Vista 64-bit with XP-32-bit on 1 system

Hi.

Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a dual
boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be on
drive "D"].

Thanks

Gis

"Gis Bun" <> wrote in message
news:55FE1861-65BC-4FE4-8BBA-...

> Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
> gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a
> dual
> boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be
> on
> drive "D"].

Yup, works just like any other dual boot.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Desktop Experience.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/blog/
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*

Hi, Gis.

As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of
Vista differences you should be aware of.

If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista Setup
from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive letters in
WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for Vista and assigned
it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be V:\Windows and WinXP's
boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C: will also be the system
volume, no matter which OS you are running.

But if you boot from the Vista DVD to run Setup, it will not know WinXP's
drive letter assignments, so it will start from scratch. It will assign the
letter C: to the volume where you tell it to install Vista. So if you
choose the second partition on the first (or only) HDD, then that partition
will be Drive C: when you are running Vista, even if WinXP still calls it
Drive D:. After assigning C: to its own boot volume, Vista will continue
with the next letter, and your system volume (first partition on the first
HDD - which WinXP still calls C will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.

All these drive letters won't cause any problems at all for WinXP or Vista,
but they sure can confuse us humans! Especially if our mindset is that
"drive" letters are permanently assigned. To cut down on the confusion, be
sure to use Disk Management to assign a "label" or name to each volume.
This label will be written to the disk and won't change when you boot into
the other OS.

The terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are counterintuitive and confuse
many first-time dual-booters. You might want to read:
Definitions for system volume and boot volume
http://support.microsoft.com/default.../314470/EN-US/

Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) will show you which volume is currently the
system and which is the boot volume.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2009 1202 in Win7 x64 6801)

"Gis Bun" <> wrote in message
news:55FE1861-65BC-4FE4-8BBA-...
> Hi.
>
> Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
> gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a
> dual
> boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be
> on
> drive "D"].
>
> Thanks
>
> Gis

"Bill Anderson" wrote:

> R. C. White wrote:
> > Hi, Gis.
> >
> > As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of
> > Vista differences you should be aware of.
> >
> > If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista
> > Setup from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive
> > letters in WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for
> > Vista and assigned it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be
> > V:\Windows and WinXP's boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C:
> > will also be the system volume, no matter which OS you are running.
> >
>
> Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong. I have a
> quadruple-boot system: Two 32-bit XPs (one primary and one in a small
> partition for testing applications), one Vista 32-bit and one Vista
> 64-bit. Installing Vista 32-bit on the D: partition from XP 32-bit was
> a snap -- worked just as you described, Vista knows it's on D:, and
> there's no confusion with the drive letter designations.
>
> But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista
> I got a message saying the operating system I was trying to install was
> incompatible with the operating system I was installing from. Thus I
> had to install 64-bit Vista by booting from the installation DVD and
> indeed the drive letters are mixed up. My 32-bit installations think
> Vista 64-bit is on F: but Vista 64-bit thinks it is the C: drive.
>
> Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so
> the drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.
>

I read somewhere that Vista 64bit RTM had this issue with Win XP 32bit but
was corrected with SP1.

Gis

Thanks RC & Paul,

I will probably install from XP as I intend on dumping the files on the DVD
onto a partition [not the same as where Vista will be installed] and dump the
post SP1 updates [security and non-security updates] into the Updates folder,
thereby simpligying things.

I have accumulate about 90 updates and 400MB with of security updates and
non-security updates.


