Can I set up a new partition on my D drive and install Vista as dual boot?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert Johnson
  • Start date Start date
R

Robert Johnson

Hi all. I don't want to do a overwrite of my current OS until I'm sure I
like Vista, so I was wondering if I could create a partition on my D drive
where I have quite a bit of space and install Vista and dual boot for a
while to "test" it. I then could install various software app's I own to
make sure of compatibility with Vista. Is this feasible?

Robert
 
Yes, when the Vista installation starts up, you will be able to tell it to
install on the new partition. Once it's complete, you'll have a simple menu
at boot time to select between Vista and your current OS.
 
Robert said:
Hi all. I don't want to do a overwrite of my current OS until I'm sure I
like Vista, so I was wondering if I could create a partition on my D drive
where I have quite a bit of space and install Vista and dual boot for a
while to "test" it...
Click to expand...

Sure, that's what I did. Just be sure to let the Vista installer format
any new partition that you create for it. NTFS is a bit different in
Vista.
 
As long as you don't delete the Windows XP partition at a later date. Your
boot code will be written to partition C:, unless you use a 3rd party boot
manager and set up both partitions as primary partitions. Then you can hide
XP from the Vista install and the entire boot code will be written to
partition D:

Also remember that XP and Vista are both drive and partition sensitive. You
will always need a small C: partition to allow Vista to boot. It recognizes
the fact that it is installed on the second partition. If you eliminate C:,
Vista will now be the first partition and will not boot.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User
 
Would I be better off just moving some data to drive D and creating a
partiion on C for Vista? I am a programmer by trade and haven't done this
kind of stuff since DOS days lol. So any suggestions would be very helpful.
I will be installing Vista Ultimate that I got from MSDN subscription.

TIA

Robert
 
Thanks for the reply Don.

Robert

Don said:
Sure, that's what I did. Just be sure to let the Vista installer format
any new partition that you create for it. NTFS is a bit different in
Vista.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply LaRoux.

Robert

LaRoux said:
Yes, when the Vista installation starts up, you will be able to tell it to
install on the new partition. Once it's complete, you'll have a simple
menu at boot time to select between Vista and your current OS.
Click to expand...
 
I think there may be a small problem with nomenclature here. It might clear
things up if you describe your setup with some more specifics. When you are
referring to your C and D drive, are these two separate physical hard drives
or two existing partitions on the same hard drive?

The important piece to get a dual boot setup is to install Vista to a
different partition than the one that has XP installed on it. Assuming XP is
installed on C, if you install Vista to C, you will end up with on Vista
available.
 
D is a seperate physical drive. Sorry I forgot to mention that. As I said
its been a long time since I did stuff like this.

Robert
 
So your original plan was sound. Run the Vista installation, have it create
a partition on your second (D) drive, format it, complete the install,
reboot and you should get a new boot menu which will by default boot Vista.
Selecting "Previous" will boot your old XP installation.
 
Unless you can do without Vista's shadow copy features, you will need
to conceal the Vista drive from Windows XP when you boot XP. The
installation should be trouble-free - Vista will set up the dual boot.

The Vista drive could be disabled in BIOS when you boot XP, or you
can make it unavailable by encrypting it (an option with Ultimate). Three
other possibilities are reviewed by Bert Kinney here:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/dualboot.html
 
Shadow copy is where the system takes a "snap shot" of the system settings
when you are say going to install an software application or an update and
want to "roll back" for some reason or just want go back to a certain date
you can do so.

It can be disabled if you wish. I have found this an invaluable option in XP
on many occasion.

Robert
 
Thank you Michael for the warning.. I checked out the site and decided at
this point I can do without shadow copy in Vista although I can't live
without it in XP.. lol. I am just testing Vista at this point to make sure
my programming environments are compatible etc. If all goes well then I'll
make the jump and upgrade on C drive in a month or so. I have learned over
the years to take these things in steps not leaps..

Regards,

Robert
 
I like the chess game and getting miniatures when task bar hovering.
I ought to appreciate the increased security, but find it irksome. They
had to destroy Outlook Express in order to save it, which I resent.
 
Well I got it installed and running.. It does have some quirks.. My HP
LaserJet 3380 which lives off my server it can see but doesn't have a driver
for so I can't print yet. Tried to go to HP for a driver and according to
HP Vista comes with the driver.. go figure.. I'll have to figure that one
out later... Some other odd ones I have run across: My Office 2007 Ultimate
would not install after a certain point. Kept looking for a file on the
disk and stopped. It intalled fine on my XP system so I know the disk is
good. I'll try the 2007 Pro next. Trying to install VS2005 is my next
project..

Thanks for all the help.

Best Regards,

Robert
 
You're welcome, Robert. I think you'll get the networked 3380 going.
HP says you can probably get it to print with an XP driver, and should
consider buying a more up to date laser all-in-one for which they are
willing to make Vista drivers available for download from their website.

I can't give you a stitch of help with Visual Studio. If Office won't go in,
Open Office will install and works in Vista. Sun's JRE 6 should go in first:
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
Scroll down to Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 and click download.
Accept the License Agreement. Check the appropriate Windows selection.
 
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