Vista and XP dual boot.

[Lavabug]

I deleted my previous thread as my questions weren't clear and it might have seemed confusing.

I have Vista on my PC. It has 2 SATA hard disks.

I want to install XP to have both OSs available, BUT I don't want to have to partition my hard disks, like how this guide says I should do:

http://www.syschat.com/dual-boot-vis...eady-1946.html

SO I want to throw in an IDE/PATA hard disk in my PC and install XP on that, and be able to select whatever OS I want when my pc boots(btw is it possible to change the time in the countdown on the boot menu?).

How do I do this I ask?

1 problem: The DVD-R in my PC runs on the primary IDE channel(blue connector on mobo), and it's using the Master(black) connector. I have no option but to connect the hard disk to the gray connector in between the dvd-r and mobo, making it a slave. Can I still install XP on that drive? Or do I have to get another IDE cable and hook up the hard drive separately on the 2ndary IDE connector(black) on the mobo?

2nd question: The guide(meant for installing XP on a seperate partition of the same HD) claims after installing XP, I will need to fix the MBR with the Vista CD to make my PC boot back into Vista by default, THEN add XP to the boot manager thingy. I'm using seperate hdd's, is this necessary in my case, or will the OS selection menu automatically show up when I install XP on that separate drive?

[Neon_1]

I want to know how to do the opposite - remove xp from a xp/vista dual boot.

The MBR is probably on the XP partition since it was here first. Both HDDs (C:XP, E:Vista) are sata.

I've done some searching on the topic but want to be 100% sure - it's kind of risky.

[darkkterror]

@OP:

1) It doesn't matter what connector the drivers are on on the chain, it's the jumpers on the back of the drives that ultimately control which one ends up master or slave. I suggest changing the jumper setting on the back of the DVD to Slave and then setting the hard drive's jumper to Master. Do this and it won't matter what connector they're on.

2) I'm not totally sure on this. If you had XP on first THEN installed Vista, I know for a fact that Vista would automatically configure its boot loader to have an XP option (in this case, the option is labeled "Earlier version of Windows"). I'm not sure if, when installing XP second, if it will be able to detect the Vista install and configure the boot loader automatically. I've dual-booted XP and Vista several times, but I've always put on XP first then Vista, and as such the boot loader was always set up correctly automatically.

If XP does not set up the boot loader properly, you could use the Vista CD to reinstall the boot loader, or you could use VistaBootPro (http://www.vistabootpro.org/), a free application. You can use it to install Vista's boot loader and then add in an entry for Vista.

@Neon

You'll need to use the Vista DVD to reinstall the boot loader.

[Lavabug]

darkterror: Yeah you're right, that's what that guide I posted claims: if you install XP after vista you have to fix the MBR with the vista CD so you can boot back into Vista again, THEN you have to edit the boot ini file's entries through the command prompt to make Vista recognize XP and make both show up in the boot selection menu.

The thing is that guide I posted is designed to be done on a separate PARTITION of the same hard disk, not on 2 separate hard disks. In my case I'm doing it with an ide and a sata drive, there's no problem with that I assume?

Has nobody ever tried dual booting with vista and xp(installed in that order) on separate disks not just partitions?

[darkkterror]

Whether you install on 2 partitions on the same drive or 2 drives makes no difference in the grand scheme of things.

[Fatass908]

Yea its the same thing but instead of using multiple partitions on one drive your using multiple drives

[Neon_1]

Has nobody ever tried dual booting with vista and xp(installed in that order) on separate disks not just partitions?

That is what I have. XP on one hdd and Vista on another hdd, in dual boot.

Trying to get rid of Xp though, because it's not as simple as removing the hdd from the array, since they are fused in dual boot and mbr.

edit: oh, installed in THAT order? I had xp first then added vista.

[Lavabug]

Neon1: Out of curiosity do you have one OS on an IDE hdd and one on a SATA drive? Would it make any difference?

Originally Posted by darkkterror

Whether you install on 2 partitions on the same drive or 2 drives makes no difference in the grand scheme of things.

THANK YOU for clearing that up. So then that means that the following guide should work for me, save for the part about partitioning a part of my HDD:

http://www.syschat.com/dual-boot-vis...eady-1946.html

Could someone have a look at it and reassure me that I would be doing it right with this guide?

Sorry for being buggy I just have no previous experience setting up a dual boot system, don't wanna mess anything up.

[darkkterror]

Originally Posted by Neon_1

That is what I have. XP on one hdd and Vista on another hdd, in dual boot.

Trying to get rid of Xp though, because it's not as simple as removing the hdd from the array, since they are fused in dual boot and mbr.

edit: oh, installed in THAT order? I had xp first then added vista.

Remove/format the XP drive to get rid of it. Next time you reboot the computer will likey yell at you telling there's a BOOTMGR problem (it'll be missing). Then you just pop in the Vista DVD and boot from it. On the first screen you hit Next, on the second screen on the bottom you click "Repair your computer (or something to that affect). Give it a minute or two for it to detect your Windows installations (even if it shows your installation in the next dialog immediately, it'll still take a minute to do a thorough scan). Once you have control again, click Ok (your Vista installation should be the only one and thus is selected by default). On the next screen, choose the first option (Startup repair, something like that). Follow the dialogs and when you hit Finish your computer will reboot. You should then be booting back into Vista with no XP at all.

Quick note, you might have to do that procedure twice. I just removed XP from my dual boot yesterday (following the procedure above) and the first time I got to the repair installations it popped a dialog saying it needed to fix some startup issues. After it did that I still got the BOOTMGR problem, so I booted the disc again. That time it didn't pop up the dialog about startup issues and I was able to follow the full procedure. After that, Vista booted just fine.

Really, all you're doing is reinstalling the boot manager. The boot manager, by default, will be located on whatever drive where the FIRST OS was installed (in your case, XP). When Vista gets installed it looks for the boot manager and then rewrites it without changing its location, so your boot manager is still on the XP drive. So when you remove/format the XP drive, you're getting rid of the boot manager, which means the computer can't boot. You simply need to use the Vista installation to reinstall the boot manager.

Originally Posted by Lavabug

Neon1: Out of curiosity do you have one OS on an IDE hdd and one on a SATA drive? Would it make any difference?




THANK YOU for clearing that up. So then that means that the following guide should work for me, save for the part about partitioning a part of my HDD:

http://www.syschat.com/dual-boot-vis...eady-1946.html

Could someone have a look at it and reassure me that I would be doing it right with this guide?

Sorry for being buggy I just have no previous experience setting up a dual boot system, don't wanna mess anything up.

Looks good to me.