> Hi, Gis.
>
> As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of
> Vista differences you should be aware of.
>
> If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista Setup
> from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive letters in
> WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for Vista and assigned
> it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be V:\Windows and WinXP's
> boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C: will also be the system
> volume, no matter which OS you are running.
>
> But if you boot from the Vista DVD to run Setup, it will not know WinXP's
> drive letter assignments, so it will start from scratch. It will assign the
> letter C: to the volume where you tell it to install Vista. So if you
> choose the second partition on the first (or only) HDD, then that partition
> will be Drive C: when you are running Vista, even if WinXP still calls it
> Drive D:. After assigning C: to its own boot volume, Vista will continue
> with the next letter, and your system volume (first partition on the first
> HDD - which WinXP still calls C will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.
>
> All these drive letters won't cause any problems at all for WinXP or Vista,
> but they sure can confuse us humans! Especially if our mindset is that
> "drive" letters are permanently assigned. To cut down on the confusion, be
> sure to use Disk Management to assign a "label" or name to each volume.
> This label will be written to the disk and won't change when you boot into
> the other OS.
>
> The terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are counterintuitive and confuse
> many first-time dual-booters. You might want to read:
> Definitions for system volume and boot volume
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.../314470/EN-US/
>
> Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) will show you which volume is currently the
> system and which is the boot volume.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2009 1202 in Win7 x64 6801)
>
> "Gis Bun" <> wrote in message
> news:55FE1861-65BC-4FE4-8BBA-...
> > Hi.
> >
> > Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
> > gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a
> > dual
> > boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be
> > on
> > drive "D"].
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Gis
>
>

I read in a book issued before SP1 the following:
"Shadow copies in Windows Vista are completely erased if you boot your
computer into a different operating system; starting up Windows XP erases
your shadow copies. This includes your restore points as well as your
previous versions."
I do not know if SP1 addresses this issue.

Tyro


"Gis Bun" <> wrote in message
news:55FE1861-65BC-4FE4-8BBA-...
> Hi.
>
> Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
> gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a
> dual
> boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be
> on
> drive "D"].
>
> Thanks
>
> Gis
>
>

Hi, Bill.

> Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong.
....
> But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista

This is where you went wrong, Bill. Because of hardware and driver
differences, we cannot install ANY 64-bit operating system while booted into
a 32-bit OS - or vice versa. It requires a reboot to get the computer's
infrastructure into the other "bitness".

So, you can boot into a 32-bit OS, either WinXP x86 or Vista x86, then
insert a 32-bit WinXP CD or a 32-bit Vista DVD and run Setup from there.
But if you insert a WinXP x64 CD or a Vista x64 DVD and try to run its
Setup, you'll get the "incompatible" message you saw. (I don't recall for
sure, but I think the same is true if you try to run 32-bit Setup from a
64-bit desktop.)

So, how do you install 64-bit Vista when you have ONLY 32-bit WinXP/Vista
already installed? You can always reformat and start over, booting from the
DVD and letting it prepare your hard drive. (Setup has built-in utilities
to create, delete and format partitions as needed, or you can do much of the
job with Disk Management in your existing OS before running Setup - all
except reformatting the system or boot volume, of course.)

If you have only an Upgrade Vista package, it will want to see a qualifying
version of Windows already installed. (The old "show me the qualifying
disk" won't work for Vista; it wants to see the other system installed and
activated.)

Several users have reported another method, which I haven't tried. They

> Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so the
> drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.

Yes. Sort of. Depending on what you mean by "consistent".

If you boot from the DVD to run Vista Setup, your Vista boot volume will
become Drive C: (to Vista), even if that is the 3rd partition on your second
HD. So your boot volume will "consistently" be "Drive C:", whether you are
running your original 32-bit Windows or your new 64-bit Vista. But Drive C:
will refer "inconsistently" to a different volume in each OS.

It's easy to get consistent drive letters for all volumes EXCEPT the System
and Boot volumes. Just boot into each OS in turn and use Disk Management to
set the letters to your consistent theme. My system has "just growed" over
the years as I've added and retired HDs and OSes, so my drive letters long
ago escaped from my original theme, but a few assignments have survived
since Win98: My Data volume is always Drive E:, my Mail Stores are always
on H: and my Photos are on M:. My DVD burners are V: and W:. Other letters
come and ago as new beta builds arrive and then are retired.

There are several convoluted methods to get the system and boot "drive"
letters aligned in all OSes. But I think the better approach is to break
out of the drive-letter mindset and recognize that those letter assignments
are too changeable to rely on. I'm currently running the Win7 x64 pre-beta;
my boot volume is Drive Y:, the 7th volume (6th logical drive in the
extended partition) on my second HD. My system volume is the first
partition on my first HD, which Win7 sees as Drive D:. But, no matter
whether I'm running Win7 x64 or Vista x86 or WinXP x86, that system
partition is always "SATA 200" and Win7's boot volume is always "Windows 7".

