Re: Dual-Boot XP & Vista

>> > > I'd buy another harddisk - a 160GB drive would give you plenty of
>> > > space.
>> > > Then unplug your XP disk and install Vista on the new drive. Once
>> > > Vista is
>> > > up and running plug the XP drive back in.
>> > > Then you can select which OS to boot in the BIOS when booting. For me
>> > > I have
>> > > to press F8 in the BIOS screen and select the XP drive as boot drive
>> > > if I
>> > > want to use XP - I set the BIOS to boot Vista first.
>> > > This way you don't have to partition your XP drive and you can switch
>> > > back
>> > > at any time.
>> > >

Will this approach work with the "upgrade" version of Vista Home Premium"?

I have installed VHP over XP MCE and have many problems. I would like to use
my Dell restore partition to go back to XP. Then my plan would be to buy a
new 2nd hard drive and re-install VHP on that drive. Per the above post I
could then choose which OS to boot into from my BIOS.

Would one drive be C: and the other D: in this scenario? If so ... would one
OS have paths like C:\*\*.* and the other D:\*\*.*? In other words is that a
problem? I would eventually want to use VHP as my one and only OS after
driver and software issues have been resolved. Do I need to make sure my
Vista hard drive is C: to avoid long term issues?

Because I have already activated Vista I know I will have issues there and
would have to phone MS and plead my case.

I have been fighting Vista compatibility issues since my Feb 3 installation
and am desperate to find some solution.

"DanR" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>>> > > I'd buy another harddisk - a 160GB drive would give you plenty of
>>> > > space.
>>> > > Then unplug your XP disk and install Vista on the new drive. Once
>>> > > Vista is
>>> > > up and running plug the XP drive back in.
>>> > > Then you can select which OS to boot in the BIOS when booting. For
>>> > > me I have
>>> > > to press F8 in the BIOS screen and select the XP drive as boot drive
>>> > > if I
>>> > > want to use XP - I set the BIOS to boot Vista first.
>>> > > This way you don't have to partition your XP drive and you can
>>> > > switch back
>>> > > at any time.
>>> > >
>
> Will this approach work with the "upgrade" version of Vista Home Premium"?
>
> I have installed VHP over XP MCE and have many problems. I would like to
> use my Dell restore partition to go back to XP. Then my plan would be to
> buy a new 2nd hard drive and re-install VHP on that drive. Per the above
> post I could then choose which OS to boot into from my BIOS.
>
> Would one drive be C: and the other D: in this scenario? If so ... would
> one OS have paths like C:\*\*.* and the other D:\*\*.*? In other words is
> that a problem? I would eventually want to use VHP as my one and only OS
> after driver and software issues have been resolved. Do I need to make
> sure my Vista hard drive is C: to avoid long term issues?
>
> Because I have already activated Vista I know I will have issues there and
> would have to phone MS and plead my case.
>
> I have been fighting Vista compatibility issues since my Feb 3
> installation and am desperate to find some solution.
>

I just discovered that F11 is ignored during startup. In disc management I
can see a partition that I thought was for restore but don't know how to get
at it.

"DanR" <> wrote in message news:...
>
> "DanR" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>>>> > > I'd buy another harddisk - a 160GB drive would give you plenty of
>>>> > > space.
>>>> > > Then unplug your XP disk and install Vista on the new drive. Once
>>>> > > Vista is
>>>> > > up and running plug the XP drive back in.
>>>> > > Then you can select which OS to boot in the BIOS when booting. For
>>>> > > me I have
>>>> > > to press F8 in the BIOS screen and select the XP drive as boot drive
>>>> > > if I
>>>> > > want to use XP - I set the BIOS to boot Vista first.
>>>> > > This way you don't have to partition your XP drive and you can
>>>> > > switch back
>>>> > > at any time.
>>>> > >
>>
>> Will this approach work with the "upgrade" version of Vista Home Premium"?
>>
>> I have installed VHP over XP MCE and have many problems. I would like to
>> use my Dell restore partition to go back to XP. Then my plan would be to
>> buy a new 2nd hard drive and re-install VHP on that drive. Per the above
>> post I could then choose which OS to boot into from my BIOS.
>>
>> Would one drive be C: and the other D: in this scenario? If so ... would
>> one OS have paths like C:\*\*.* and the other D:\*\*.*? In other words is
>> that a problem? I would eventually want to use VHP as my one and only OS
>> after driver and software issues have been resolved. Do I need to make
>> sure my Vista hard drive is C: to avoid long term issues?
>>
>> Because I have already activated Vista I know I will have issues there and
>> would have to phone MS and plead my case.
>>
>> I have been fighting Vista compatibility issues since my Feb 3
>> installation and am desperate to find some solution.
>>
>
> I just discovered that F11 is ignored during startup. In disc management I
> can see a partition that I thought was for restore but don't know how to get
> at it.

You can probably ask Vista to make the restore partition a boot option.
The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool is difficult, so use VistaBootPRO
http://www.vistabootpro.org/
If there is anything you want to keep you'll lose it if you don't back it up
from VHP before you wipe it out by booting Dell's MCE system restore.

