Can I dual-boot XP and Vista in two seperate Hard Drives?

[Billb2]

Originally posted by: zodder

format /mbr?

That works, and I use it when I want to reuse a drive that previously had an OS installed. You are correct, fixmbr should remove the Vista boot loader too.

[greyeyezz]

I'm running two versions of XP on two separate drives and was considering going to vista on one drive. Had a similar question:

Right now i have XP pro installed on two separate drives, each with one partition. C is my main drive, F is my gaming drive. I can select either drive thru windows dual boot.

Say i want to install Vista on my F drive. Before installing i image both my drives to my external using True image. I install Vista to F drive and it sets up Vista dual boot.

Now i want to go back to my original configuration. Will i be able to image over the Vista instalation using the TI boot disk and how do i restore my original XP boot setup?

Just trying to cover my but in case somthing goes awry.

In that situation of yours, I would simply create and restore a backup image of what is your drive F. Having a backup of your main XP on drive C is also a good idea, but you should be able to restore F without restoring C too.

Before doing so, you will need to uninstall the Vista bootloader using VistaBootPRO and reformat the drive Vista is on. YOu can do this all from Windows XP and then just restore the F drive. I have found with True Image that it works best when the drive/partition size and the drive letter does not change.

It's probably a good idea to completely remove all traces of Vista by following the removal section of our Installation Guide which you will find at the top of this forum.

I've used True Image successfully to restore Vista installations from Windows XP as well.

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

[kman79]

I just finished installing Vista on the second drive. Dual Boot works great, thanks for the help guys.

I tried the Vista Beta for a week when it first came out, the retail version definately feels faster, but there are still a few too many pop up to deal with.

Also, I remember the background being animated, but it's not working for me. Am I doing something wrong, what is it I need to do to get it working. I didn't pay four hundred dollars and just to end up not having all the eye candy!

Again, I appreciate the help and any help on how to get the animated background working is greatly appreciated

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: kman79
I just finished installing Vista on the second drive. Dual Boot works great, thanks for the help guys.

I tried the Vista Beta for a week when it first came out, the retail version definately feels faster, but there are still a few too many pop up to deal with.

Also, I remember the background being animated, but it's not working for me. Am I doing something wrong, what is it I need to do to get it working. I didn't pay four hundred dollars and just to end up not having all the eye candy!

Again, I appreciate the help and any help on how to get the animated background working is greatly appreciated

hey kman79, i'm in the same boat as you also, i currently have Windows XP Pro Sp2 installed on my 150gb raptor and i have a 320gb 7200.10 drive that i can partition into 120gb (vista)/ 200gb (storage).

can you please list step by step how you installed vista? did u do it by unplugging the Xp hard drive and booting off the dvd to install? or did you install it while loaded in windows? thanks

[Captante]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

hey kman79, i'm in the same boat as you also, i currently have Windows XP Pro Sp2 installed on my 150gb raptor and i have a 320gb 7200.10 drive that i can partition into 120gb (vista)/ 200gb (storage).

can you please list step by step how you installed vista? did u do it by unplugging the Xp hard drive and booting off the dvd to install? or did you install it while loaded in windows? thanks

The first thing we need to know is wether you have an upgrade or full version of Vista... if its the upgrade you have no choice but to begin the install from within XP while with the full version you can start either way, however I suggest that if you want to dual-boot you still start the install from XP because that way Vista setup will be able to use your existing internet connection to check for updates before it starts.

Throw the Vista DVD in & when the setup screens pop up, follow the prompts for a custom "clean install" & select your second HD to install the OS. I suggest un-checking the box that says somthing like "activate Vista when I'm online" in case things don't go well the first time & activate manually after you know everything is working ok, also depending on your motherboard chipset you may need to add chipset drivers, but odds are you'll be ok here unless you are running a RAID array.


Edit: Note that there is an ongoing debate about wether its within the terms of the Vista EULA to do a dual-boot install with an upgrade version because according to the exact wording which states: "You must stop using the product you purchased the upgrade for", in other words you can't continue to use the XP license you used to be eligable for the upgrade. Note however that the original instructions I used to setup a dual-boot system using the Vista upgrade came from the Microsoft Vista support website, so at this point I'm not sure what to think.

[dalepmay]

Originally posted by: Billb2
If you have XP on a boot drive and install Vista on another drive, Vista will install it's boot loader on the original boot drive. Uninstalling (erasing?) Vista will not delete this new boot loader, which will now give you the choice of booting a non-existant OS...forever.

Thee are editors available to modufy the Vista boot loader and you "could" modify it so that the Vista install doesn't show as a choice, set the wait time to 1 sec or so and just blow through it..but that's really a klunge, isn't it?

The only way to do truly "separate" installs is to remove the original boot drive and install Vista (or any other OS for that matter) on another drive and swap out the drives as the method of choosing which OS to boot. But that won't last long as it's a real PITA.

Ensure you have the Vista DVD in the DVD drive.
Go to "Start" and "Run". Type in "eboot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force" (without quotes, and replacing e: with the drive letter of your Vista DVD).
Restart the computer, and you will notice the boot selection menu is gone.

