Vista Dual Boot Installation Procedure

[Carl F]

This news item does not inclde a question. It is informational.

Installing a Vista OS with a dual boot to XP
02/07/07

Currently Vista installation will not completely install a dual boot
system.

Since the learning curve on Windows Vista is steep and the number of
Vista drivers is limited, I recommend casual and experienced users
continue to use XP but install and casually use Vista until the user is
totally comfortable with the transition to Vista.

A procedure to install a dual boot system follows.

This guide assumes the user has an installation CD for the XP OS and an
installation DVD for Vista.
This procedure works if both media have full installation capability.
It has been tested for XP Pro 64 bit and Vista Ultimate 64 bit. It has
not been tested with update-only media (CD or DVD) or with other OS
versions. I have not detected any reason why it will not work with
Vista and other older Windows OS.

The Vista boot method has changed. A new boot loader has been introduced.
The old XP boot loader is not compatible with Vista. In Vista, the boot
information is stored in a new "Boot Configuartion Data" file and not in
the boot.ini file. I do not consider the Vista bcdedit.exe boot
modification application user friendly. Microsoft may modify the Vista
boot loader software to be user friendly.
In the interim I recommend VistaBootPro 3.1 Beta which is currently free
at http://www.vistabootpro.org/ and works with the 01/30/07 released
version of Vista.
I do not know if future versions will be free.
The author has no interest in or connection with the
http://www.vistabootpro.org/

The Vista bcdedit.exe boot load editor tool is, at a minimum, cumbersome
to use. It is however possible to use it to establish a dual boot
system. I do not recommend it. bcdedit may be accessed in a Vista "run
as administrator" enabled command prompt window or when loading Vista
from the DVD in the repair mode (i.e. not install mode)

Each operating system MUST be installed in a separate partition. The
Acronis Disk Director or Norton Partition Magic applications (and
others) provide the capability to make, move, and resize partitions. I
recommend 20 GB or more in each windows OS partition. I have XP Pro
installed in C. and Vista Ultimate installed in V:.

As an aside, I recommend all application data files be stored on an
independent third partition so the data will not be destroyed if an OS
partiton fails or needs to be overwritten. I also install non-OS
applications on a 4th XP partition and a 5th Vista partition so I have a
reinstall reminder list if my OS must be reinstalled.

I STRONGLY recommend a copy of the full XP partition (and, if used, the
XP application partition) be backed up so it may be restored in the
event of a dual OS installation failure. I use an alternate hard drive
with 4 partitions as backup: XP backup A, XP backup B, Vista backup A
and Vista backup B. This method takes a lot of space but is quick to
restore and reasonably secure.

On to the procedure.

Verify your computer meets or exceeds Vista requirements. If it is more
than 2 years old, it probably will not.

Download the VistaBootPro software (see above) and store it on your data
file partition

Perform a thorough cleanup of XP: antivirus scan, diskchk, defrag

Backup, label, and verify the XP partition image

Your XP partition is probably C:.

Use Disk Management to identify, assign a drive letter, rename, and
format (NTFS)a partition for Vista. I used "S-1 V Vista Ultimate (V)".

In a clean install, I did not find it necessary to disable the firewall
or antivirus application because Vista restarted as soon as the Vista
files were transferred from the DVD.

After placing your Vista DVD in your DVD drive you may start Vista
installation from XP or restart the computer by running the Vista
install from the DVD drive.

Follow the Vista installation prompts. When asked, select "Custom" as
the installation type. Select the above assigned partition as the Vista
Installation location. Follow the installation prompts.

At the end of the Vista installation procedure it will install updates
and ask to restart Vista. Restart.

After Vista restarts verify Vista is working OK. Your XP OS will be
disabled.
If you try to access XP via the Vista Boot Loader you will get a /ntldr
not found message because the Vista Boot Loader is not smart enough to
find it.

Shutdown and insert your XP installation CD. Load XP from the CD.
Follow the prompts to access the Recovery Console. Enter your password
and select the Windows C: partition when prompted.

At the C:/Windows prompt, enter "fixboot"

At the C:/Windows prompt, enter "fixmbr"

Remove the Windows XP Installation CD.

Enter "exit"

Your computer should restart and load Windows XP.

Verify Window XP is OK.

Remove the Windows XP Installation CD.

Insert the Vista Installation DVD.

