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Windows Forum / Windows Vista / Setup and Deployment / May 2008Installation of Multiple Boots - Can I just clone disk image and set up boot manually?
Hi guys, I have a need to install 4 systems of Vista on a single machine (4 partitions of my main system hard disk). Given that Vista always seems to see its own system drive as C, would it be possible to create my "master image" with SP1, all my drivers, utilities, system tweaks, and other "generic" applications (like Office/Acrobat etc), and then just clone this drive across to all the partitions I need to set up (on D, E, and F). Then, using VistaBootPRO, I could edit the BCD to include all the other partitions. Can anyone think of a reason this would not work? Many thanks! Martin > Hi guys, > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Martin First off, you'd need to license the different installations. Secondly, it would not work... as a OS cloned as the C: drive would not work when placed on a drive of another letter. In theory, if you set up the drive with 4 primary partitions then used a boot manager that could hide any of the other three so that any partition booted to would retain the C: letter... it may very well work Hi Philo, Thanks for the reply. > First off, you'd need to license the different installations. Am I not correct in thinking that Vista can be installed multiple times on the SAME machine without relicensing? This is then different to XP, which allowed this? > Secondly, it would not work... as a OS cloned as the C: drive would not > work > when placed on a drive of another letter. Vista ALWAYS sees its own partition as C though. Even though it may be installed on a different partition, when it boots it will revert to C... Cheers! Martin >> Hi guys, >> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >> >> Martin > In theory, if you set up the drive with 4 primary partitions > then used a boot manager that could hide any of the other three > so that any partition booted to would retain the C: letter... > it may very well work > Hi Philo, > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Martin No... all versions of Windows allowed one installation per license. As to the C: drive...I keep forgetting that Vista is not like XP in so many ways I know of course backup copies are permissible... so I suspect your idea is not technically legal...but who knows...it may work Great.... so anyone dual booting needs 2 copies. Poo.... Ah well, t'was a thought. Cheers, M >> Hi Philo, >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > so I suspect your idea is not technically legal...but who knows...it may > work > Great.... so anyone dual booting needs 2 copies. > > Poo.... > > Ah well, t'was a thought. here it is officially http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Ultimate_Englis h_36d0fe99-75e4-4875-8153-889cf5105718.pdf > Cheers, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > so I suspect your idea is not technically legal...but who knows...it may > > work Yep. There we go: a. Licensed Device. ****You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device****. You may use the software on up to two processors on that device at one time. Except as provided in the Storage and Network Use (Ultimate edition) sections below, you may not use the software on any other device. Utterly ridiculous. What about quad procesors?! Thanks for the link in any case! Martin >> Great.... so anyone dual booting needs 2 copies. >> [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] >> > may >> > work > Yep. There we go: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Martin Quad processors? good question. It would be hell if you had to buy another license. What's going to happen when 16 core machines become available? UPDATE: Well this morning I went out and bought 2 more copies of Vista, which takes my total to 4 (3x x86, and 1x x64). I did a complete reinstall on my primary "C" drive, of Vista x86, SP1, my mobo/LAN/graphics/audio interface drivers, and a couple of basic utils (VistaBootPRO, WinRAR, Acronis TrueImage, EmEditor, TweakVI etc.). I then took a snapshot of the system and restored it to my "D" drive, edited the BCD with VistaBootPRO, and it worked!!!!!! The only thing that came up was the "Windows did not start properly" message when I booted the new partition. Vista gives you the option to change your product ID, so I can put in the new PIDs and activate them. Now I'm going to try it with Acrobat, some CS3 products, Office etc. Cheers! Martin > UPDATE: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Now I'm going to try it with Acrobat, some CS3 products, Office etc. Great to hear that... Was the "Windows did not start properly" just a one time happenstance? Two processors means two separate chips containing the processors. You can have as many cores as you like on each processor. 4 cores, 8 cores or even 16 cores. The license allows any number of cores, but only two "processors". The 16 core example would give you 32 cores total and you would still be within your license of 2 processors. Note that if you have more than 64 cores, you will have to use a newer version of Windows than Vista to use more than 64 cores. > Yep. There we go: > [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] >>> > may >>> > work Ah! Ok thank you.... > Two processors means two separate chips containing the processors. You can > have as many cores as you like on each processor. 4 cores, 8 cores or even [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] >>>> > may >>>> > work |
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