One of those convoluted ways is to install the 64-bit system twice. Accept
the default drive letters for the first installation (either WinXP x64 or
Vista x64), but do not put it into the volume where you want Vista x64 to be
permanently. Then boot into that "sacrificial" x64, use its Disk Management
to assign letters to fit your desired scheme, and then run Vista x64 Setup
again from that 64-bit desktop, letting it detect the existing letters.
Finally, boot into this new Vista x64 and delete the temporary installation.

All this is harder to explain than to do, Bill. Much of it won't make sense
until you do it yourself a time or two. Then, just like the rest of our
computer experiences, it will become second nature to us.




"Bill Anderson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> R. C. White wrote:
>> Hi, Gis.
>>
>> As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of
>> Vista differences you should be aware of.
>>
>> If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista Setup
>> from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive letters in
>> WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for Vista and
>> assigned it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be V:\Windows
>> and WinXP's boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C: will also be
>> the system volume, no matter which OS you are running.
>>
>
> Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong. I have a
> quadruple-boot system: Two 32-bit XPs (one primary and one in a small
> partition for testing applications), one Vista 32-bit and one Vista
> 64-bit. Installing Vista 32-bit on the D: partition from XP 32-bit was a
> snap -- worked just as you described, Vista knows it's on D:, and there's
> no confusion with the drive letter designations.
>
> But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista I
> got a message saying the operating system I was trying to install was
> incompatible with the operating system I was installing from. Thus I had
> to install 64-bit Vista by booting from the installation DVD and indeed
> the drive letters are mixed up. My 32-bit installations think Vista
> 64-bit is on F: but Vista 64-bit thinks it is the C: drive.
>
> Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so the
> drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.
>
> --
> Bill Anderson
>
> I am the Mighty Favog
>
>
>
> > But if you boot from the Vista DVD to run Setup, it will not know
> > WinXP's drive letter assignments, so it will start from scratch. It
> > will assign the letter C: to the volume where you tell it to install
> > Vista. So if you choose the second partition on the first (or only)
> > HDD, then that partition will be Drive C: when you are running Vista,
> > even if WinXP still calls it Drive D:. After assigning C: to its own
> > boot volume, Vista will continue with the next letter, and your system
> > volume (first partition on the first HDD - which WinXP still calls C
> > will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.
> >
> > All these drive letters won't cause any problems at all for WinXP or
> > Vista, but they sure can confuse us humans! Especially if our mindset
> > is that "drive" letters are permanently assigned. To cut down on the
> > confusion, be sure to use Disk Management to assign a "label" or name to
> > each volume. This label will be written to the disk and won't change
> > when you boot into the other OS.
> >
> > The terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are counterintuitive and
> > confuse many first-time dual-booters. You might want to read:
> > Definitions for system volume and boot volume
> > http://support.microsoft.com/default.../314470/EN-US/
> >
> > Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) will show you which volume is currently
> > the system and which is the boot volume.
> >
> > RC

Hi, Bill.

> Gotta stop this. I must make the guacamole NOW.

I understand THAT! ;<)

That's why my last post was kind of jumbled and incomplete (even though, as
usual for me, already too long) - and didn't even have my Sig. I was
interrupted before it was cleaned up and polished.

Since I know you'll be busy for a few hours, and since we have plans for
tonight, too, it may be "next year" before I get back to this.

But a quick comment on the re-creation of your system: First run the WinXP
repair option from its CD. Then when it is working right, boot from the
Vista DVD and run its repair option. Vista's BCD dual-boot system is quite
different from WinXP's, but it does understand how to boot the "previous
operating system". WinXP, on the other hand, has no idea that Vista even
exists, much less how to boot it. So follow the Golden Rule of
dual-booting: Always install the newest system last.