Restart the computer and load from the Vista DVD. It will take a while
to load Vista and search for all your partitions.

When the action screen comes up select "Repair"

When asked, select your Vista OS partition (In my case, V

When the command prompt option is displayed, select it.

Enter "bcdedit /enum all"

A list of indeterminate length will be displayed. There will be entries
for
Vista, at least one Vista hibernate, and one windows lagacy os" or
"earlier version of windows".

All Vista entrys will have an identity field.

Verify the "earlier version of windows" is there. It may or may not have
a valid identity.

If both the Vista identity field and the earlier version identity field
are present all is OK.

Exit the command prompt window

Select the Repair mode.

When the repair is completed, remove the Vista DVD.

Request a restart.

Vista should start normally.

(Now you can modify the boot configuation file)

Right click on the VistaBootPro_3.1.0.exe file (previously downloaded)
an select "run as administrator"

When installation is complete, ask for run or double click on the
desktop icon.

After the authorization prompt there will be another error prompt.
Acknowledge it and VistaBootPro should start.

The interface of VistaBootPro is straight forward.

Depending on the number of preceeding Vista installation attempts you
will see a variable number of entries on the OS list.

The first will probably be an empty legacy OS entry. The 2nd will
probably be the valid Vista entry. I my case it was the V: partiton entry.

Click the top "Manage OS Entries" button

Click on the "add new operating system" box

Click on the "Windows legacy" button

Enter the text name of your OS i.e. "Windows XP Pro"

Enter the drive letter; most likely C:

I recommend you change the booty delay time to 10 seconds or more.
3 seconds is short for me.

Click "Apply"

Click the "Manage OS Entries" button

"Windows XP Pro" should appear in the OS list

Remove all unwanted OS list entries from the OS list by selecting each
in turn and clicking on the "X" at the right of the list

Verify the OS you want is default. If not, select it and click "set as
default"
The colored entry is the default entry

When all is correct, click the bootloader button at the top of the window

In the Bootloader Maintenance window, verify the "Reinstall the Vista
bootloader" button is selected and click "Apply"

Click OK in the following window

When complete, the "BCD Store Information" window will appear with the
corrected list. If the list is OK, exit the application.

When you restart your computer the new list should appear with the
appropriate
default. Happy Computing! Carl F

 

[Dale \Mad_Murdock\ White]

Hmm, that's interesting. I guess I just got lucky then. I've formatted and
re-installed 3 times and every time I still get a dual boot option. I've not
had a problem getting a dual boot going back to RC1. Must be the way I rub
the DVD for luck that does it for me

 

[AJR]

Starts off okay - then gets "complicated".
Following statement not true: "Currently Vista installation will not
completely install a dual boot system..." - works fine thank you (as Dale
has posted).

Regarding: "After Vista restarts verify Vista is working OK. Your XP OS
will be disabled. If you try to access XP via the Vista Boot Loader you will
get a ntldr
not found message because the Vista Boot Loader is not smart enough to find
it...."

By referring to "vista Boot Loader" you mean Vista's boot manager (BCD) -
not so. Up to this point, procedure for dual boot is okay - at this point
Vista boot manager would offer option to start Legacy prior windows (XP) or
Vista.

From this point on: "Shutdown and insert your XP installation CD. Load XP
from the CD. Follow the prompts to access the Recovery Console....". A
"casual" user may find themselves in trouble.

 

[Rock]

If the Vista product key is an upgrade license, the Vista license agreement
prohibits having that XP OS that was the qualifying OS for the upgrade
installed at the same time the Vista upgrade is installed.

 

[Dale M. White]

So does Carl's method get you around the upgrade limitation ? Maybe, I'm
silly but why does Microsoft care if a person dual boots or not ? I'm
guessing it has something to do with making sure you're not running more
copies of vista than you should, I'm just not sure how taking away the dual
boot option does that. And I understand it's suppose to be an upgrade to XP,
but if I get the option to install it on another drive or partition, then
I'm missing why MS cares.

 

[Rock]

So does Carl's method get you around the upgrade limitation ? Maybe, I'm
silly but why does Microsoft care if a person dual boots or not ? I'm
guessing it has something to do with making sure you're not running more
copies of vista than you should, I'm just not sure how taking away the
dual boot option does that. And I understand it's suppose to be an upgrade
to XP, but if I get the option to install it on another drive or
partition, then I'm missing why MS cares.

