Hi JW
Yes you can. I dual boot and so I usually create my partitions from the My
Computer>Manage>Disk Management.
Just right click on the drive that you want to add a new partition to and
select the New Partition. If you want to have a specific size, such as 40MG,
50MB, etc, then enter 40000 or 50000 in the size window and click ok. But,
for installing Vista, don't assign a drive letter, and let Vista format it
during the install process. Then OK out:
Do the following to install the Vista,
1. Put in the Vista DVD in the ROM and restart the computer
2. When it comes up, the drive and/or partition you created should show in
the list. Select the one you to install Vista on and let Vista format the
drive/partition itself.
Once Vista is installed and you are logged on, download and install the
VistaBoot Pro
http://www.pro-networks.org/vistabootpro/intro.php
For Dual or Multi Booting Vista with XP or other versions of Vista:
There is one very important point that you must be aware of and remember:
When you are in Vista, Vista will *always* see itself as being on the C:\
drive. No matter if you have all 5 versions of Vista installed on the same
machine, whichever version you are logged into, it will say that it is on
the C:\ drive. Also, when you are in XP it will say it is on the C:\ drive.
This is normal... so *DO NOT*...*DO NOT* change the letter of C:\ for any
Vista version *when you are in it*. It will mess up the bootloader and you
likely won't be able to get back to XP, or any other OS installed. We will
discuss drive designation further down.
Once Vista is installed, install the VistaBoot Pro:
1. When it opens click on the Configure tab and under the Bootloader
section, select XP or Vista from the drop down box to be your default OS.
2. Set the Boot time out for 30 seconds. Click apply.
3. IF you want to rename the Vista install from Microsoft Windows Vista to
another name (this *is* allowable), in the Entry-Based section, click on
Select OS to modify. Select the Microsoft Windows Vista and in the Rename
to window, type in whatever name you want to give it. This is especially
helpful when you have more than one version of Vista installed. *DO NOT*
change the Vista drive letter from C:\.
4. Then click on the Manage Entries tab. If you don't see an OS you want
included in the boot menu in the list, you can add it by putting the drive
letter in the box next to the 'Drive letter' under the Add an Entry section,
and then add the name of the OS in the 'Entry name' window where Microsoft
Windows appears, then click the Add tab.
4. Then highlight the OS in the list in the top window that you want to be
the first in the boot menu on restart, and if it is not already at the top
of the list, click the Up tab to move it to the top of the list. Continue
moving the other OS's up or down until you have them in the lineup you
prefer.
5. Then create a new folder on the XP drive where you want to save a backup
of the boot menu you just created, then click the Backup/Restore tab in the
VistaBoot Pro and safe it to that folder.
6. Then close out of VistaBoot Pro and reboot
7. Log off and restart your machine. When it restarts, you should have a
boot menu like the one you newly created.
Whether single or dual booting, these steps should establish the boot
function and make it easy to maintain.
Drive designations:
Remember, when you are in Vista, any one of the 5 versions, it will always
show that it is on the C:\ drive. Open XP and it does the same. Normal. *DO
NOT* change the Vista drive letter from C:\ *when you are in it.*
Vista tends to see drives in a rather odd manner. If you are single booting
this is not a problem, but, if you are dual or multi booting, it can be very
confusing trying to remember which OS is on which drive, and especially when
all the Vista versions are showing as Microsoft Windows Vista in the boot
menu . Now you are saying, "Yeahbut, you said Vista always sees itself on
the C:\ drive. Right?" And I say "Remember...it always sees itself on the
C:\ drive *when you are in Vista*. If you will notice, the same thing is
true when you are in XP, it will show it to be on the C:\ drive. In dual or
multi booting, XP may be shown as being on the H or F drive when you are in
Vista, but, when you boot into XP, it will show that it is on the C:\ drive,
and Vista on another drive. This is the way it is. And no....I dunno why
either. <g> So, in order to cut down on the confusion, I give each of the
drives a name, such as XP Pro, Vista RC1, or Vista Ultimatex64, etc. so
that I would know "Who's on First." If you don't want to install the
VistaBoot Pro and do it there in the Manage Entries as I described above,
then I would advise that it be done from XP. Why? Because it is easier for
me to describe it for you... plus, it is much easier and faster from XP than
if you have UAC enabled in Vista.
You must be logged on with Administrative rights:
1. Right click on the My Computer icon on the desktop or from the Start
menu>select Manage>click on Disk Management
2. You will see a list of all the drives in the window at the top and their
related locations in the drive panes in the section below.
3. Right click on any one of the drives in the window at the top and give
them a name, remembering which OS is on which drive. I suggest this method
as opposed to doing renaming the drives from the Windows Explorer (which you
can do), as it is easier look at the various drives in the panes in the
lower section of the Disk Management and remember what is where. At least
for me. However, you can do this from Vista as well, using the same method,
but, right clicking on 'Computer' in the Start menu.
4. Then close of the Disk Management and all the way out of My Computer
Hope this helps.
Jan
MS MVP - Windows IE [DTS/AumHa]
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