What is the best way to run XP and Vista?

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I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would it be
better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?

Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP and it
will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing me to run
both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes with Vista " is it
really that simple...

I don't want to give up my XP, yet I want the power of Vista and DX10!

Feel free to point me in the way of a tutorial, if no one feels like
explaining this for the umpteenth time :)

But I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to help us nooblings!
 
ColonelAddams said:
I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would
it be better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?

Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP
and it will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing
me to run both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes
with Vista " is it really that simple...

I don't want to give up my XP, yet I want the power of Vista and DX10!

Feel free to point me in the way of a tutorial, if no one feels like
explaining this for the umpteenth time :)

But I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to help us nooblings!
Click to expand...
===============================
I'm no expert on dual-booting but the
following info worked for me. One
other point...when I first installed Vista
I constantly received errors...updating my
BIOS solved that and now it runs perfectly.

Doesn't have to be a second hard drive...
if your main drive is large enough you can
install on a separate partition. 15 to 20 GB
is considered to be adequate for the install
but 40 GB or more would be better. My
Vista partition is 172 GB but I have a large
hard drive (400 GB) and wanted to have
plenty of space for installing programs.

First...hook up all your hardware and run
the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor...just
to see where you stand.


Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor
http://tinyurl.com/27pekc

Also..."Important"...backup all of your personal
files...My Documents / My Pictures / E-mail /
Everything...etc...you never know what might
go wrong.

You may need to reduce the size of
your Primary Active partition to create
some unallocated space.

I used Acronis Disk Director Suite 10
to accomplish this but there are other
options such as the app. mentioned
in the following article.

How to dual-boot Vista with XP -
step-by-step guide with screenshots
http://tinyurl.com/ysh8hy

Gnome Partition Editor
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Once you have the unallocated space
available...you may need to enter your
BIOS and change the boot order so
you can boot from the Vista disk. From
that point just follow the onscreen
instructions. To access the BIOS on my
machine...I have to press and hold the
Delete key when it's powering up.

When Vista installs it will create it's own
partition on the unallocated space.

The following links may be useful also:

Dual-Booting Vista and XP
http://www.windowstalk.org/dual_boot_vista.htm

Dual-Booting Vista and XP (Part 2)
http://www.windowstalk.org/dual_boot_part2.htm

Also the following freebie is very useful in
managing your Boot options.

VistaBootPRO
http://www.vistabootpro.org/index.php
(scroll down to the download link)

--
John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk
 
you can partition your main drive But i prefer have a second drive so vista
has it's own.
No space worries.
easy boot choice up using f10 or f11 at startup
cost of hard drives, are cheap
easy to keep drivers and file from other o/s
you can unplug your vista drive if booting to XP so you do not loose your
restore points in vista'

And i just wiped out my Xp drive, formated it. i have not booted to Xp in so
long i now have lots of storage space!
 
there does not appear to be much that can utilize DX10 YET.
unless you are hurting and really really need the DX10, I'd wait for a while.

(e-mail address removed)



I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would it be
better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?

Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP and it
will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing me to run
both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes with Vista " is it
really that simple...

I don't want to give up my XP, yet I want the power of Vista and DX10!

Feel free to point me in the way of a tutorial, if no one feels like
explaining this for the umpteenth time :)

But I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to help us nooblings!
 
ColonelAddams said:
I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would it be
better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?
Click to expand...
Is your external drive connect to the PC via USB or Firewire? If it is,
it will be too slow to be used as a boot drive. It should be OK if it is
eSATA.
Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP and it
will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing me to run
both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes with Vista " is it
really that simple...
Click to expand...
Yes, it is that simple as long as you don't mind your Vista's restore
points get deleted when XP is running.
 
thank you all for the help. I will buy a new internal drive tomorrow and I
will also buy vista for the install. I don't mind restore points being wiped
out seeing I keep all my pertinent info on my external hd.

I am assuming I stick in my 2nd HD and it will be named another letter, when
I install vista it will ask me which drive letter to install too? When I pick
the new drive my old drive will continue to hold xp on it, correct? Then the
next time I boot it will ask me which version of windows to boot, xp or
vista?

Thank you all again for your time and efforts!
 
ColonelAddams wrote:
....
I am assuming I stick in my 2nd HD and it will be named another letter, when
I install vista it will ask me which drive letter to install too? When I pick
the new drive my old drive will continue to hold xp on it, correct? Then the
next time I boot it will ask me which version of windows to boot, xp or
vista?
Click to expand...

That's the big picture, yes. There is some fine print, of course ;o)

One prominent problem has been installing Vista on systems that use
both PATA drives and SATA drives, so if you plan to mix drive-types
you should spend some time reading previous posts to this group.
 
