Dualboot Setup/Tutorial Please

[Oblivion121]

Hi, I recently recieved a computer from a friend with the following specs:

Intel Celeron Dual-Core 1.6 (OC-1.86) at 933Mhz FSB.
1.5 GB DDR2 667 RAM (Super Talent)
Nvidia Geforce 8500GT 512M PCI-E x16
500GB Western Digital SATAII 3.0gbps
160GB Western Digital SATAII 3.0gbps
Intel 945G Chipset (Wont use Onboard Graphics at all)
2x DVD/CDRW IDE Drives

The thing is I have windows xp sp3 installed and all setup to my liking, I would however like to take the 160GB Drive and set it up to dualboot into vista. My previous attempts at doing this have made me completely screw up my main drive and have to format and start over again.

Can anyone tell me how I should go about setting this system up to dualboot XPsp3/Vista Ultimate with using the 500GB Windows XP Drive as my primary drive without losing any data or corruptions.

Please and thanks to everyone.

 

[Smilin]

make sure both drives are installed before you start. Install XP on the 500.

Once XP is installed, just install Vista.
During setup do not format, do not upgrade. Choose the 160 as the disk to install to.

It will overwrite the boot loader (but nothing else) on the 500 that XP is using and give you the option to boot into either. Note that the 160 will not boot by itself at this point. The 500 will boot then load the OS on the 160.

 

[Oblivion121]

Ok that was my first idea, but i wasnt sure if it would still give me the option to choose which drive to boot to, cause last time i tried it i F**ked up my xp install and had to reformat everything on it


So just install it like i just bought it, my 160 has nothing on it though, can i reformat that 160gb drive just to be safe or just install it like it is with whatever it has on it prior to my owning?

Now what you mean by the sentence in your post:

It will overwrite the boot loader (but nothing else) on the 500 that xp is using and give you the option to boot into either. Not that the 160 will not boot by itself at this point. The 500 will boot then load the OS on the 160.

that last sentence, do you mean that if i pick the 500g it will just boot to the vista os or what?

 

[Navid]

This is not the only way.


1- Only connect 1 drive (Drive 1) to your motherboard. Disconnect the other one (Drive 2).
2- Install OS 1 on Drive 1.
3- Disconnect Drive 1 and connect Drive 2 to the motherboard.
4- Install OS 2 on Drive 2.
5- Connect both drives to the motherboard.
6- Power up and enter the BIOS. Set up the boot priority such that the drive with the OS you use most of the time has priority.

Now, when you start the computer, it boots to the OS you want to use most of the time by default (you can change the default by changing the BIOS setting in 6).

To boot to the other OS, press the function key that brings up the boot screen (find this key from your motherboard manual) during post, and select the other drive as the boot drive.
The next time you boot, it will boot back to the default OS, unless you enter the boot screen and select the secondary OS again.


Advantage:
If one OS crashes or you remove it, your other OS will work fine.
No OS overwrites the boot loader of the other OS.
Every OS remains complete and independent.

Disadvantage:
To use the secondary OS, you will need to use the boot screen at post. You will not get a boot option at every power-up.


http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2244388&enterthread=y

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Oblivion121
the boot loader (but nothing else) on the 500 that xp is using and give you the option to boot into either. Not that the 160 will not boot by itself at this point. The 500 will boot then load the OS on the 160.

that last sentence, do you mean that if i pick the 500g it will just boot to the vista os or what?

Here's a more detailed (yet still simplified) picture of what happens.
1. Bios POSTs
2. Bios settings determine which hard drive we go to first (your boot drive..changeable with F12 at boot) ..in your case the 500gig that has XP on it.
3. Once that drive is chosen the boot loader in sector 0 of that disk is executed.
4. This boot loader has just enough code to go fetch the first few files of the OS and execute them. It will present you with a menu to choose which OSs are available*
5. When you make a choice the loader will either continue loading the files from the local drive (XP) or it will pass execution over to the OS file on the other 160gig drive with Vista on it.

So essentially BOTH OSes will boot from your 500gig drive. In the case of Vista it will only use that drive long enough for the boot loader code to run then it will jump into a normal boot on it's own drive.



*(Windows setup builds this menu. When a new OS is installed it looks for a previous OS then puts that old OS + itself into the menu. If you go backawards and install Vista first and then XP, XP isn't smart enough to figure out how to boot Vista)


Navids method is also good. The lack of a boot loader screen isn't as bad as it sounds...bios typically has F12 available to choose a drive without having to go into the full bios settings screen. Note that there is a risk of a (somewhat catastrophic) drive letter shift in this scenario. Once it's running though it won't break later.

