Multiple OS

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Guest

I have an HP PC which I bought with Windows XP Media Center Edition. I
received HP' Vista Express Upgrade Kit. I want Vista to be my main operating
system, but still have Windows XP as a second OS in case of compatibility
issues. I created a 10gig partition to install Windows XP on, and my main
particion (C:) will have Vista. The problem is, I don't have a Windows XP CD
and it didn't come with my PC. How do I install a fresh copy of Windows XP
MCE without a CD? Can I do this by creating Recovery Discs using "HP PC
Recovery CD-DVD Creator" or will that just automatically install Windows XP
on my main partition without asking me which partition I want my factory
installation to be on? Thanks in advance!
 
Mike said:
I have an HP PC which I bought with Windows XP Media Center Edition. I
received HP' Vista Express Upgrade Kit. I want Vista to be my main
operating
system, but still have Windows XP as a second OS in case of compatibility
issues. I created a 10gig partition to install Windows XP on, and my main
particion (C:) will have Vista. The problem is, I don't have a Windows XP
CD
and it didn't come with my PC. How do I install a fresh copy of Windows XP
MCE without a CD? Can I do this by creating Recovery Discs using "HP PC
Recovery CD-DVD Creator" or will that just automatically install Windows
XP
on my main partition without asking me which partition I want my factory
installation to be on? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Check with HP on how it works. Usually it doesn't give you any choice.
Also you have to check the license for the upgrade. It could be that the
license prohibits running having Vista and the qualifying OS installed at
the same time.

That is the case when using a retail upgrade version of Vista, both can't be
installed at the same time.
 
hum ok, I'll try the recovery CDs to see if I have the option. Or first, I'll
see if I can use both Vista and XP using the same PC... hopefully it will
work (this was an issue I didn't think of. Thanks.)
 
OK, so I checked with HP and it's ok to have 2 operating systems, I won't
have any licence issues. Now I just want to know, If I give my C: drive 15
gigs, will it be too little?

This is what I have:
C: Windows XP, 220GB
D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
G: (Empty -- To be Vista Drive), 10GB

And I want to turn it to this:
C: Windows XP, 30GB
D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
G: Windows Vista, 200GB

(switch the space of the C and G drives using partition magic)

Am I doing something wrong....?
 
Create a 40gb partition for Vista and leave the rest for the saving of files
or whatever..


Mike said:
OK, so I checked with HP and it's ok to have 2 operating systems, I won't
have any licence issues. Now I just want to know, If I give my C: drive 15
gigs, will it be too little?

This is what I have:
C: Windows XP, 220GB
D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
G: (Empty -- To be Vista Drive), 10GB

And I want to turn it to this:
C: Windows XP, 30GB
D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
G: Windows Vista, 200GB

(switch the space of the C and G drives using partition magic)

Am I doing something wrong....?
Click to expand...

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
 
If you use an XP compatible version of Partition Magic to resize the drives, it may be best to install Vista to unallocated space and let it create the partition.

Additionally...load PM or Windows DiskManagement...is this one single drive with three partitions. C first, D second, G third. In some cases PM requires the drives to be resized to be adjacent(ie. shrink one to create unallocated space, then expand the other into that unallocated space).
If this applies..you may end up with the following in sequence.
C XP
D Vista
F Recovery
G Empty or other
In XP you can re-label the drive numbers however your wish.

Finally, post Vista install...you may find that an earlier non-Vista compatible version of PM(all PM so far are not compatible) will provide an error when loading under XP due to not being able to recognize the Vista drive due to Vista's slightly different approach to NTFS. The message will ask if you wish to repair the offset or similar. ****Do Not*** repair, click ignore or cancel or 'X' to close the window. And lastly, do not attempt to resize the Vista partition under XP with PM post Vista install.
Once Vista is installed you could end up with
C: Vista
D: XP
F Recovery
G Empty or other

You'll just have to wade through it one step at a time.

A few questions:
Did HP tell you that you can use the HP upgrade CD to install Vista to a new partition. Or did they assume that Vista will be installed on top of the OEM XP and that you have another XP OS(not the one consumed by the Vista license that they provided) that will be used to install XP later.
Lastly...you may wish to ask HP if later use of the HP recovery disk wipes the drive or can be installed in a paritition smaller than the as-shipped drive arrangement and more importantly without damaging your Vista install.

...winston

: OK, so I checked with HP and it's ok to have 2 operating systems, I won't
: have any licence issues. Now I just want to know, If I give my C: drive 15
: gigs, will it be too little?
:
: This is what I have:
: C: Windows XP, 220GB
: D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
: G: (Empty -- To be Vista Drive), 10GB
:
: And I want to turn it to this:
: C: Windows XP, 30GB
: D: Recovery Drive, 9GB
: G: Windows Vista, 200GB
:
: (switch the space of the C and G drives using partition magic)
:
: Am I doing something wrong....?
 
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