[Diz2K2]

Another way to be able to boot to the OS of choice using two hard drives is to set the bios to boot to a CD in which you can use the Ultimate Boot CD and then select the hard drive you want to load. Once the CD boots, you will see at the bottom that you have the option to boot the first or second hard drive. F8 - First HD, F9 - Second HD

Screenshot

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: Diz2K2
Another way to be able to boot to the OS of choice using two hard drives is to set the bios to boot to a CD in which you can use the Ultimate Boot CD and then select the hard drive you want to load. Once the CD boots, you will see at the bottom that you have the option to boot the first or second hard drive. F8 - First HD, F9 - Second HD

Screenshot

nice one

[Nickyct]

I am thinking of doing the exact same thing.
I bought XP home when it first came out and just bought Vista premium OEM 64bit a month ago. (Since the price is so cheap for OEM . I picked up the full version not the upgrade.) when I put a new system together.
Things has been working fine with Vista but alot of my devices won't work due drivers issue. Which I knew I was gonna run into this problem.
I can't use Yahoo music anymore because they still don't have 64bit version. My cannon scanner is just sitting there collecting dust.

I also have 80gig Sata as a spare drive. I only use that drive to safe files only. I'm think of putting my XP on that drive.
Should I disconnect Vista drive before I do that or it doesn't matter.

Do I have to press F8 everytime I boot up.
Which operating system will be the first if I fail to choose which one I need to boot to.


Thanks

[Nickyct]

So, with this option. I have to have the CD inside my drive at all time correct?

[Shadow Conception]

It's what I'm doing right now. Windows XP on C drive, Vista Ultimate on H Drive. Both are 80GB ATA/IDE drives.

[osage]

VistaBootPRO will make this a snap.

some detailed instructions on a forum Here

[Nickyct]

Well, I installed XP Home with no problem. I have to go to my Bios to select which operating system I want to boot to.
I downloaded Ultimate Boot CD but still can't get it to work right yet.
I have to play with it some more.

Now I can use my Scanner and some other applications that I couldn't before with Vista 64 until they release the driver.

[Wellsoul2]

[/quote]

The first thing we need to know is wether you have an upgrade or full version of Vista... if its the upgrade you have no choice but to begin the install from within XP while with the full version you can start either way, however I suggest that if you want to dual-boot you still start the install from XP because that way Vista setup will be able to use your existing internet connection to check for updates before it starts.
[/quote] <snip>

No. You don't need XP. You just install vista 1st and skip putting in the product key.
You can then use that for the upgrade and install Vista WITH the product key.

[/quote]
Edit: Note that there is an ongoing debate about wether its within the terms of the Vista EULA to do a dual-boot install with an upgrade version because according to the exact wording which states: "You must stop using the product you purchased the upgrade for", in other words you can't continue to use the XP license you used to be eligable for the upgrade. Note however that the original instructions I used to setup a dual-boot system using the Vista upgrade came from the Microsoft Vista support website, so at this point I'm not sure what to think.
[/quote]
No one is stopping you. XP will still update.
You will need XP because Vista will crap out lots of games, programs and sound apps
you have spent much money on. Keep XP or you will cry alot.

Also as the person states you don't need a previous version to install the upgrade.

Legally? I dunno..if using on the same computer and going back and forth it's
not really hurting anyone. Really I'd love to give up XP but can't yet.
When Vista works well enough..fine..
Right now Vista multimedia sux...sound sux..etc.

[KeypoX]

Originally posted by: zodder

format /mbr?

lol FOREVER .... inst true by the way just need to edit boot.ini later in life atleast in xp

[IsLNdbOi]

I'm considering doing this too. I have a 150GB Raptor and a 250GB Seagate 7200.10 (both are SATA).

I want to install Vista Ultimate x64 on the Raptor and XP on the Seagate. So is this the best way to do it:

- Unplug the Raptor, install XP on the Seagate.
- Once XP is installed unplug the Seagate, plug the Raptor in and install Vista. (Or do I leave the Seagate plugged in while I install Vista on the Raptor?)
- Once Vista is installed plug the Seagate back in.

What do I do at this point? I want Vista as my main OS. How do I get Vista to automatically setup a boot menu (that will let me choose either OS)?

I've seen that VistaBootPRO tool. Could I just simply boot to Vista after installing Vista, install VistaBootPRO and setup the boot menu that way?

[IsLNdbOi]

I tried doing this today (installing Vista on my Raptor and XP on my eSATA drive). My eSATA drive is recognized as a regular SATA hard drive in my BIOS.

First thing I did was unplug my Raptor, install XP on my eSATA drive then I unplugged my eSATA drive, plugged my Raptor back in and installed Vista on that.

Both OSs installed on their hard drive successfully, but Vista didn't "see" XP on the other hard drive. After both OSs were installed on their hard drives I shut my PC down, plugged both hard drives in and powered the PC back on. Vista booted. There was no boot menu. I can get the device selection thing from my BIOS to show up if I keep pressing escape when my BIOS splash screen shows up and that lets me choose which hard drive to boot.

That's not how I want it though. I thought if I did it this way, Vista would automatically create some kind of boot menu that would come up on its own everytime I turned my PC on or restarted?

I installed VistaBootPRO on my Raptor (in Vista) and whenever I ran it I would get a message saying that a Vista installation was not found on this hard drive. In the "Manage OS Entries" window in VistaBootPRO it does show Vista, but it doesn't show Windows XP (which is installed on the other hard drive).