blackhawk777

im gonna dual boot between XP and vista (both 64 bit) soon on my 2nd HDD. and suggestions or tips?


and the only reason im deciding to dual boot is because i just cant stop thinking about the amazing GUI. also want to test SP1.

Murlocke

The best way is.

1. Install XP
2. Install Vista
3. Install VistaBootPro, to rename the OSes, select default OS, etc.

In that order, Vista will take care of XPs boot.ini file. If you install vista first its alot more complex. Everything else is basically automatic. Youll get a option to boot in vista or xp when you start your computer.

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blackhawk777

how come vista needs to take care of XPs boot.ini?

fencefeet

agreed. thats exactly what I did and it works great. and yeah definitely DO NOT install vista and then xp, it took me 3 tries to figure out i was making it wayyyyy harder on myself. good luck

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Murlocke

It just makes the process ALOT easier.

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fencefeet

no it just overwrites it with its own (vista does that is) and simply put is able to recognize both itself and xp. if you install xp second, however, the reverse happens except xp doesn't recognize vista.

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blackhawk777

when and where (which OS) do i install the vistabootpro?

billbartuska

Vista.

And to correct/clarify an earlier post. Vista doesn't overwrite XP's boot loader. One of Vista boot loader's choices is "boot previous Microsoft O/S" or something like that. That choice just calls the boot loader that was there before Vista was installed. So, even if you were previously multi booting, those options still remain.

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blackhawk777

can i install vista on my second HDD if i begin the installation in windows XP? (loading up the cd while in the XP desktop and clicking "Install now") or do i have to install it on boot up?

Boomstick68

I am doing the same thing. I have already had XP and last night I added a new hard drive to my system for Vista. Will vistabootpro work if Vista is not on the same HDD? I've read that XP boot manager is supposed to show up at start up with the option to boot xp or vista but this is not happening.