How to install both Vista and XP on C:\?

Is it possible to install both Vista and XP on C:\ drive? I am talking about a single hard drive partitioned into two primary partitions. Each OS will be installed in its own partition but the drive letter will always be C:\ for the OS that is booting. Have you done it?

 

Mate, you have to have at least one secondary partition, and when you are in XP, the XP partition will be C:\, and the Vista partition will be D:\, and when you are in Vista, the Vista partition will be C:\, etc!

But AFAIK, you cant have 2 primary partitions!

 

A hard drive can have a maximum of 4 primary partitions! My hard drives usually have 3 or 4 primary partitions, I never create extended partitions and logical drives in it!

 

So you are saying, if I have one primary partition and one logical drive in extended partition, I can make it work. Can you elaborate the steps?

 

Well in that case, then yea, it should work! But every time I create a dual boot system, I put the main OS on a primary partition, and the other OS on the logical partition.

 

Will this not result in the second OS getting installed in D:\?

 

as I said above, when in Vista, the XP partition will be D:\ and when in XP the Vista partition will be D:\, but there is NO way to make both the XP & Vista partitions C:\ at the same time!

 

I got your point and that is what I originally stated! The booted OS should always boots in C:\

When I install Vista in C:\ and then later install XP in D:\, Vista boot from C:\ but XP boots from D:\ (i.e., XP's Windows, Program Files folders are always D:\Windows, D:\Program Files and not C:\Windows, C:\Program Files)

Any idea how to rectify this?

 

Strange! Why dont you try installing the secondary OS on a logical partition? Then you def wont have that problem...well I've never had it!

 

That could be the problem!

 

I think your vista partition is not the first visible primary partition in the drive.... vista always makes the drive letter as C: for the drive it is installed on unlike Xp which can even be installed on D:, E:, etc

But why would you want both to be C: ?

 

Here's how I did it:

1. Partitioned the drive into two primary partitions C:\ and D:\
2. Made C:\ the active partition and installed Vista
3. Made D:\ the active partition and rebooted
(Now the original D:\ became C:\ and the original C:\ became D:\)
4. Installed XP in the C:\ partition

With this, both OSs are installed in their own partition and when they boot they see the partition where it is installed as C:\ and the other one as D:\

One Problem: Whichever partition is set active becomes C:\ and boots. So if I am in Vista, I need to set D:\ as active partition and boot, so D:\ becomes C:\ and boots XP, similarly if I am in XP, I need to set D:\ as active partition and boot, so D:\ becomes C:\ and boots Vista.

Any easy way to do this?

PS: The reason I am doing this is I want the bootloaders to be in their own partition, so I can uninstall and reinstall any OS without messing with the other. Today I may installing Vista with XP, tomorrow XP with 2000 and I need this flexibility!

 

Ash - this is really closer to the question I have regarding dual booting Vista and XP, with MediaDirect. And think you much for stating it clearly here:

Exactly! such would seem a recipe for confusion. My original question was aimed at insuring I had a data partition labeled "D". I now remember that I can easily assign drive letters from the Disk Management Console.

But - the very idea of having both Vista and XP thinking they own "C".... scary!

I know XP and prior versions of Windows have no problem operating from any drive letter, on primary or logical partitions. What I was seeking was a way to keep Vista on "C" and put XP on "E". I could do so easily, except for MediaDirect.

So - do conflicts really come up when XP and Vista both think they are on "C"?

 

Where do I set D:\ as? In windows command promt?
Dose that mean any time I want to start "B" operating system, when "A" is active I first need to start "A" and make the change?

What if D: is active (XP is C and I start mediadirect? Will it start?

Gergő

 

Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Storage | Disk Management

There you can right click on the partition/drive and "Change Drive Letter" will be an option. You can NOT change the letter of your boot or system drives. Vista will always be "C", earlier versions of Windows must always use the drive letter the OS was originally installed to.

Install a Bootloader that will boot first and allow you to chose the system to be active for that session.

That depends on several factors I am not clear on....

