[Vista] Vista installed, can I install XP on separate drive?

[CoreyEvanescenc]

Hello i have Vista Ultimate Installed on my pc and i would like direction to install XP on a separate Drive so that wheni turn my pc on i can choose weather to run Vista or run XP. I heard of VistaBootPro should i use this? O.o
Thanks

[NamesSolidSnake]

Yeah, it's possible, but I never did that, so I don't know how /:

Uh, BTW, this should be moved to software discussion.

[skoreanime]

You can just make a new partition on the same drive and install XP there.

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

I am curious, which OS would take the lead in such a situation? Or would it depend on how the harddrives are loaded (Master vs Slave)?
Cuz XP itself has an OS boot load order....but I don't know if it would get overwridden by Vista.

[emwearz]

I am curious, which OS would take the lead in such a situation? Or would it depend on how the harddrives are loaded (Master vs Slave)?

Vista takes the lead with the option of (Windows Vista or OtherOS) then when you select from that list (XP / XP64 / etc).

[deamonhunter]

the first is vista and the second is called in the menu (previous version of windows )which is in my case XP

but you can change the way they are arranged in that menu from the system properties --> startup and recovery -->settings and set the time and order of each os

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

Ahh ok, thanks for that.

[CoreyEvanescenc]

Well none of this really helped O.o Hehe. skoreanime mentioned something about partitions can i create a partition from the install disk? Like when it asks what disk you would like to install the os on?

[skoreanime]

Yeah, that's where you can make a partition. Or you can do it in Windows XP itself.

Right click My Computer >> Manage >> Disk Management

P.S.
What's this doing in the open discussion ?

[Squall-Leonhart]

if Vista is already installed, its not possible.

the Vista boot sector prevents other OS's from being installed, you have to install the older windows before installing Vista.

[Samor]

Afaik Vista does not prevent such a thing.

I installed XP after Vista (32-bit) on my pc. It's possible, but xp will overwrite the bootsector. You can restore the vista one easily though, try searching for it on the net, there should be guides...

[CoreyEvanescenc]

X) Thanks Samor that cleared it up and yes i do get something about the bootsector when i try to load vista on the other drive so i will look around for one.

Originally Posted by skoreanime

Yeah, that's where you can make a partition. Or you can do it in Windows XP itself.

Right click My Computer >> Manage >> Disk Management

P.S.
What's this doing in the open discussion ?

XD THANKS just what i wanted to know.
And im really not sure why this is in the open discussion Hehe My bad.
Anyway Thanks

[Squall-Leonhart]

Originally Posted by Samor

Afaik Vista does not prevent such a thing.

I installed XP after Vista (32-bit) on my pc. It's possible, but xp will overwrite the bootsector. You can restore the vista one easily though, try searching for it on the net, there should be guides...

heh, i had different experience, trying to back date a laptop to XP, the xp disk kept failing because it couldn't write to Vista's updated versionso f NTFS

[DB7]

It is possible to do this in a couple of ways.

The first solution is to create an extra partition and install XP there, as Samor noted above this will overwrite the Vista bootloader and your machine will default to loading XP. To reinstall the Vista bootloader, download a program called Vista Boot Pro VistaBootPRO - Go PRO with Microsoft Windows Vista Boot Manager it will let you reinstall the bootloader and edit the default operating system, even rename them on the loading screen.

The way I like to create the dual-boot set-up on my PC is with the use of an extra hard drive. Simply install XP without the first drive (with Vista on) connected, set-up the OS how you want and then shut down to reconnect the first harddrive.

Then go into your bios and alter the boot-up order so the drive with your OS of choice is first in the boot order. Then whenever you start your computer you will load your OS of choice.

Now my PC has the option to boot from any device at start-up with the use of the F12 key, so whenever I want to go into the other operating system, I hit F12 and choose that drive.

I prefer doing it the second way because while both operating systems can see the hard drive the other is on, they do not write any boot information to the other drive. So if something ever happens to one of the operating systems or I get a hardware failure in one of them, my PC is still fully operational by use of the other.

heh, i had different experience, trying to back date a laptop to XP, the xp disk kept failing because it couldn't write to Vista's updated versionso f NTFS

The XP disk should have given you the option to format your disk, did you do that?

[22point8]

You could also try EasyBCD.

[NamesSolidSnake]

Why is this still in Open Discussion?

[lordkhan]

Cause no one has moved it yet

[NamesSolidSnake]

Then move it!

[Samor]

Originally Posted by Squall-Leonhart

heh, i had different experience, trying to back date a laptop to XP, the xp disk kept failing because it couldn't write to Vista's updated versionso f NTFS

it uses the exact same filesystem. must've been something else.....