XP & VISTA on 2 partitions

Can anyone tell me if theres a thread (i searched but nothing found ) that explains the Installation of XP PRO (full retail version) onto 1 partition and then also using another partition for the supplied VISTA home premium that came with my Asus laptop.

Im going to put a 320gig hd in so after format it should leave me with 300gig to play with. I might have 3 (or a 4th hidden) partitions, 1st for XP, 2nd for VISTA and 3rd for Data.

I know how to do this with 2 retail versions, but never done it with a supplied OS version.
Am i right in thinking thats its a different procedure than normal.

I might see if i can do an image of the hidden Vista partition with Acronis, but im thinking that the 2 operating systems wont show up on a boot menu.

All help appreciated.

 

I believe this topic will interest you:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=259759

Outlines pretty much every dual boot scenario you could want.

 

That looks promising

Thanks very much.

 

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

 

guys i just want to know, can we triple boot, like xp vista and linux?

or even xp, vista, linux, mac os x?

i kinda want to know if this is possible for a desktop system since we are on the topic... thanks andy for the links

 

Keep the pre-installed Vista in C: and install XP in D: After the XP installation is completed, you can only use XP at this stage.

Download the program VistaBootPro from here

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

Setup and run VistaBootPro under XP

In the page of System Bootloader,
Select Windows Vista Bootloader
Specific Drive C:
Click Install Bootloader

In the page of Manage OS Entries,
Select Add New OS Entry
Set OS name: Windows XP
Set OS Type: Windows Legacy
Set OS drive: C:
Click Apply Updates
Close VistaBootPro

Restart your computer. A selection menu will appear every time when you start your computer. You can choose to get into Vista or XP.

Enjoy!!

 

what about multiple boots? like what i asked about before?

 

I don't see any reason for which you couldn't triple boot. I think if you install Linux latest, it'll detect the Windows OSes and will create boot entries for them in its bootloader. At least that's what happened the last time I installed Linux which was back in 2002 or so.

Discussing Mac OS installs on non-Apple hardware is not allowed on this forum.

 

ohhh thanks EBE so install the linux last... on a partition or another HDD?

Ohhh oops sorry there...
thanks bro for the heads up

 

I don't think it matters whether it's on another partition or another HDD. But I don't know for sure.

If it's another HDD you also have a workaround the bootloader configuration, you can just select which HDD to boot when you start the computer.

 

thats what i was thinking, if it would be easier to have the Linux OS on another HDD rather than just the HDD partition.

thanks again EBE

and all i want to do is just test out ubuntu.

BTW if do install linux on a HDD, does it mess with my windows installation config on the other HDD? Or its just based on the master/slave setting?

 

I really don't know, never tried it this way. I guess it is possible that Linux detects the Windows installs and adds them as bootloader entries. Now depending onto which HDD it puts the bootloader:
- if the bootloader is on the 2nd (non-Windows) HDD, the Windows OSes will be unaffected, and restoring the 1st HDD as a boot device would be as if Linux isn't there,
or
- if the bootloader is on the 1st HDD, then you will probably need to keep it to boot Windows properly, even if you remove Linux. Alternatively, booting the Vista DVD in the recovery console and issuing fixboot and fixmbr could override the Linux bootloader.

It is also possible that if you select the 2nd HDD as 1st boot device, and then install Linux, it just won't care about the Windows installs and will not create entries for them.

But this is all guesswork, as I have not tried these things.

 

Thanks a lot EBE for the insight! You have helped me so much thus far with my ASUS laptop and now this