Pro to Vista Home Prem. So no upgrade. Are you saying I
need to install Vista on the drive in that first C slot, if that is where I
want it eventually? I guess I could take the XP/C drive out, put the
identical drive in there and install Vista. I wouldn't have dual boot but I
would still be able to put my old XP one back in if things go badly. Is
there not a way to migrate or mirror or whatever the term might be, to get
the Vista/D to be Vista/C?
Kate

 

[John Barnes]

Kate, drive letters are meaningless as they can, and often are different
everywhere you look. If you have a full version and install from the DVD,
Vista will see itself as C (XP also will still be C if it is now) and all
the shortcuts and registry entries will also be C. Vista will see the XP
drive as a higher letter depending on how your drives are attached and
defined at the time of first boot. The boot files will be installed on the
system partition, which is the first hard drive in boot order, and on it,
the active primary partition.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Since you laptop has 2 internal HDs, the BIOS probably allows
setting which HD will be the boot HD. The section in the BIOS
may be called "Hard Drive Boot Order" (as in some desktop PCs),
or it may merely be an "enable" mechanism that determines which
HD is the boot HD. If this is true, you can merely remove the XP
HD and install Vista on the non-XP HD while it is the only HD in
the laptop. Be sure to let the Vista installer create and format the
partitions so that you don't run into problems later with Vista using
partitions created by a pre-Vista utility. What you will then have
are 2 independent OS installations without any dual-booting
configuration to consider. When running, the Vista OS will refer to
its own partition as "C:" as a result of the installer not being able to
"see" another OS during the installation process.

Then put the XP HD back into the laptop, and use the BIOS to
determine which one will be the boot HD. Each OS, when it is
the running OS, will refer to its own partition as "C:", and to other
partitions by other letter names. That is OK as long as each OS
doesn't have shortcuts which have paths leading to other partitions,
and you can continue to use the external USB HD for data storage
that will be accessible to each running OS.

As for appications installed on XP, they will have to be installed
on Vista to be run under Vista.

When you feel that you're confident and satisfied with Vista (if that
day should come), you merely have to reformat the XP HD to
remove XP - or just remove the XP HD. By using the BIOS to
switch between boot HDs (and thus to choose which OS gets
booted), you will in effect be dual-booting without the eventual task
of removing XP from Vista's boot configuration data (BCD) file.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Kate]

I sort of understood this. Does Vista ask where I want it installed so I can
direct it to a different drive than C?
Kate

 

[Kate]

Brilliant. Thanks so much!
Kate

Since you laptop has 2 internal HDs, the BIOS probably allows
setting which HD will be the boot HD. The section in the BIOS
may be called "Hard Drive Boot Order" (as in some desktop PCs),
or it may merely be an "enable" mechanism that determines which
HD is the boot HD. If this is true, you can merely remove the XP
HD and install Vista on the non-XP HD while it is the only HD in
the laptop. Be sure to let the Vista installer create and format the
partitions so that you don't run into problems later with Vista using
partitions created by a pre-Vista utility. What you will then have
are 2 independent OS installations without any dual-booting
configuration to consider. When running, the Vista OS will refer to
its own partition as "C:" as a result of the installer not being able to
"see" another OS during the installation process.

Then put the XP HD back into the laptop, and use the BIOS to
determine which one will be the boot HD. Each OS, when it is
the running OS, will refer to its own partition as "C:", and to other
partitions by other letter names. That is OK as long as each OS
doesn't have shortcuts which have paths leading to other partitions,
and you can continue to use the external USB HD for data storage
that will be accessible to each running OS.

As for appications installed on XP, they will have to be installed
on Vista to be run under Vista.

When you feel that you're confident and satisfied with Vista (if that
day should come), you merely have to reformat the XP HD to
remove XP - or just remove the XP HD. By using the BIOS to
switch between boot HDs (and thus to choose which OS gets
booted), you will in effect be dual-booting without the eventual task
of removing XP from Vista's boot configuration data (BCD) file.

*TimDaniels*

 

[John Barnes]

Vista offers the drives and partitions available to install it on. ( i.e.
drive0 parition1 drive0 partition 2 drive1 partition 2) However the
letters might show up there, has nothing to do with what they are going to
show up in a given OS. You are still referring to drive C. There is no
such thing as Timothy points out. There may be a C partition on a drive.
If you install Vista from the DVD, it will see itself as the C partition.
If you install it from the desktop of another Windows, such as XP, it will
see itself as whatever letter that partition was designated by XP.

 

[John Barnes]

From reading your other post it is obvious you don't understand. Hope you
are buying a full and not an upgrade version. Good luck.

 

[Kate]

Thanks. I have full. I understood Timothy's reply. Sorry to have frustrated
you. Sometimes it's how you say it. The lingo you are used to may not make
sense to someone else.
Kate

 

[John Barnes]

If it is not convenient for you to disconnect the drive with XP on it, you
can change boot priority as Timothy suggested to make the Vista drive first.
Vista will see the XP system and set up a dual boot during the install, but
both drives will still be independently selectable and bootable from the
BIOS as Timothy suggests. You can then remove the XP entry from within
Vista easily if you don't want that extra step starting up. With the full
edition, when you install, booting from the DVD, Vista will see itself as C
and you will have two C systems.

 

[Kate]

Thanks. I think this will work well for me. Now I just need the time and
energy to get on with it.
Kate