Dual boot: Vista and Vista on 2 Hard Drives?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nigel Molesworth
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Nigel Molesworth

There are many articles on how to dual boot Vista and XP, but I want to dual
boot Vista and Vista, with an existing installation, on 2 Hard Drives.

Currently I switch these in the BIOS, but I'd much rather chose at a later
stage, can this be done?

Why? Because I keep one of the drives for random software that I rarely use.
 
Simply install Vista on the second hard drive and you will have a dual boot
menu at start up. You can do it from the original Vista's desktop if both
Vistas are 32bit or both are 64bit. There are no tricks. You just do it.
Of course you need to have two product keys, but I'm sure you realize that.
 
I have dual booted XP and Vista on two separate hard drives; I've even
installed the same scenario on two separate partitions and on 'every'
occasion I have had a dual boot menu.

Why is Colin being 'silly' as you put it? If you are running Windows XP and
Vista (or any other combination for that matter) you will require the
appropriate licences.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
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Because when you attempt a second activation of a product key you will get a
message that the pk is already in use.
 
Because when you attempt a second activation of a product key you will get a
message that the pk is already in use.
Click to expand...

It's exactly the same hardware, the second activation went through with no
problems.
 
I have dual booted XP and Vista on two separate hard drives; I've even
installed the same scenario on two separate partitions and on 'every'
occasion I have had a dual boot menu.
Click to expand...

If I boot with both drives enabled, it just boots from the first.
Why is Colin being 'silly' as you put it? If you are running Windows XP and
Vista (or any other combination for that matter) you will require the
appropriate licences.
Click to expand...

I'm running Vista on two hard drives, one at a time, on the same computer.
The second install activated with no problems. One drive is effectively a
backup of the other, without the random junk.
 
There are many articles on how to dual boot Vista and XP, but I want to dual
boot Vista and Vista, with an existing installation, on 2 Hard Drives.

Currently I switch these in the BIOS, but I'd much rather chose at a later
stage, can this be done?
Click to expand...

Use the bootrec /rebuildbcd command.
 
Nigel Molesworth said:
I'm running Vista on two hard drives, one at a time, on the same computer.
The second install activated with no problems. One drive is effectively a
backup of the other, without the random junk.
Click to expand...

For the installer to make a dual-boot menu, it has to see
the other pre-existing OS, so both hard drives have to be
connected when the 2nd OS is being installed on the 2nd HD.

*TimDaniels*
 
"Nigel Molesworth" argued.

Nigel, don't argue. Colin et. al. are arguing legalities
and MS's undocumented period of expiration of telephone
activation requirement. Legalities you're not interested in.
The period in which activation requires a call-in is 120 days
since the last installation, according to folklore. Otherwise,
the activation is done automatically.

*TimDaniels*
 
Nigel - To "generate" a boot option menu - the second Vista install must be
made from withn the first Vista installation - or consider modifying the
boot manager via BCDedit.exe or use a third party boot utility such as
VistaPro.
 
Stop trying to boot via the BIOS and let the software set up the dual boot
menu from which you choose which boot by highlighting the desired OS entry
in the menu.
 
That is not true. You do NOT have to make the second installation from with
the first in order to get a boot options screen. You can also install the
second by booting with the dvd. Vista setup will find the other
installation of Windows and construct a boot options screen for both.

If what you say were true then it would not be possible to generate a boot
options screen if the original Vista is 32bit and the second is 64bit
because you cannot run x64 setup from an x86 desktop. But that is exactly
how I set one of my machines up. I installed Vista x86 and then booted the
computer with the x64 dvd and installed my second copy of Vista. I got the
normal boot options screen. It is perfectly normal to perform a parallel
installation of Windows this way.
 
Try using VistaBootPro (free) you can rename entries from within the
VistaBootPro application. (www.vistabootpro.org)

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
You're Welcome

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
I have a laptop with a single physical hard drive and I was wondering if it
would be possible to install the Japanese version of Vista on a separate
partition from my original Vista installation and use VistaBootPRO to set up
the boot manager to allow me to switch between them.

-Adam
 
Simple answer to that question, Adam, is Yes. Just create another partition
and then install the Japanese version to the new partition. Of course the
Japanese version must have its own licence, you can't install your original
version of Vista and install the Japanese language pack (assuming you have
Ultimate or Business versions.)

Vista should actually sort out the menu, but if not VistaBootPro will do it
for you.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Excellent!

I don't actually have a DVD/install disc for my original Vista, it came
pre-installed on my computer, with a 'recovery partition' hidden on the drive.

I will be using a separate retail box version of Vista to install in Japanese.

Thanks again!
 
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