Published on May 18, 2006 By ToeJo In Windows Vista
This may seem like a dumb question but...I was wondering if anyone had done a system with dual-boot XP and Vista. I'd like to test Vista but I am not ready to dedicate a machine for it. Can I take my existing machine (That claims to be "Vista Capable" by the little sticker) and set it up for dual-boot with Vista beta2 and my existing XP.
Comments (Page 1)
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on May 18, 2006
I have it on a second hard drive. If you only have one drive you will need to partition it off, and install it on another partition. However, I have been reading that people have had problems with this and ended up reformatting. I would not recommend it.
on May 19, 2006
If you only have one drive you will need to partition it off, and install it on another partition. However, I have been reading that people have had problems with this and ended up reformatting. I would not recommend it.


Yes, to dual boot, Microsoft recommends you have to have a seperate drive for it to work correctly....also that you first install the older Windows versions and upwards. For example...you cannot install 98 after XP.
on Jun 17, 2006
I am dual booting and have not had any problems yet, it runs great.
on Jun 18, 2006
The best solution for dabbling in different operating systems is to purchase VMWare Workstation. It may seem a bit expensive until you realize what you are getting.
Try the evaluation version, or if you have a nice server sitting around, try the VMWare Server Beta. It's free.
on Jun 18, 2006
I am dual booting and have not had any problems yet, it runs great.


It's not that it doesn't work, but Microsoft advises that dual booting two OSes on the same physical but partitioned drive can have unforeseen complications/conflict issues with eachother over time....something to do with sharing the same physical connection to the mobo, BIOS, boot ini, etc. I'm not a technogeek and don't know all the tech details, so a search of 'dual boot' on the MS home page would explain it much better than I.
on Jun 19, 2006
The entry on dualboot didn't say anything about that. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/multiboot.mspx
on Jun 19, 2006
I already have Vista on a separate partition and is working perfectly along with my 2 other xp installations.
on Jun 19, 2006
"The entry on dualboot didn't say anything about that." (quote isn't working for me again)

Yeah, went back and read that....seems it may have been updated since my first reading a couple of years back. I dunno, just recall somebody advising me not to dual boot on the same physical drive and sending me a link to a MS article supporting their theory.

Oh well...why not if it works okay!
on Jun 19, 2006
Well, if you should happend to find that article I'd be happy to read it. Be nice to know what could go wrong. But I've yet to find any article on Dualbooting that says that installing onto the same HD is bad. I was looking around quite alot when I was dualbooting with Linux.

(quote isn't working for me again)

The quoting works in Firefox again now. WC was down for a couple of minutes and when I came back it worked. Even new URL and stuff.
on Jul 09, 2006
I have one Hard Drive with one partition of Windows XP and another of Windows Vista. Everything seems to work out perfectly for me.
on Aug 10, 2006
I'm using a dual boot on one drive. I've had absolutely no problems at all. In fact, I'm pretty impressed with the ease of use of Vista. I can actually run every device on my laptop with Vista (post beta 2). I even got my Sprint broadband card to work! (I was really surprised at this since the Sprint software will not run on Vista.)

When I was running 98SE and dual booting to the then beta of XP, I had lots of problems with the dual boot. So, my Vista experience has been a plesant surprise.
on Aug 31, 2006
Errr this may seem like an even dumber question, but how do i actually dual boot?

I have two drives to dispose so thats no problem and i got hold of the pre-RC1 public Vista release so i would love to try it out.
on Aug 31, 2006
When you install the Vista beta it will automatically set a bootloader. When you start your computer it will give you choice of XP or Vista.

Here is a great utility for managing the Vista bootloader.

WWW Link
on Aug 31, 2006
Ahh okay, so i just install Vista on the spare drive then just choose to run Vista on the boot menu where i got the Winxp and Winxp safe mode etc.?
on Aug 31, 2006
Yes.
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