 

i installed in the first partiton XP and the second Vista
now the interchange c: and d: to whoever OS is booted.

i also wanted my data partition to be D:\, but after seeing it was going to be some trouble, i just let it be E:\

i'm worried tough, if i ever uninstall Vista (which is very feasible), i'll be unable to boot to XP ¿ and can be that fixed?

 

Q. How to change the active partition?
A. Regardless of which OS you have booted, to boot with the other OS, this is what you should do:

1. Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management
2. Select Disk Management
3. Right-click on the D: drive and click Mark Partition as Active
4. Click Yes on the dialog box and reboot.

You will boot in the other OS.

 

Sorry, Im still not clear, I have problems with English as well.

Would this work? or how should I do it?

I have Vista on C: (as shipped)
I have an other partition D: (as shipped), I would divide it to two, one for XP, one for my documents
I insert my XPPRO cd, and boot from it, install XP. But I would like my XP to be on C: when I use XP, because programs automatically get installed on C:\....., and I dont want any files to get installed on the Vista partition
How do I do this?

Gergő

 

The solution for your problem is in thread #12. All you have to make is three primary partitions, one for Vista, the other for XP and the last one for Data. This way no matter which OS you boot, the OS will always have its files in C:\, the other OS always in D:\ and Data always in E:\. Instead of manually changing the active partition as stated in thread #17, you can use a custom boot loader. I think XOSL works.

 

I wonder why has this thread been rated BAD? It offers alternative way of doing things! Just because you don't need this method doesn't mean the method itself is bad! Such ratings will only demotivate one from further sharing ideas!

 

Thanks I think I got it, but Ive run into a problem. My D: is actually a logical drive, not a primary partition, I cant make it active. I wanted to make two partitions of it and Im unable to delete the extended partition. I could delete the logical drive, but the extended partition not. It says there is not enough disk space.
What should I do?

Gergő

 

My C: is 40GB Active partition, vista
D: is 96GB now

 

Boot from the OS disc (XP or Vista). From here you can delete and create new partitions.

 

Do I need to set SATA to ATA in the Bios? On XP disk boot, it didnt find any hard drives.

 

Yes, you need to set the hard drive to ATA mode in BIOS before installing XP. Once XP is installed proceed to install Intel Matrix Storage Manager and then change the hard drive to AHCI mode in BIOS. If you get BSOD in the process, just turn off/shutdown the system and cold boot.

 

Switched to ATA, used XP disk to make partitions, but C: was Vista and it was D: where it would have been possible to install XP. So I tried to run Vista to make D: active (switched back from ATA) but Vista didnt start. What now?

 

Since Vista was in C: and you made D: the active partition, D: will become C: and so when you boot as there is nothing in C: you don't get anything. Install XP in this C: and once XP is installed you can change the active partition again to boot from Vista. (or you can install XOSL to boot from the OS of your choice)

 

Im stuck at one point. C is Vista and my D is an extended partition, and I dont know how to make it primary, to make it active. I hope I dont need to reinstall my Vista making totally new partitions.
By the way, thanks for your quick help.

 

As Vista is already in a primary partition, it is safe, you will not have to reinstall it. If you are not able to delete the extended partition from Vista, you will have to do that with the OS installation disc. You need not follow my method. You can also create a logical drive in the extended partition, format it and install XP.

 

I have tried using the XP disk and managed to delete the extended partition, but I could only replace it with another extended partition, and not a primary. So I cant make it active. If I install XP to the extended partition can I make it become C:?
This is the situ:
78M something EISA conf
Recovery 10GB primary
Vista 40GB primary
XP 30GB extended
WORK 66GB extended
2,47GB something primary

 

You already have 4 primary partitions there, that is why you are not able to create any more!

 

Which can I delete?

 

Do I need the recovery?

 

I don't use mediadirect, so I deleted the last 2.5 GB partition and initial hidden partition. If you are going to change the partitions, recovery will not work so you are better off deleting the recovery partition. If you don't have data (or can backup them to optical media), it is best to reinstall both OSs from scratch.