Vista 64 and XP32 on same machine

[Herb Cober]

Currently I'm running XP Media edition SP3 32 bit
I would like to get 64 bit version of Vista Home Premium installed on the
same hard drive using Virtual machine. Is has possible. Can 32 and 64 bit
operating systems reside and run on same machine?
OS is HP Pavilion m7580n
AMD Athlon 64X2
2.40 MHZ
2048 Ram
Nvidia GeForce 7300LE
Thanks for any advice received

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Currently I'm running XP Media edition SP3 32 bit
I would like to get 64 bit version of Vista Home Premium installed on the
same hard drive using Virtual machine. Is has possible. Can 32 and 64 bit
operating systems reside and run on same machine?

Yes, it's possible, but I'll refrain from trying to tell you how,
since I have no experience doing it myself. I guess I'm somewhat
unusual, but I've never had more than one operating system installed
on a single machine, and I think doing so is most often a mistake.

Why do you want to do this?

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Yes it can be done providing the Virtual machine you use supports 64 bit
operating systems. Don't get carried away, though. You're not going to see
Aero running on the VM so your operating system will be just basic to say
the least. VPC 2007 also doesn't support USB so if you need any USB devices
they too are not going to work. Personally I prefer VMware Workstation but,
sadly, this is somewhat expensive.

Take a look at my guide to creating a virtual machine with VMware on my
website:

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/creating_a_virtual_machine_with_vmware.htm

The procedure is pretty similar for most VM software


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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

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