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Windows Forum / Windows Vista / General Topics / May 2008Setting up dual booting
Hi I've just got a new computer with Vista. I want to set up a dual boot system so that I can also access XP. I have read that this is much easier to do if XP is the first OS, followed by installing Vista, but I can't do that. I have also read that it can still be done by creating a new partition from within Vista, then installing XP into that. I understand that this process will overwrite the Vista boot loader and the computer will then only boot into XP, but that a programme called VistaBoot PRO can then be used to reset that, and you are then left with dual-booting. But has anyone had any experience of doing this? Or are there any foreseeable problems. E.g. - when I start installing XP, will it need access to the motherboard/graphics card drivers? One thing I'm wondering about is, at the stage where I can only boot into XP, the hard disk is a SATA one (no RAID set up) and I seem to recall XP having issues with these at boot-up? All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Hi, XP will need to be fed the sata drivers via floppy (it doesn't offer any other method) during setup. VistaBootPro, as you have read, can take care of the dual boot setup. As to motherboard and graphic drivers, there will probably be some in XP setup to handle the initial installation, you can install more up to date ones afterwards.  SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Hey Wasted-- This is easy. Many advantages. There are hundreds of posts on this group and setup about boat loader problems, how to recover them using two popular apps or remedies with Windows, or outside it, but I haven't had those problems. This usually works just fine. How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_ stepbystep_guide.htm > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > All constructive comments welcome with thanks. > Hey Wasted-- > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] >> >> All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Thanks Chad - could I ask why the guide talks about using the Vista CD to shrink the original volume and setup a partition? Other instructions I've seen have used Administrative Tools from within Vista to shrink the original volume and then let XP create the partition when installing it. Or is it just different ways of doing the same thing? Wasted-- The major reason to use the Vista CD is to help repair the bootloader using Startup Repair given that you're in the situation of not installing the older OS first which is much preferred. Easy BCD in that example will install the option of two entries in the bootloader. It also will facilitate getting rid of XP should you opt to then do that. CH >> Hey Wasted-- >> [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > original volume and then let XP create the partition when installing it. > Or is it just different ways of doing the same thing? Check this link from my website: http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm It is easy enough to set up but, as Rick say's, you may have to install SATA drivers via floppy. Having said that I Installed XP (as a stand alone) on a brand new computer (now 5 months old) when I first purchased it and XP actually picked up the SATA drive without any problem, so I suppose it all depends upon how old your PC is. Incidentally the copy of XP included SP2. One other point to mention is that when you boot to XP you will loose all system restore points on your Vista partition, so it is wise to image your drives regularly. I did see a work around which prevented this some months ago, but it looks as if I either deleted the information or forgot to save it (I was looking for something else at he time:-) Signature-- John Barnett MVP Associate Expert Windows Desktop Experience Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy, reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this mail/post.. > Hi > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Recent PCs can boot onto the disk of your choosing, and for safety reasons I'd like the non Vista OS to go onto a different physical disk. My problem is that my recent D*ll motherboard can handle only 2 SATA drives, and both are in use (one for system, one for data; I refuse to use Vista's 'My Documents' stuff because I want my data to be independent of the OS). I know you can buy (with some difficulty) a PCI card for external SATA drives: would this work for booting onto XP or a Linux distribution? Regards > Check this link from my website: > http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >> >> All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Both Windows Vista and XP refuse to install on an external drive. I'm not sure about a PCI connected drive, but I assume that would be the same. I've tried installing to a USB external drive (my computer, as you say, does recognise and can boot from a USB drive) but have always got a 'cannot install to this media' error message. As for Linux I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable about the why's and wherefore's of the Linux operating system so I can't give a qualified opinion. There are other user's on this newsgroup who are more qualified than I to answer that question and maybe they will give an opinion, Alias for example? Signature-- John Barnett MVP Associate Expert Windows Desktop Experience Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy, reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this mail/post.. > Recent PCs can boot onto the disk of your choosing, and for safety reasons > I'd like the non Vista OS to go onto a different physical disk. [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >>> >>> All constructive comments welcome with thanks. I set up a dual boot (XP,Vista) on my computer (about 9 months old) and had to have the sata/raid drivers on a floppy to install. Used VistaBootPro, worked great. They also have an excellent forum geared for dual booting. http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/index.php Ramone > Check this link from my website: > http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >> >> All constructive comments welcome with thanks. Yes I've used VistaBootPro in the past to make adjustments to the Vista boot menu and have found it very useful. As I said in my original post my SATA drive was recognised by XP so I didn't need the drivers (although I don't have a portable floppy drive which would have made things difficult for installing the drivers, especially as XP doesn't have an option, during setup, to access a USB stick.) I suppose the only down side to installing XP as a dual boot is, if your PC is relatively new, whether or not there are XP drivers for your hardware. Signature-- John Barnett MVP Associate Expert Windows Desktop Experience Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy, reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this mail/post.. >I set up a dual boot (XP,Vista) on my computer (about 9 months old) and had >to have the sata/raid drivers on a floppy to install. Used VistaBootPro, [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] >>> >>> All constructive comments welcome with thanks. > Yes I've used VistaBootPro in the past to