Vista beta 2 pre-install advice

[DJ Bjorklund]

Is there a best practice process, or primer available to the fledgling
beta tester on the safest method for install that covers all details
needed to install beta 2 as a multi boot option ensuring (as much as
reasonably possible) the continued viability of my XP install, or do I
just <gasp> follow the prompts.

I'll admit it, reading some install horror stories here and elsewhere
has me spooked a wee bit. And yes I know the old saying "If you can't
stand the heat,...get out of the kitchen". I know there's never
"zero risk". But it can be minimized. I'm just trying to do
everything I can on the front end to get the most out of the beta
testing of the interface,...and not spend days and weeks setting it up
properly to get to that point. A reasonable approach, no?

OK,...I'll be installing on a Dell 8300 P4 1.25GIG RAM, I've got 2
physical internal drives totaling 400 GB (320 SATA, 80 IDE) with
plenty of space over 6 partitions, and an 80 GB USB drive (2
partitions) with more free space

Anyway, a couple of starter questions:
Should Vista go on a Primary partition only,say on my IDE HDD ( my
drive 0, I've got "C:\" and XP residing on the 320GB SATA) or is that
no big deal?

Seeing as I have it, would executing Partition Magic 8's (Powerquest's
version) wizard on preparation for "2nd operating system" be a
practical thing to do prior to install?

 

[Andre Da Costa [Extended64]]

First things first, "backup" any important data on the drive, I think Colin
Barnhorst said it best, Murphy use to be a beta tester.
I have Vista BETA 2 installed in a multi-boot configuration on a logical
partition which I think is the best approach especially for beta software, I
don't have any interest or desire to make Vista my primary operating system
because I don't believe its at that level where I would want to use it every
single day and night.

So, I would simply create a logical partition in Partition Magic with at
least 20 more GBs of hard disk space. Launch Windows Vista setup from within
Windows XP, type in your product key, accept the End User License Agreement,
click "Custom" > select the logical partition you created for Vista, click
Next and Vista will do the rest, Copy files to the hard disk, (restarts at
27%), continues setup, expands files and restarts a couple times, install
features, installs updates and Completes setup.

After setup completes, you are taken to the Out of Box Experience . The
first page configures your keyboard, I defaulted to US English, Next is User
account information, and selecting a nice profile picture, next a nice
wallpaper and you are ready to start using Windows Vista.
--
--
Andre
Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta

 

[jonah]

Is there a best practice process, or primer available to the fledgling
beta tester on the safest method for install that covers all details
needed to install beta 2 as a multi boot option ensuring (as much as
reasonably possible) the continued viability of my XP install, or do I
just <gasp> follow the prompts.

I'll admit it, reading some install horror stories here and elsewhere
has me spooked a wee bit. And yes I know the old saying "If you can't
stand the heat,...get out of the kitchen". I know there's never
"zero risk". But it can be minimized. I'm just trying to do
everything I can on the front end to get the most out of the beta
testing of the interface,...and not spend days and weeks setting it up
properly to get to that point. A reasonable approach, no?

OK,...I'll be installing on a Dell 8300 P4 1.25GIG RAM, I've got 2
physical internal drives totaling 400 GB (320 SATA, 80 IDE) with
plenty of space over 6 partitions, and an 80 GB USB drive (2
partitions) with more free space

Anyway, a couple of starter questions:
Should Vista go on a Primary partition only,say on my IDE HDD ( my
drive 0, I've got "C:\" and XP residing on the 320GB SATA) or is that
no big deal?

Seeing as I have it, would executing Partition Magic 8's (Powerquest's
version) wizard on preparation for "2nd operating system" be a
practical thing to do prior to install?

I think the safest way to test Vista Beta is to have a clean test PC
to install it on, putting it on a critical PC and dual booting could
lead to the loss of your existing OS, IMHO this is not worth the risk.

If you really want to dual boot it on an existing PC either clone your
existing HDDs first, or do a full drive image of both your HDDs using
Ghost or Acronis 9.0 and make sure you have a proper XP installation
CD not a "rescue" disk and ensure you back up all the drivers you can
find to CD.

I have beta 5384.4 on a clean test PC and so far I have had no
problems in fact I think this latest version is pretty damn good but I
dual booted an earlier version with XP and got into all sorts of
trouble ending up with a disk wipe. Being a test PC and having a clone
of the original XP setup it was not too much of a problem.

My test PC is no high end beast its a cheap Motherboard, built in
soound and video, old 250 watt PSU, AMD 2.6 processor with 1GB of
cheap RAM and a 80GB sata HDD but its enough to run Vista reasonably
enough and play about with it and much safer.

Jonah

 

[DJ Bjorklund]

Did just as you said Andre,...and I'm now a Vista Beta 2 tester
I'm very happy I did it this way instead of going the way of the
"upgrade" right out of the box.

So far,...it looks pretty cool I guess. Windows Mail is a little
weak, and IE 7.0 a bit non-intuitive, but hey, its a Beta.

 

[Guest]

Question for Andre (or anyone else, for that matter):

I notice you advocate installing to a Logical as opposed to a Primary
partition. I am not well versed in this area and simply followed the
instructions of PartitionMagic. I have a boot manager at the front of the
physicall drive in a Primary partition, FAT format. Next on the drive is XP
in a Primary partition, NTFS format. Then is Vista in a third Primary
partition, also NTFS format. Finally is a "misc." partition for data storage
and the like, in a FAT32 format.

My question is, would having the second (or all subsequent) OS's in a
Logical instead of a Primary partition be of any advantage from a safety or
performance standpoint or is your choice simply that of personal preferance
or philosophy?