User accounts OK??

I am about to install Vista as an upgrade to WinXP.

My question is will it affect the user accounts in any way? Will I and the
other family members using the PC be able to log in OK and use all their
files etc no problem?

Also, on a similar note, will program installation settings remain OK or
will the upgrade require me to reinstall everything?

Jon

STOP - DO NOT UPGRADE!

Think about it. Vista is Beta 2 and while I think it's terrific, there are
some problems with the operating system. That's why Microsoft released it
as a Beta. They want to find and fix the problems that end users
experience.

You really should install Vista on a spare computer or on a separate
partition. Here's my setup.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/jbmsbink/VistaInstall.jpg

You'll notice that I have a 721MB C drive partition. That's where 98SE, XP
Pro and Vista "dump" files automatically. There is no operating system on
my C drive.

HTH

Joe

"DJjay" <> wrote in message
news649D179-CC98-4FED-8322-...
>I am about to install Vista as an upgrade to WinXP.
>
> My question is will it affect the user accounts in any way? Will I and the
> other family members using the PC be able to log in OK and use all their
> files etc no problem?
>
> Also, on a similar note, will program installation settings remain OK or
> will the upgrade require me to reinstall everything?
>
> Jon

So, if I partition my disk, will I be able to clean install Vista Beta and
use both systems, ie WinXP for day to day operations, and Vista to try it
out. Will they interfere with eachother?

If I partition, how much room will I need in the Vista partition?

And finally, can I get a selectable boot option screen at startup?

You will need to partition your hard drive with at least three partitions.
You C drive should be about 700 MB. XP should be on your second partition
(D) and Vista on your third partition (E).

Take a look at the screenshot I provided a link to.

http://home.cfl.rr.com/jbmsbink/VistaInstall.jpg

You will need at least 15GB for the Vista partition according to Microsoft.

You will get a selectable boot screen when Windows Starts. It will say
Earlier Windows and Windows. Earlier is XP and Windows is Vista.

I have been using a triple boot including Vista for three days now, and I
get no interference with 98SE or XP Pro from Vista. Again, I do not have an
operating system of any kind on my C drive.

Joe

"DJjay" <> wrote in message
news:BEC72A0D-7148-40C7-A2E9-...
> So, if I partition my disk, will I be able to clean install Vista Beta and
> use both systems, ie WinXP for day to day operations, and Vista to try it
> out. Will they interfere with eachother?
>
> If I partition, how much room will I need in the Vista partition?
>
> And finally, can I get a selectable boot option screen at startup?

Why 3 partitions?

Why not have WinXP on C drive, where it currently, and install Vista on D?
All documents etc can stay on C along with WinXP. Or is this not advisable?

I am certainly no expert, but I have been using multi-boot PCs for several
years now including 98SE / XP Pro / Suse Linux 10. Because of multiple
operating systems, I do not place any operating systems on my C drive.

Right now I have 98SE / XP Pro / Vista Beta 2 Build 5384.

When I first tried a multi-boot system, I had and operating system on my C
drive and that caused problems. It was years ago, and I don't remember the
specifics, but I found out through trial and error that it is best not to
have an operating system on your C drive in a multi-boot environment.

Right now my C drive is about 700 MB and as I said, there is no operating
system on it. It simply holds files that 98SE / XP /
Vista automatically "dump" there. Even Suse Linux 10 placed the GRUB boot
loader on my C drive.

One other thing - you'll notice that my C drive is FAT32. That's because I
also have Windows 98SE on this PC. If I did not have 98SE installed, my C
drive would be formatted NTFS.

Joe

"DJjay" <> wrote in message
news:03C1715C-F06A-477F-B360-...
> Why 3 partitions?
>
> Why not have WinXP on C drive, where it currently, and install Vista on D?
> All documents etc can stay on C along with WinXP. Or is this not
> advisable?

You will be able to install Vista on a separate partition. What you may not
be able to do is uninstall it without repairing the boot setup for XP. Do
you have a Windows XP CD or does your computer have a restore to factory
procedure? When you want to remove Vista Beta and return your system to XP
only you may have boot from the Windows XP CD and repair the boot files from
the recovery console. If you are not 100% sure of the answers do not install
Vista on this computer. Your family members will not be happy if they lose
their data. Read and understand the Beta disclaimer before installing Vista.
Also make sure you understand the removal process before installing Vista.

--
Kerry Brown
MS-MVP - Windows Shell/User


"DJjay" <> wrote in message
news:BEC72A0D-7148-40C7-A2E9-...
> So, if I partition my disk, will I be able to clean install Vista Beta and
> use both systems, ie WinXP for day to day operations, and Vista to try it
> out. Will they interfere with eachother?
>
> If I partition, how much room will I need in the Vista partition?
>
> And finally, can I get a selectable boot option screen at startup?

Because Microsoft programmers are madly in love with the C drive. Even if
you install into another drive, Vista will still write or modify files on the
C drive.


"DJjay" wrote:

> Why 3 partitions?
>
> Why not have WinXP on C drive, where it currently, and install Vista on D?
> All documents etc can stay on C along with WinXP. Or is this not advisable?