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    Help With Dual O/S Please!!!

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008.

  1. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    I have just bought my SR with Vista Business and id also like to install XP on it. I dont have a partition. Is there anyway i can create a partition on my disk without having to format it?

    If i have to format it , could i install vista ultimate or will the drivers on sonys website not work for any other version that business

    thanks
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  2. InfyMcGirk

    InfyMcGirk while(!(succeed=try()));

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    I would just use Virtual PC for your XP apps within Vista. If you want to downgrade to XP for performance reasons, I wouldn't bother keeping Vista at all. I believe Vista Ultimate should work with the same drivers, but I haven't tried it myself.
     
    InfyMcGirk, Aug 21, 2008
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  3. Dook

    Dook Notebook Virtuoso

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    You can download the gparted bootable cd. It will allow you to add/remove/update partitions without having to reformat the hard drive. The partition manager built into Vista can also do this, but it tends to mess things up from time to time. The gparted iso can be downloaded from here. Just burn to a CD and boot it.
     
    Dook, Aug 21, 2008
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  4. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    i have just made recovery disks so can i format the recovery partition and istall xp there?
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  5. Dook

    Dook Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ehh. Those recovery partitions are tricky sometimes. How big is it and is it showing up in My Computer? To be honest, albeit theoretically possible, I'm not quite so sure I'd install there.
     
    Dook, Aug 21, 2008
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  6. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    dont care about the size i will be using it for a few apps

    but i cant see it in my computer. Hidden?

    Is this gparted app easy to use? can i just create a partition in the empty space of the hd without affecting vista?
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  7. Dook

    Dook Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yea. It's hidden and probably formatted with EFS. I would just use gparted to create the partition. It's fairly simple to use and yes, you can just create a partition using the free space and it won't affect your Vista installation(see below).

    HOWEVER! Theres a small gotcha. Whenever you install XP to the new partition, its going to overwrite the boot sector and Vista will not boot. Have no fear tho, all you have to do is insert your Vista CD and tell it to do an automatic repair. It'll reinstall the Vista boot sector and add XP as a selection and you'll be able to choose which OS to boot from then on. It's all pretty easy.
     
    Dook, Aug 21, 2008
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  8. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    what vista cd are you talking about? the recovery cd? because vaio doesnt come with vista os cd
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  9. Dook

    Dook Notebook Virtuoso

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    The VAIO I have has a recovery DVD that's basically the full version of Vista, but only works with Sony notebooks. It boots and installs just like a normal Vista CD. You may have a different one, however. If yours isn't like this, then you may wanna hold off on dual booting until you can requisition a standard Vista CD/DVD. Microsoft used to have them in ISO format available for download, I dont know if they still do or not.
     
    Dook, Aug 21, 2008
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  10. InfyMcGirk

    InfyMcGirk while(!(succeed=try()));

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    I think you'll need a Vista install CD rather than the recovery discs, to repair the boot sector.

    However, I'd still ask why you don't just use a virtual XP machine within Vista if you're only installing XP to run a few apps? :confused:
     
    InfyMcGirk, Aug 21, 2008
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  11. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    to be honest i just like the idea of being able to choose. Id like to once go back once in a while for nostalgic reasons :)

    what if i installed xp first and then vista? no boot problem then right?
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  12. InfyMcGirk

    InfyMcGirk while(!(succeed=try()));

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    Correct, but that's effectively the same as installing Vista then XP, then repairing the boot sector... you'll still need a Vista install CD/DVD (whether it's a Sony specific one or retail).
     
    InfyMcGirk, Aug 21, 2008
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  13. AntonisCy

    AntonisCy Notebook Guru

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    if i install xp first and then vista, will still xp be the first boot ?
     
    AntonisCy, Aug 21, 2008
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  14. InfyMcGirk

    InfyMcGirk while(!(succeed=try()));

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    I believe you can customise the boot menu with whatever default OS and timeout value you like, but don't count on that. ;)
     
    InfyMcGirk, Aug 21, 2008
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