make adjustments to the Vista > boot menu and have found it very useful. As I said in my original post my [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] >>>> into XP, the hard disk is a SATA one (no RAID set up) and I seem to >>>> recall XP having issues with these at boot-up? That is my biggest worry - if having installed XP, and before I get chance to use VistaBootPro, what if XP refuses to boot? Not having the sata/raid drivers will cause the install to fail if you do indeed need them. It won't cause the dual-boot to fail once you get XP installed. XP will boot, but you will lose the ability to boot Vista, that's where VistaBootPro comes in. Ramone >> Yes I've used VistaBootPro in the past to make adjustments to the Vista >> boot menu and have found it very useful. As I said in my original post my [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > That is my biggest worry - if having installed XP, and before I get chance > to use VistaBootPro, what if XP refuses to boot? > Not having the sata/raid drivers will cause the install to fail if you do > indeed need them. It won't cause the dual-boot to fail once you get XP [quoted text clipped - 66 lines] >> That is my biggest worry - if having installed XP, and before I get >> chance to use VistaBootPro, what if XP refuses to boot? Thanks Ramone - I have actually made a floppy disk with the SATA drivers - but John Barnett's last point about other drivers is what worries me - this is a brand new computer and I worry in case XP doesn't recognise some component or other and won't boot - but perhaps I'm being too paranoid! Thanks for the reference to the support forum by the way, I intend to browse through there tonight. I wouldn't worry about that, the worst thing that will happen is you will have problems with XP. From what I can tell, it's rare to not be able to find the drivers for XP, difficult though it might be. I would go for it myself. I have a dual-boot now and don't know what I would do without it. If I were you I would backup all my important stuff to removable media then try the dual-boot, maybe on a day off to have time to recover from problems. One other thing, here's the "XP deletes Vista restore points" workaround. I use it and it works. I use method 1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185/en-us Ramone >> Not having the sata/raid drivers will cause the install to fail if you do >> indeed need them. It won't cause the dual-boot to fail once you get XP [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > Thanks for the reference to the support forum by the way, I intend to > browse through there tonight. Ramone, Thanks for the link regarding XP and Restore points. I knew I'd seen it somewhere but couldn't remember where. Signature-- John Barnett MVP Associate Expert Windows Desktop Experience Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy, reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this mail/post.. >I wouldn't worry about that, the worst thing that will happen is you will >have problems with XP. From what I can tell, it's rare to not be able to [quoted text clipped - 90 lines] >> Thanks for the reference to the support forum by the way, I intend to >> browse through there tonight. Wasted XP installed on my machine and booted without any problem. Only when the machine booted did I find that drivers were missing. It didn't affect XP booting in any way. One thing you could do is contact the PC manufacture's tech support and simply say that you wish to dual boot and are Windows XP driers available for your machine. They can at least point you in the right direction. I forget now which drivers were actually missing but I eventually found them. Of course another 'alternative' depending upon what you want to actually use XP for is to go for the Virtual Machine option (Microsoft have a free VM application called VPC 2007). This allows you to run XP and Vista at the same time (assuming you have enough memory, of course). I have recently changed over to VM software (VMWare Workstation (sadly not free)) because the only reason I have to have XP installed is in case of any queries regarding XP. You are not going to be able to play games on a VM but for general use, say a program doesn't work on vista but does on XP it is a handy alternative. This link from my website will give you an insight into how things work http://vistasupport.mvps.org/creating_a_virtual_machine_with_vmware.htm Okay, it refers to VMware Workstation, but VPC 2007 is basically the same in the way things operate. Just one further point, originally Microsoft insisted that you were 'not' allowed to use VMs on Windows Vista Home and Premium (you could only use them on Ultimate, Business and Enterprise). This 'clause' has now been relaxed so you can go ahead and use a VM on Home and Premium. The only snag is that Home and Premium will just put up a message saying that 'VM's are not supported,' but it doesn't stop you from using a VM. Signature-- John Barnett MVP Associate Expert Windows Desktop Experience Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy, reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this mail/post.. >> Not having the sata/raid drivers will cause the install to fail if you do >> indeed need them. It won't cause the dual-boot to fail once you get XP [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > Thanks for the reference to the support forum by the way, I intend to > browse through there tonight. >Hi > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >E.g. - when I start installing XP, will it need access to the >motherboard/graphics card drivers? No. >One thing I'm wondering about is, at the stage where I can only boot into >XP, the hard disk is a SATA one (no RAID set up) and I seem to recall XP >having issues with these at boot-up? There shouldn't be any booting problem. >All constructive comments welcome with thanks. 1. Determine whether you need Windows XP SATA drivers during setup by booting from the XP CD and going through the new install setup screens until you reach the screen that shows the disks. If the hard drive does not appear, then you need the Windows XP AHCI/RAID drivers for the SATA interface on the motherboard. Exit setup using F3-F3. 2. Boot Vista and identify the devices (chipset, lan, graphics, etc.) in your computer by using a program such as Belarc Advisor. Then download the Windows XP drivers for those devices. 3. You should now be ready to install Windows XP. >1. Determine whether you need Windows XP SATA drivers during setup by >booting from the XP CD and going through the new install setup screens >until you reach the screen that shows the disks. If the hard drive XP seems to recognize SATA drives on Intel chipsets just fine. Anything else, Via, Nvidia, or SiS, seems to require the F6 procedure. >2. Boot Vista and identify the devices (chipset, lan, graphics, etc.) >in your computer by using a program such as Belarc Advisor. Then >download the Windows XP drivers for those devices. Hmmm, well, if it's a Via board go to via.com.tw, etc. It's not typically necessary to identify the *exact* chipset; you're likely to find a "unified" driver set anyway, in fact usually a floppy image is available. Or just look on the CD that came with the motherboard... |
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