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Navids method is also good. The lack of a boot loader screen isn't as bad as it sounds...bios typically has F12 available to choose a drive without having to go into the full bios settings screen. Note that there is a risk of a (somewhat catastrophic) drive letter shift in this scenario. Once it's running though it won't break later.

Navid's method is actually the best.

I use this method too, and regularly image one OS from within the other, something you cannot do using the other method. Vista 64 is my primary OS, but it's easy enough to remember to hit F8 if I need XP.


Basically, what this means is that I can have a clean installation of any one of the OSs up and running within about 12 minutes. I find that very handy.

 

[Oblivion121]

Ok, well the whole idea of dualbooting was for me to have a list to choose from, I didnt want to have to push f8 everytime i start my computer so i have to go with smilin's method. But I do like navid's as well, it sounded kinda fool proof to where you cant screw up your hard drives like I did with dualbooting.

So what you meant smilin about that part in your post was that the boot code is stored on the 500, and it executes some code to show both os's then i choose and if i choose the vista os it just puts the code over to the 160g and continues to boot like that, and if i choose the xp it just continues to boot the same code without swicthing hard drives?

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: Oblivion121
Ok, well the whole idea of dualbooting was for me to have a list to choose from, I didnt want to have to push f8 everytime i start my computer so i have to go with smilin's method. But I do like navid's as well, it sounded kinda fool proof to where you cant screw up your hard drives like I did with dualbooting.

Well actually it's F12, Smilin was right there 😀

And you wouldn't push it *every* time you start your computer, only when you need the lesser used OS.

Screwing up your hard drives while dualbooting only happens if you want to wipe the first OS, it then screws up your bootloader. But that's fairly easy to solve.

If you tinker, navid's system is best. If you rarely reinstall, then maybe the other method is best.

 

[Oblivion121]

Tinkering is what got me to screw up my hard drives😛, so ill go with the other method and see what happens. Thanks guys.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: mancunian
Navid's method is actually the best.

Agreed it's a good method. You have to lookout for drive letter shifts though or you'll be recovery disk booting and monkeying with your mounteddevices and/or userinit regkeys to get yourself out of the hot grease. 😱

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Agreed it's a good method. You have to lookout for drive letter shifts though or you'll be recovery disk booting and monkeying with your mounteddevices and/or userinit regkeys to get yourself out of the hot grease. 😱

It's just a cleaner method. The thing I like about it is the reimaging of OSs from within one another, takes no time at all. For both XP and Vista 64, I have a clean installation image, and a games installation image that I update every month or two. Just makes restoring stuff a snap after I've been tinkering with drivers and whatnot..😀

It's a bit of messing when first loading OSs, but worth it to keep the OSs independent from one another. The ease of reimaging is a bonus, if you use imaging software.

 

[Navid]

Correct me if I am wrong.

If you have only one physical drive connected when installing each OS, the active OS will always be on drive C, and you do not have to change any drive letters to accomplish that.

So, when you boot to Vista, Vista will be on drive C. When you boot to XP, XP will be on drive C.


The non-active OS will automatically be given a drive letter, which you can change if you like. Since you are not booting to the non-active OS, its drive letter is not critical. It is basically like a data drive.

So when you boot to Vista, the XP partition can be D or E or any available letter you want. Changing the XP drive letter when you are booting to Vista will have no impact on the XP drive letter when you boot back to XP.
The same goes when you boot to XP and change the non-active Vista drive letter if you like.



By the way, which function key brings up the boot screen depends on the motherboard.

 

[Smilin]

Navid that is generally how it works, yes. You can do anything to the non boot drive and it won't matter. That letter assignment is stored in the registry (system hive under mountedevices) for the currently booted OS and will have no impact once the other OS is up.

There are conditions that can cause a shift though. Here are some related KBs. There is probably an XP version of the first article but I'm lazy ;P

How Windows 2000 Assigns, Reserves, and Stores Drive Letters
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/234048/en-us


Articles on userinit and mounteddevices:

Unable to log on if the boot partition drive letter has changed
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249321/

How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/en-us


The F12 key has pretty much become a standard. Its the standard key for doing a PXE boot off your NIC and (out of convenience?) bios makers have thrown the other boot devices on the F12 key as well. When in doubt, F12. If that doesn't work you're likely going to have to head into bios and do it the longer way.

I really haven't dual booted myself since probably the NT 4.0 & Window 98 days (loved NT..sucked for games). No compelling need for me at least.