Want a HowTo for multibooting two or more Vista versions

[Paul Randall]

Hi,
My OEM Vista installation disk allows me to install any of the 8 vista
versions (Business, Business N, Enterprise, Home Basic, Home Basic N, Home
Premium, Starter, and Ultimate) and use them on a 30-day trial basis when I
don't enter a product key. I've tried this with the Ultimate version and it
seems to work, but I have not tried the others.

I have a 320 GB hard drive available and would like to install all 8
versions as a multiboot setup, so I can more easily explore the differences
between them. I think allocating 30 GB per Vista partition and any leftover
space to a common logical partition available to all Vista versions should
work fairly well. I've done some research,
(http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/index.htmI and
http://www.multibooters.co.uk and others), and I think that I can use the
XOSL boot loader to boot Vista from primary partitions and logical
partitions, and I think that XOSL is capable of hiding all the other Vista
partitions from the one that is being booted, so that there will be no
crosstalk between the Vista versions. I'm hoping that each Vista partition
will be completely independent of the multiboot setup so that I can start
fresh in any version by restoring that one partition from a Ghost copy. My
research has found a number of very good web sites that discuss the problems
and possible work-arounds for the problems, but I have not found a 'HowTo
set it up' procedure.

I'm hoping someone will post a procedure to set up multi-booting for two or
more versions of Vista on a single hard drive or post a URL that has that
kind of procedure.

Thanks,

-Paul Randall

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paul,

Since you plan on using a bootloader to hide each volume from the others,
you should follow the instructions given by it on how to install each
operating system to its own volume. As well, most bootloaders of this nature
allow you to go beyond the 4 primary limit (meaning you can create a primary
for each installation) and selectively hide them from one another.

By the way, your proposal of ghosting to start fresh will likely not work
the way you intend as the installation is time stamped, so that if you
restore an image beyond the 30 day window, it will not function without the
insertion of a licensed product key. This means every 30 days you would have
to create a new installation of that version. Also, you should be aware that
they are not actually trial periods. The 30 day window is there to give a
user time to obtain a proper license for the chosen installation should one
not be available at the time of setup. This doesn't mean it won't work, just
that your use of the grace period is technically not within the licensing.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Paul Randall]

There isn't any guide to be found to start with. You can only create 4
primary type partitions on any single hard drive. You bets option would
be creating several virtual hard drives and see each edition installed
on Virtual PC 2007. The limitations seen there would be on the total
amount of drive space not how many drives can be created. 'How to Create
a Virtual Machine in Windows Virtual PC'
(http://digg.com/microsoft/How_to_Create_a_Virtual_Machine_in_Windows_Virtual_PC)

Thanks for your input. I agree that Virtual PC 2007 may be a good way to do
what I want, although my computer only has one GB of memory. I will try
that.

While it is true that one can only create 4 primary partitions using
standard partitioning, I don't think that should limit what I want to do.
One of the URLs I referenced (or some URL they reference) talked about a
multiboot system like this (easier to read with a fixed pitch font):
Boot option-> DOS Win98 Win2000 WinXP Alt98
Pri-1: C: hidden hidden hidden hidden
Pri-2: hidden C: hidden hidden hidden
Pri-3: hidden hidden hidden C: hidden
Log-1: hidden hidden C: hidden hidden
Log-2: hidden hidden hidden hidden C:
Log-3: D: D: D: D: D:
Log-4: E: E: E: E: E:

The only non-standard thing about this multiboot setup was the use of XOSL,
which is capabale of both hiding and activating both primary and logical
drives. I have set up multiboot WXP systems that were installed to logical
partitions, but at that time I had not heard of XOSL to hide/de-activate all
other install partitions. I think I just need more info on how to get
around Vista's obsession with writing its own MBR on some drive of its
choice during installation and how to make it think it is where it should be
during boots to that Vista installation.

 

[Paul Randall]

Hi Rick. Thanks for your input.
The use of XOSL removes the need for each Vista installation to have its own
primary partition. Both WXP and Vista are happy to reside in logical
partitions. One of the references I posted, or a link in one of them,
showed a multiboot setup like this:
Boot option-> DOS Win98 Win2000 WinXP Alt98

Pri-1: C: hidden hidden hidden hidden
Pri-2: hidden C: hidden hidden hidden
Pri-3: hidden hidden hidden C: hidden
Log-1: hidden hidden C: hidden hidden
Log-2: hidden hidden hidden hidden C:
Log-3: D: D: D: D: D:
Log-4: E: E: E: E: E:

XOSL allows changing both the active and hidden flags on both primary and
logical partitions. It can hide and deactivate all the primary partitions
to allow booting into a logical partition where the system sees no other OS
partitions. But XOSL is pre-Vista and no longer supported, so its
instructions don't talk about getting around Vista's placing/needing its new
MBR.

