The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Downfall to dual OS?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by aroundthefur922, Oct 30, 2007.

  1. aroundthefur922

    aroundthefur922 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    73
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have come to the obvious understanding that xp runs games much better than vista. i currently have a vista basic os and don't have many problems with it but considering i have a weak gpu, was considering getting xp and installing it alongside vista so that i could use it for better gaming performance and compatability.i personally have no qualms with vista as far as web browsing and entertainment are concerned and would like to keep it on my system if possible alongside xp. is this a plausible move? advisable? any input would be greatly appreciated.
     
    aroundthefur922, Oct 30, 2007
    #1
  2. adinu

    adinu I pwn teh n00bs.

    Reputations:
    489
    Messages:
    2,842
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    It's a very plausible move and one done by many people. As long as you keep the OSes on separate partitions there should be no problems or interference affecting either of them.
     
    adinu, Oct 30, 2007
    #2
  3. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

    Reputations:
    21,580
    Messages:
    35,370
    Likes Received:
    9,878
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Problem is, you have to install XP first then Vista second if you want to use the automatic OS selector. Otherwise you will have to use something PQBoot from Norton (previously PowerQuest) or System Commander, both which are fairly expensive.

    There may be some free third party apps out there, but none that I am aware of.

    That being said, I use dual boot Vista and XP Pro on my desktop and dual boot XP on my notebook (one for games, one for desktop work).
     
    HTWingNut, Oct 30, 2007
    #3
  4. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    11,461
    Messages:
    16,824
    Likes Received:
    76
    Trophy Points:
    466

    WRONG! you can easily do it the other way around, after you install XP second you just repair the vista bootloader with the vista disk. Its nothing more than selecting "repair my installation" Also a great FREE program to customize your boot is EASYBCD.


    The only downfall to dual os as per on topic is that you use up more of you HDD space. I personally have a triple boot in my notebook.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Oct 30, 2007
    #4
  5. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

    Reputations:
    21,580
    Messages:
    35,370
    Likes Received:
    9,878
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I tried the Vista "repair my installation" unsuccessfully. So ended up wiping my HDD and installing XP first then Vista. Worked like a charm. I use VistaBootPro - that works pretty good. Maybe I'll give EasyBCD a try.
     
    HTWingNut, Oct 30, 2007
    #5
  6. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    11,461
    Messages:
    16,824
    Likes Received:
    76
    Trophy Points:
    466
    worked for me, I even had to do it the hard way by manually rebuilding my bootloader one time, still tho it can be done with the vista cd and the command prompt no need for software to pay for.

    I use easy bcd mostly to change the name of the boot selection (example so it says windows xp instead of "older version of windows") also it can turn off integrity checks for x64 vista the easy way so that you can use unsigned drivers.

    Before easy BCD my boot screen looked like this.

    Earlier Verion of Windows
    Windows Vista
    Windows Vista

    Now it says

    Windows XP
    Vista Ultimate x64
    Vista Home Premium x86

    Makes it much easier :p
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Oct 30, 2007
    #6