Yes it's strange that this was allowed. No one knows the why and wherefore
at this point. I was just pointing out what the license says, which doesn't
necessarily preclude doing it from a technical stand point.

 

[Carl F]

Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure

The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
procedure.

Logical observations (some untested):
1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect bcdfile
4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the
VisatBootPro part of the procedure to correct the boot problem

Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition
2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.
3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on
a computer.
4. Prior to installing Vista there may be 24 Windows OSs or OS residues
on a computer.
5. Without user input, Vista installation must poll all primary
petitions and determine which to insert in the bcdfile. This is
difficult to do successfully.
6. I have also observed hibernation file references in the bcdfile.
7. Given the above, I suspect the Vista OS insertion logic has a bug
8. As a workaround solution, I recommend every primary petition which
MAY have an unwanted OS or a residue OS be reformatted before installing
Vista. Be careful you don't remove desired data or program files.
9. It may also be desirable to search for and remove all hibernation files.

 

[Carl F]

Oops! The thread I reference is one I created on the afternoon of
02/07/07 Carl F

 

[Guest]

Now I am confused, I managed to get Vista Home Premium to dual boot with XP
Home. XP home install on 1 hard drive C: and vista install to other hard
drive d:
Boot menu offers 1). Previous version of Windows. 2). Windows Vista Premium.
Didnt do any of what you were mentioning i just put the DVD in and installed
to different partion.
Martin

 

[Dale M. White]

I believe that is the normal, espeically for people who have Full install
License versus the upgrade License. I believe Carl's method addresses the
Upgrade option people and maybe for people who run into some kind of bug in
which it doesn't work normal.

Last night I installed Vista on my Laptop, which has 1 HD and 2 partitions.
XP on the first and loaded Vista to the 2nd. Everything worked fine and I
have working dual boot. My installs were Full not upgrades

 

[Guest]

I have the problem that he addresses here. I have a XP Home edition on my E:
drive. Vista x64 Premium full install OEM version is installed on my G:
drive. I get the /ntldr error message and could not get into XP anymore so I
did FIXMBR and FIXBOOT using the XP CD. I can now access XP but not Vista. My
Vista install is so buggy that I cannot install VistaBootPro. Vista is only
stable in Safe mode for me. I was thinking that maybe Vista is looking for
the XP on the wrong drive. It says that the /ntldr is on the D: drive, but in
XP it is the E: drive. My Vista installation is on the G: drive, which Vista
calls the C: drive. I am going to try his method tonite and see if I can
finally dual-boot while I continue my fruitless attempts to get Vista to not
give me a BSOD every time I boot up!

 

[Guest]

Just found the problem. Since my installation of XP wasn't a dual-boot to
begin with I did not have NTLDR, NTDETECT.EXE or Boot.ini in my root
directory on the E: drive. Once I moved the files I was able to dual-boot.
Now to try and get Vista x64 to run outside of safe mode!

 

[Rock]

Observations and speculations by the author of this procedure

The procedure in this thread is a list of the steps I performed to
get a valid dual boot system. It is probably not the most efficient
procedure.

Logical observations (some untested):
1. The XP installation was fine before installing Vista
2. The Vista installation was fine after installation
3. The load error "/ntldr not found" was caused by an incorrect bcdfile
4. It was not necessary to "fix" a functional XP
5. If XP was not "fixed", Vista would not be broken
6. After Vista installation a user could go directly to the VisatBootPro
part of the procedure to correct the boot problem

Speculations (Since I don't have access to the OS code):
1. A windows OS may may installed in any primary petition

Note: It's partition not "petition". The windows installation can be on ony
partition, doesn't have to be primary. The files needed for booting have to
be on the active primary partition on the first drive in the boot order.

2. There may be 2 primary petitions on each disk drive.

There can be up to 4 primary partitions on a hard drive, one of which can be
an extended partition.

3. There may be (C: thru Z 24 disk drives or 24 primary petitions on a
computer.

If there are 6 hard drives.

 

[Carl F]

By the way, both my XP Pro and Vista Ultimate versions are full version
i.e. Microsoft got a lot of bucks.

Did you try and repair your Vista using the repair mode after booting
from the DVD?

XP Fixboot and Fixmbr are expected to do exactly what they did for you:
Replace the Vista boot with the XP boot which uses in boot.ini file