"Michael Jennings" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> "DanR" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>
>> "DanR" <> wrote in message
>> news:%...
>>>>> > > I'd buy another harddisk - a 160GB drive would give you plenty of
>>>>> > > space.
>>>>> > > Then unplug your XP disk and install Vista on the new drive. Once
>>>>> > > Vista is
>>>>> > > up and running plug the XP drive back in.
>>>>> > > Then you can select which OS to boot in the BIOS when booting. For
>>>>> > > me I have
>>>>> > > to press F8 in the BIOS screen and select the XP drive as boot
>>>>> > > drive
>>>>> > > if I
>>>>> > > want to use XP - I set the BIOS to boot Vista first.
>>>>> > > This way you don't have to partition your XP drive and you can
>>>>> > > switch back
>>>>> > > at any time.
>>>>> > >
>>>
>>> Will this approach work with the "upgrade" version of Vista Home
>>> Premium"?
>>>
>>> I have installed VHP over XP MCE and have many problems. I would like to
>>> use my Dell restore partition to go back to XP. Then my plan would be to
>>> buy a new 2nd hard drive and re-install VHP on that drive. Per the above
>>> post I could then choose which OS to boot into from my BIOS.
>>>
>>> Would one drive be C: and the other D: in this scenario? If so ... would
>>> one OS have paths like C:\*\*.* and the other D:\*\*.*? In other words
>>> is
>>> that a problem? I would eventually want to use VHP as my one and only OS
>>> after driver and software issues have been resolved. Do I need to make
>>> sure my Vista hard drive is C: to avoid long term issues?
>>>
>>> Because I have already activated Vista I know I will have issues there
>>> and
>>> would have to phone MS and plead my case.
>>>
>>> I have been fighting Vista compatibility issues since my Feb 3
>>> installation and am desperate to find some solution.
>>>
>>
>> I just discovered that F11 is ignored during startup. In disc management
>> I
>> can see a partition that I thought was for restore but don't know how to
>> get
>> at it.
>
> You can probably ask Vista to make the restore partition a boot option.
> The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool is difficult, so use VistaBootPRO
> http://www.vistabootpro.org/
> If there is anything you want to keep you'll lose it if you don't back it
> up
> from VHP before you wipe it out by booting Dell's MCE system restore.
>
>

Thanks, Michael, for the information. I took a look and will give this a try
when I have more time. (weekend) I didn't see much in the way of
instructions or manual at the site. Is the program self explanatory as you
run it? And once you run it the first time have you obligated yourself to
any permanent changes?
Thanks.

"DanR" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "Michael Jennings" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> You can probably ask Vista to make the restore partition a boot option.
>> The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool is difficult, so use VistaBootPRO
>> http://www.vistabootpro.org/
>> If there is anything you want to keep you'll lose it if you don't back it up
>> from VHP before you wipe it out by booting Dell's MCE system restore.
>
> Thanks, Michael, for the information. I took a look and will give this a try when I have
> more time. (weekend) I didn't see much in the way of instructions or manual at the site.
> Is the program self explanatory as you run it? And once you run it the first time have you
> obligated yourself to any permanent changes?
> Thanks.

No, it won't work - I tried it out with my HP system recovery partition,
which lets me change my mind about doing a destructive restore. Vista
preferred to boot XP on the wrong drive. BootItNG probably can find
Dell system recovery unless BIOS won't let it. Here's a link to videos:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html

Since you're considering dual booting, getting BING makes sense if
you have time to figure it out. Sorry I thought you might be able to get
your system recovery partition to boot with BCDedit - you can't.

"Michael Jennings" <> wrote in message
news:...
> "DanR" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> "Michael Jennings" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> You can probably ask Vista to make the restore partition a boot option.
>>> The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool is difficult, so use VistaBootPRO
>>> http://www.vistabootpro.org/
>>> If there is anything you want to keep you'll lose it if you don't back
>>> it up
>>> from VHP before you wipe it out by booting Dell's MCE system restore.
>>
>> Thanks, Michael, for the information. I took a look and will give this a
>> try when I have more time. (weekend) I didn't see much in the way of
>> instructions or manual at the site. Is the program self explanatory as
>> you run it? And once you run it the first time have you obligated
>> yourself to any permanent changes?
>> Thanks.
>
> No, it won't work - I tried it out with my HP system recovery partition,
> which lets me change my mind about doing a destructive restore. Vista
> preferred to boot XP on the wrong drive. BootItNG probably can find
> Dell system recovery unless BIOS won't let it. Here's a link to videos:
> http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html
>
> Since you're considering dual booting, getting BING makes sense if
> you have time to figure it out. Sorry I thought you might be able to get
> your system recovery partition to boot with BCDedit - you can't.
>
>

OK and thanks for the heads up. I have located install CDs for MCE. My goal
is to get another hard drive D: and install MCE on it. I'll have to deal
with licensing issues I suppose. Reading other posts here "Buy a new
computer with Vista OEM and you get two product keys" I'm hoping that the
product key printed on computer will work for this re-install of XP MCE. (I
did upgrade from MCE to VHP)

"DanR" <> wrote in message news:...
> "Michael Jennings" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> No, it won't work - I tried it out with my HP system recovery partition,
>> which lets me change my mind about doing a destructive restore. Vista
>> preferred to boot XP on the wrong drive. BootItNG probably can find
>> Dell system recovery unless BIOS won't let it. Here's a link to videos:
>> http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html
>>
>> Since you're considering dual booting, getting BING makes sense if
>> you have time to figure it out. Sorry I thought you might be able to get
>> your system recovery partition to boot with BCDedit - you can't.
>
> OK and thanks for the heads up. I have located install CDs for MCE. My goal
> is to get another hard drive D: and install MCE on it. I'll have to deal
> with licensing issues I suppose. Reading other posts here "Buy a new
> computer with Vista OEM and you get two product keys" I'm hoping that the
> product key printed on computer will work for this re-install of XP MCE. (I
> did upgrade from MCE to VHP)

Here's a couple of dual boot links:
http://www.pro-networks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88231
you know where to go for http://www.vistabootpro.org/
something to take care of about XP:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/dualboot.html