Happy New Year!!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2009 1202 in Win7 x64 6801)

"Bill Anderson" <> wrote in message
news:...
> R. C. White wrote:
>
>>
>> One of those convoluted ways is to install the 64-bit system twice.
>> Accept the default drive letters for the first installation (either WinXP
>> x64 or Vista x64), but do not put it into the volume where you want Vista
>> x64 to be permanently. Then boot into that "sacrificial" x64, use its
>> Disk Management to assign letters to fit your desired scheme, and then
>> run Vista x64 Setup again from that 64-bit desktop, letting it detect the
>> existing letters. Finally, boot into this new Vista x64 and delete the
>> temporary installation.
>>
>
> Many thanks, R.C. That does make sense and I do believe I'll give it a
> try this weekend after my overnight New Year's guests go home. I'm
> pleased to say I'm still more interested in entertaining friends than in
> installing OSs, but golly I'm tempted to get started now. Sigh ... no,
> gotta make the guacamole -- they'll be here soon.
>
> A question though. I've done this before, a couple of years ago, but I've
> forgotten exactly what I did.
>
> For clarification: I have four OS installations in four separate
> partitions on one physical hard drive. When viewed from any OS but the
> 64-bit Vista, here's what's in the partitions:
>
> C: WinXP
> D: Vista 32-bit
> E: WinXP testbed
> F: Vista 64-bit
>
> Upon boot the Vista bootloader asks whether I want to load Vista 32-bit,
> Vista 64-bit, or an "earlier version of Windows." If I choose "earlier
> version," I get the XP bootloader and I can choose between XP or XP
> testbed.
>
> I want to wipe my primary WinXP installation -- the boot installation that
> sits in C: and contains the bootloaders. I know that when I reformat C:
> and install a fresh WinXP (the new one will be Media Center Edition) I
> will lose the Microsoft bootloaders. I don't want to use a third party
> bootloader, so I'll need to first restore the XP bootloader connection to
> my XP testbed installation and then restore the Vista bootloader so it
> sees both Vistas and the "earlier version" bootloader. Hope that makes
> sense.
>
> So the question is: How do I easily reactivate the XP bootloader so it
> sees the second XP installation on E: and then reactivate the Vista
> bootloader so it sees both of the Vistas plus the "earlier version" XPs?
> Seems like there's a repair utility on the XP installation disk that will
> find the other XP, and an even easier-to-use utility on the Vista disk to
> "fix" the installations. Do you remember the details?
>
> I'm going to set up Media Center XP first and later try your clever
> workaround for Vista 64-bit.
>
> Gotta stop this. I must make the guacamole NOW.
>
> --
> Bill Anderson
>
> I am the Mighty Favog

Looks like I will have to boot off the DVD. I have a Vista 64-bit with SP1
DVD and no EXEs on the DVD are 32-bit - just 64-bit [unless I got something
very funky]. So it looks like I'll have no choice but boot off the DVD
directly.

"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Gis.
>
> As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of
> Vista differences you should be aware of.
>
> If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista Setup
> from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive letters in
> WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for Vista and assigned
> it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be V:\Windows and WinXP's
> boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C: will also be the system
> volume, no matter which OS you are running.
>
> But if you boot from the Vista DVD to run Setup, it will not know WinXP's
> drive letter assignments, so it will start from scratch. It will assign the
> letter C: to the volume where you tell it to install Vista. So if you
> choose the second partition on the first (or only) HDD, then that partition
> will be Drive C: when you are running Vista, even if WinXP still calls it
> Drive D:. After assigning C: to its own boot volume, Vista will continue
> with the next letter, and your system volume (first partition on the first
> HDD - which WinXP still calls C will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.
>
> All these drive letters won't cause any problems at all for WinXP or Vista,
> but they sure can confuse us humans! Especially if our mindset is that
> "drive" letters are permanently assigned. To cut down on the confusion, be
> sure to use Disk Management to assign a "label" or name to each volume.
> This label will be written to the disk and won't change when you boot into
> the other OS.
>
> The terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are counterintuitive and confuse
> many first-time dual-booters. You might want to read:
> Definitions for system volume and boot volume
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.../314470/EN-US/
>
> Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) will show you which volume is currently the
> system and which is the boot volume.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2009 1202 in Win7 x64 6801)
>
> "Gis Bun" <> wrote in message
> news:55FE1861-65BC-4FE4-8BBA-...
> > Hi.
> >
> > Just need a confirmation. I haven't seen anything to the contrary but I
> > gather installingf the 64-bit version of Vista SP1 can be installed as a
> > dual
> > boot with Windows XP 32-bit SP3 [XP already on drive "C" and Vista to be
> > on
> > drive "D"].
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Gis
>
>