XP and Vista together on one computer

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Guest

Could I install the Vista as my secondary os and keep my XP and all of the
old settings as my main os? I have over 300GB's of room so I could have both
if possible.
 
Yes, you will need a free partition with enough space to install Vista. It
should detect XP and set up a boot menu for you.
 
I haven't done this myself, dual boot that is, but there have been lots of
posts regarding dual boot. You may want to browse through the NG and read
some of the posts. It seems that when you install Vista as your "secondary"
OS, it really becomes your primary OS and if you want to go back to plain
ol' XP, you may have some problems or an uneasy road.

Lang
 
Chris:
Before you start to install Vista. It IS NOT recommended for use on a
production machine. It can create problems with your XP installation. That’s
not a joke because I’ve had to rebuild my system from the ground up many
times. Back-up all valuable data and files. Using a third party partitioning
software like Partition Magic 8, there are others but that’s what I use,
create a new partition, format it “NTFS†and set it active and not hidden.
This is optional but it can reduce confusion later, is to label each
partition, C=XP and D=Vista. After this is done boot into XP, insert the
Vista DVD into the drive to start the installation, you will have an option
to perform an upgrade or custom installation, Choose custom installation
with the target being the Vista partition. After the installation is
finished when booting the computer you will have a choice of “Earlier
Versions†or “Microsoft Windowsâ€. “Earlier Versions†will be XP and
“Microsoft Windows†will be Vista. If you have any other questions or doubts
ask them because someone will be able to give you the answer.
 
Chris I don't really find your term "secondary OS" useful. I'm not sure
what it entails, but I think you mean your main OS has been XP with all your
settings and programs and Vista would be the one you want to now try out.

The answer to your question is as you have been told 1) Install Old OS first
and I mean the older OS XP first. 2) You can burn the iso if that's what
you're doing and run setup from XP. You'll get as Dennis explained a menu
going to Vista by default and the choice to go to Previous OS. You
absolutely will keep your XP and all old settings on what you call your main
OS because you've been using it a while and have settings and apps on it.
3) You need to make a partition for Vista and in Vista setup you get the
option to "customize" and select your drive or partition for example if XP
were on C:\ you can select the other driver you have made E:\ or whatever.
4) If you run the setup from XP, and if you do the iso burn in XP it will
show up as setup on the XP desktop or if you put the DVD in at a later date
while on XP. This will insure you keep the same drive letters. 5) After
Build 5472--a build before 2 other builds that some people used, and
currently RC1 5600, some people noticed that they could not run setup from
XP and could run it fine with a restart. If you don't run from XP, the bios
will dictate the drive letters and change them. No big deal there. It will
not impact XP. When you boot to XP, the drive letters will seen as your
original drive letters. If you search dual boot, many of us have directions
in here we've posted for months.

Vista X86 is about 2.7 GB for RC1 and it puts about 7GB in ancillary files
on your drive. It also will install important files to C:\ or your XP drive
so on that you will need about 350 MB of free space. Then depending on how
many programs you install, you should have from 20GB to 40GB for Vista and
since you have so much space give it about 50-60GB.

You need to make a partition for it from the extra real estate you have, and
if you don't have a 3rd party partition maker/manager like Partition Magic,
then you can use www.ranish.com and it will work well.


Here is one set of directions:

How to Dual Boot Vista
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/...-boot-windows-xp-and-windows-vista-179906.php

Threads for perspective
http://digg.com/software/HowTo_dual-boot_Windows_XP_and_Windows_Vista_-_Windows_Vista_Beta:_

https://blogs.msdn.com/dmahugh/archive/2006/06/15/632821.aspx

Get the Download of Vista RC1/Read this:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/preview.mspx

This takes you to the download page:
http://download.windowsvista.com/preview/rc1/en/download.htm

As Dennis said, if you have any specific other questions, there is a lot of
great help here.

Good luck,

CH
 
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