Hi
I'm wanting to create a dual boot for my PC. I would like to use 2 separate
HDDs. One HDD has Vista Business (current) and the other proposed HDD will
have XP. I would like to locate some good user-friendly instructions on how
to do this by downloading from a web site, or maybe someone on the group has
a set of instructions. Could someone assist please? Is there a good site on
this topic?

I have tried Virtual PC 2007 but I cannot get the screen to enlarge to any
extent. Full screen mode fails every time I try it. Anyway, I figure the
twin HDDs would be the cleanest way to go. One more thing, I plan on
upgrading the Vista installation to Windows 7 when released, would there be
issues with the dual boot when installing Win 7??
Thanks

The 'cleanest way' would be to disconnect your Vista drive then install
winxp as per normal, if its to a sata drive you may have to use the F6
option to install sata controler drivers from floppy early in the
installation process.
Once done and updated, shutdown, reconnect Vista drive.
On booting you use the Bios options shortcut to select which drive to boot
from

"DavidG" wrote in message
...
Hi
I'm wanting to create a dual boot for my PC. I would like to use 2
separate
HDDs. One HDD has Vista Business (current) and the other proposed HDD
will
have XP. I would like to locate some good user-friendly instructions on
how
to do this by downloading from a web site, or maybe someone on the group
has
a set of instructions. Could someone assist please? Is there a good site
on
this topic?

I have tried Virtual PC 2007 but I cannot get the screen to enlarge to any
extent. Full screen mode fails every time I try it. Anyway, I figure the
twin HDDs would be the cleanest way to go. One more thing, I plan on
upgrading the Vista installation to Windows 7 when released, would there
be
issues with the dual boot when installing Win 7??
Thanks

If you install XP on the second hard drive it will rewrite the boot manager
and Vista will not start.
Vista uses a different and incompatible boot manager than XP.
Unfortunately the automated tools on the Vista install disc are not very
effective at reinstalling the Vista boot manager which is capable of
recognizing both the vista and XP installs IF you installed Vista after XP.
Having recently run into that issue I was pleasantly surprised to find that
the automated tools on the Win7 install disc very effectively restored the
Vista boot manager, recognized and configured both the Vista and XP installs
without having to install Win7, when the Vista install disc tools failed to
do so after multiple tries. You can then control which will be the default
OS and how long the choice menu will display through Vista.

You might like to take a look at this link from my website:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vis...g_vista.htm l

Upgrading to Windows 7 shouldn't be a problem because it will check for
other operating systems and add them to the BCDedit bootloader.

Sadly all Virtual Machine software suffer the problem you describe because
they use only virtual drivers. I've installed XP on VMware Workstation
(sadly this application isn't free) and it suits my needs even with the
restricted desktop size, simply because I only use it to check out any
problems that users are having.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

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..


"DavidG" wrote in message
...
Hi
I'm wanting to create a dual boot for my PC. I would like to use 2
separate
HDDs. One HDD has Vista Business (current) and the other proposed HDD
will
have XP. I would like to locate some good user-friendly instructions on
how
to do this by downloading from a web site, or maybe someone on the group
has
a set of instructions. Could someone assist please? Is there a good site
on
this topic?

I have tried Virtual PC 2007 but I cannot get the screen to enlarge to any
extent. Full screen mode fails every time I try it. Anyway, I figure the
twin HDDs would be the cleanest way to go. One more thing, I plan on
upgrading the Vista installation to Windows 7 when released, would there
be
issues with the dual boot when installing Win 7??
Thanks

"DL" wrote:

The 'cleanest way' would be to disconnect your Vista drive then install
winxp as per normal, if its to a sata drive you may have to use the F6
option to install sata controler drivers from floppy early in the
installation process.
Once done and updated, shutdown, reconnect Vista drive.
On booting you use the Bios options shortcut to select which drive to boot
from

Clean and foolproof. I have a "triple boot" setup using three
different drives.

Hi Friends,
Thanks for the generosity of your responses. I"m not sure how to make a
"Reply to All" posting but I would like to thank each of you for your
knowledge.

DL and Josh, you have given me the simplicity I needed. Yes my drives are
all Sata. Your instructions are probably the best for me as I need it simple.

Jawade, you are probably trying to give me fantastic expert knowledge, but
unfortunately much of what you are telling me has gone over my head. Maybe
I'll become advanced enough to do those things later on. But thank you very
much for your sharing.

Botox, thank you also, your instructions are clear and concise and they work
in well with earlier instructions. You have also have given me confidence
when I come to upgrade the Vista drive to Windows 7. I will leave the XP
drive as it is. Thank you.

Finally John, much appreciated. I have downloaded the instructions from the
Windows web site link that you gave. I will also explore the Vista and XP
mvps.og sites as well. Thanks to you for your help in helping me solve this
puzzle.

I live in a regional country area in Australia called Albury. Me, and
others like me rely so heavily on getting information from great sites like
this, and great people like yourselves,
Thanks again
David

Just following up on your reply,
I do have sata drives. I don't have a floppy but I assume the drives are
already there? Or I can download them.
The last part,

On booting you use the Bios options shortcut to select which drive to boot
from

Do I need to go into the BIOS everytime? I was kinda hoping I could create
a menu choice there, so I could simply select what OS I was booting up, is
that possible?

John I did take a look at your website, but the instructions were for
creating a partition and installing XP on the one disk. I'm wanting to
install XP on its own physical HDD, so I will have 2 OS on the one machine.
Are there instructions for that?

"John Barnett MVP" wrote:

You might like to take a look at this link from my website:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vis...g_vista.htm l

"DavidG" wrote in message
...
Just following up on your reply,
I do have sata drives. I don't have a floppy but I assume the drives are
already there? Or I can download them.
The last part,

On booting you use the Bios options shortcut to select which drive to
boot
from

Do I need to go into the BIOS everytime? I was kinda hoping I could
create
a menu choice there, so I could simply select what OS I was booting up, is
that possible?

Getting a menu choice for which OS to boot into is the default dual/multi
boot scenario when you do a normal 2nd OS install. Using separate
harddrives or switching boot drives in BIOS isn't required, it's just the
way some people like to operate. Usually you would create a partition for
your second OS and install it from its disc while your first OS is running.
There's no difference between installing to a 2nd harddrive or to a new
partition as far as the bootloader is concerned. The dual boot startup menu
works the same either way.

The only tricky part comes if you want to install an older OS (XP) after
newer operating systems (eg. VISTA) are already installed. Each new OS adds
an entry to the boot manager start up menu but the XP boot manager will mess
up the existing Vista boot manager and some remedial repairs will be
necessary to be able to boot anything at all. If the instructions you've
already received aren't sufficiently clear there are some others at the site
below that might be helpful. Remember, 2nd harddrive or a new partition on a
single drive is irrelevant to the installation. There is a second link
explaining how to edit the XP registry in order to protect Vista's system
restore points from being deleted every time you boot into XP.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_v...step_guide.htm


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185 -- Method 1 is the appropriate
choice. Bitlocker isn't available in all versions of Vista.

The instruction are, as you say, for installing XP on another partition on
the same drive, but the principle remains the same whether it is a partition
on your main drive or a second hard drive.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

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..


"DavidG" wrote in message
...
John I did take a look at your website, but the instructions were for
creating a partition and installing XP on the one disk. I'm wanting to
install XP on its own physical HDD, so I will have 2 OS on the one
machine.
Are there instructions for that?

"John Barnett MVP" wrote:

You might like to take a look at this link from my website:
http://www.winuser.co.uk/windows_vis...g_vista.htm l