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Vista boot question (hard drive priority)

G

gplracer

Golden Member
I have Windows XP on my computer. If I add another hard drive can I install Vista to that hard drive and then either boot into Windows XP or Vista by changing the boot priority in the bios?
 
vista will create the bootmanager on your primary hard drive where you will be able to select which OS to run You can change these settings using BCDEDIT command line parameter or by using 3rd party boot manager tweaking tools.
 
If you want to use boot priority that most motherboards offer and you can access by pressing F8 or F12 or one of the function keys during post depending of the motherboaqrd, you should disconnect the XP drive while you install Vista.

Then, when you start the computer, you need to access the boot priority if you want to boot to the OS that is not the default.
You can change the default by editing the BIOS setting.



If you want to get a menu automatically every time you start the computer, leave the XP drive attached while you install Vista.
The disadvantage of this approach is that if some day you decide to remove Vista, or if you just disconnect the Vista drive, you will lose the ability to boot to XP until you fix the boot manager.
 
Thanks guys i really appreciate the information. I am going to install Vista this morning on an additional 500gig drive i just got.
 
Before you install Vista, make sure to go into the BIOS and make the new drive the boot drive.

Edit:
Do that if you want to keep the two OS independent, and use the motherboard boot priority to choose which OS to boot to.
 
That would be wrong to do, exactly for the reason already given above. The bootloader lives on the primary drive, and hence, to preserve XP bootability, the drive that has the current bootloader (XP's) must remain the primary drive.
 
There are two completely different ways to do this as I have explained in my first post.
Both allow both OS to boot.


In my second post, I thought (perhaps incorrectly) that the OP has chosen the first option.
I have edited my second post to clarify.
 
Entering BIOS and re-ordering drives isn't anywhere near as convenient as simply making your selection in the bootloader.
 
You don't have to enter the BIOS every time you boot.
I will not repeat the procedure stated already.
 
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