This is why I'm hoping to find someone's howto explicitly for multiple Vista
installations.

I realize that Ghosting to fresh start will only work for 30 days, but
during that 30 days it might be useful to have that capability, depending on
how much work is involved in getting around Vista's need to mess with some
hard drive's MBR during reinstallation.

I don't think you are correct about use of the grace period. I notice in
the folder structure on the installation DVD that there are multiple
licensing folders for each Vista version, some with paths like:
G:\sources\license\_default\eval\business and
G:\sources\license\_default\eval\ultimate.
I have not actually read the license text in these folders, but the paths
indicate there may well be valid evaluation licenses for all versions.

Scanning the Ultimate eval license, I see things like:
Alternative Versions. The software may include more than one version, such
as 32-bit and 64-bit. You may use only one version at one time.
and:
Before you activate, you have the right to use the version of the software
installed during the installation process. Your right to use the software
after the time specified in the installation process is limited unless it is
activated.

I'n a system where all Vista installations are hidden except the one being
executed, I think I would be meeting the first of the requirements above,
and I think the software will prevent me from accidently violating the
second requirement above.

I didn't notice any words that negatively override these two passages in the
license text, but I have not studied the licenses in detail.

I don't want to use more than one evaluation version at a time, and I don't
want to exceed the evaluation period. I just want to be able to switch
'using' between the various evaluation versions quickly during the
evaluation period.

What do you think about whether this would be a violation of the licenses?

-Paul Randall

 

[andy]

Using boot manager:
1. Create one partition when installing the first version of Vista.

2. Boot to Vista and use DiskPart to create an extended partition.
C:\Windows\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.0.6000
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: Vista

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ---------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 75 GB 35 GB
Disk 1 Online 234 GB 204 GB
Disk 2 Online 3824 MB 0 B

DISKPART> select disk=1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 29 GB 1024 KB

DISKPART> create partition extended

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 29 GB 1024 KB
* Partition 0 Extended 204 GB 29 GB

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Windows\system32>

3. Use Disk Management to create logical partitions in the extended
partition.

4. Install Vistas in the logical partitions.

C:\Windows\system32>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.0.6000
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: Vista

DISKPART> select disk=1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 29 GB 1024 KB
Partition 0 Extended 204 GB 29 GB
Partition 2 Logical 29 GB 29 GB
Partition 3 Logical 29 GB 59 GB
Partition 4 Logical 29 GB 88 GB

DISKPART> list volume

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status
Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- ---------
--------
Volume 0 D Vista1 NTFS Partition 29 GB Healthy
System
Volume 1 F Vista2 NTFS Partition 29 GB Healthy
Volume 2 G Vista3 NTFS Partition 29 GB Healthy
Volume 3 C Vista4 NTFS Partition 29 GB Healthy
Boot
Volume 4 H WIN98DOSUSB FAT32 Removable 3823 MB Healthy
Volume 5 E NTFS Partition 39 GB Healthy

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

C:\Windows\system32>

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paul,

You might want to look at BootIT NG (which is what I use) from
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/index.htm as it does the same thing as XOSL
but also supports Vista, Win7, and Servers. They have many tutorials for
setting hidden multiboots and pretty decent newsgroup support. The program
author, David, frequently answers questions himself.

Without getting too into too much detail about licensing, I can tell you
what I know from meeting with the licensing team at Microsoft. All versions
of Vista are on the disk not to allow you to evaluate each one, but rather
to make product distribution easier (one disk can provide whichever version
the end user has a license for). When you purchase a license, it is for a
single installation of the purchased OS on a single system. There is no
provision for "evaluation" of other versions. The grace period is only to
give you time to purchase the license for the version you have installed,
this is not a trial period. The phrase "alternate version" does not mean
what you are thinking, it means your license is good for either 32 or 64
bit, but only one or the other (not both, even if you use only one
installation at a time). Again, this doesn't mean you can't do what you
propose, it just isn't within the boundries of the license agreement that
you agree to during the initial phase of setup.


--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com