Hi Colonel Adams--

There are several ways around the deletion of the restore points if you dual
boot, and they have been discussed on this group and the general group. One
is to use Bit Locker if your Vista edition has it, and that's importnant to
you. I highly value System Restore, but I also highly value a good backup
and while Vista has Backup, and One Care has backup that is not quite as
robust as Vista but similar, I prefer Acronis 10. I've used and compared
all of those.

I like dual booting because you always have your XP with you, and if you're
like a lot of us, you have worked with XP for a long time and have a lot of
docs, shortcuts, etc. on it.

When you install Vista, if you don't use an upgrade and want to dual boot,
if you run the Vista setup from the XP desktop, you will keep the same drive
letters (the bios dictates that), but if you run the Vista DVD from a
restart, you'll have your drive letters changed when you are on the Vista
boot, (but not when you're on the XP boot).

You'll find installation easy because if you click Advanced on the setup,
you will have a choice of which drive you want to install Vista on. If you
were using only one HD, and I understand you're buying another internal HD,
then you could simply make a partition (you'd have to use 3rd party to do
this from XP to retain everything) using something like Partition Magic.

Where do you want to Install Vista (Drive Options Advanced Link)
http://www.winsupersite.com/images/reviews/winvista_rtm_install_13.jpg

This may be helpful to you--it gives screenshots of Vista installs:
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/indexwinvista.htm

Installing Windows Vista
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_03.asp

One tip I find userul (with a dual boot) to get from Vista to XP or
vice-versa when you are booted to one of them:

You can shortcut from your Vista Desktop to XP and from XP to Vista--giving
you access to your files and folders on XP and saving time to transfer or
copy and real estate on your Vista partition:

To go to XP from Vista do this:

XP Drive Letter\Documents and Settings\Col. Adams' Profile\Desktop

To go from XP to Vista:

Vista Drive Letter(partition assigned letter from XP)\Users\Col. Adams'
Profile\Desktop

You can easily merge your Outlook but cannot merge OE\Win Mail. However you
can copy any OE message from one to the other.

Good luck,

CH
 
ColonelAddams said:
I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would it be
better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?

Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP and
it
will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing me to run
both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes with Vista " is
it
really that simple...

I don't want to give up my XP, yet I want the power of Vista and DX10!

Feel free to point me in the way of a tutorial, if no one feels like
explaining this for the umpteenth time :)

But I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to help us nooblings!
Click to expand...

You will need either an OEM or full retail version of Vista to run a dual
boot with XP. You cannot use an upgrade version of Vista and have both
installed. By the Vista license agreement, the XP license is subsumed into
the Vista license, and both cannot be installed at the same time, whether on
the same or different computers.

Neither XP or Vista will run from an external, USB or Firewire connected
drive. If the external drive is a SATA drive and is connected to an
internal SATA connector either OS will run from that, but what you have
there in essence is an internal connected drive that happens to be external
to the computer case.
 
TO THE OP:
you CAN use the upgrade version to run dual xp/vista.
the instruction have been posted all over including links to it by this person.

basically it requires installing vista twice.
first time do not enter your KEY, but select from the list the version you actually purchased.
after the install is complete. immediately do an UPGRADE install and this time enter your key.

be aware there are some gotchas in dual booting.
one that most people complain about is the lost restore points when booting back and forth.
also by installing vista by booting from the dvd, it STEALS the "C" designation. so both xp and vista will be "C" when you boot them.
by installing from a running XP system vista will then take the expected drive letter from the drive/partition as expected.

be sure and check for drivers for your vista system. also program compatibility is a issue.



(e-mail address removed)



Rock said:
I don't have a second internal HD yet, but do have an external. Would it be
better to install Vista on an internal vs. external?

Also, when I do buy Vista do i simply install it on my PC running XP and
it
will ask me which drive I would like to install it to allowing me to run
both? I keep hearing about "use the boot loader that comes with Vista " is
it
really that simple...

I don't want to give up my XP, yet I want the power of Vista and DX10!

Feel free to point me in the way of a tutorial, if no one feels like
explaining this for the umpteenth time :)

But I do appreciate the time and effort it takes to help us nooblings!
Click to expand...

You will need either an OEM or full retail version of Vista to run a dual
boot with XP. You cannot use an upgrade version of Vista and have both
installed. By the Vista license agreement, the XP license is subsumed into
the Vista license, and both cannot be installed at the same time, whether on
the same or different computers.

Neither XP or Vista will run from an external, USB or Firewire connected
drive. If the external drive is a SATA drive and is connected to an
internal SATA connector either OS will run from that, but what you have
there in essence is an internal connected drive that happens to be external
to the computer case.
 
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