HD Partitioning for Dual-Boot XP Pro & Vista

I'm planning to do a dual-boot setup on a 120gb harddrive, but I'm not too sure how I should divide them. I will be switching over to vista completely later on, but right now XP is more preferable. I was thinking about splitting 50/50, but for some reason, it doesn't feel right. What would you do if you had a 120gb harddrive to use for dual-boot? I have never used acronis or partition magic before... so I was also wondering if you can just keep resizing the partitions without destructive effects. What I mean is, say... you used 20gb for vista and 100gb for xp. Is it possible to change them anytime, anyway you want? (for instance, 40gb for xp and 80gb for vista, etc.) Right now, I just want to have vista so that I can get used to it, test drivers, games, applications, and things like that. Thanks in advance.

( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=93251) --> I have read this, but I just want to make sure I am understanding it. So I want to know what you guys think.

- Michael

 

Ahem.
Just as I explianed.The partitioning is sequential meaning a whole piece is a drive, but on some partition systems the data becomes fragmanted.So even if you delete files to free space.The fragments remain scattered,to bring those fragments together,You should use Defrag them.But also remember.You cannot (as far as I know) change the beginning cylinder of the drive easily (while you can change the ending freely - since there are some tables and stuff at the start).
IT's better to make a third drive for the shared data (not the installed programs but your data and stuff) and keep the drives at a fixed size.

 

Yes you can repartition without destroying existing data, although I would do 30/90 for now. There's a cool and free partition editor call GPartEd Live CD which you can boot from, and you can easily manage the size and number of your partitions through there. You can make a partition for programs only if you wish, although for a given program to work in both OS's you will often need to install it to the same folder twice---once from XP and once from Vista. Has to do with Windows registry.

 

In this scenario, I would take ALL my data off the machine - copy what you need on to a USB enclosure and set it up properly from start. Make three partitions actually.
- first partition at front of disc for Vista OS and programs (25GB)
- second partition for XP and programs (15GB)
- third partition, at end of disc, for your data ie documents, music, video etc (80GB)

Vista will be best and most comfortable if you install it first, (it includes a bootmanager which can do handle this dual boot well) then you install XP as a dual boot OS under vista.

Also, Vista allows you to change the partition size or delete it on the fly ie on a live computer. So, once you decide you are not going back, then all you have to do is go into control panel - system - computer management - disk mangement . There you can delete the XP partition, which creates free space, then right click on your data partition and "expand" it into available free space i.e. the space of the partition you just deleted.

Personally I if I were you, I would keep Acronis well off your machine. It is not very good under Vista, though they claim it is "compatible". Just use the free tools and when Norton/Symantec comes out with its Vista compatible Partition Manager (Save & Restore 2.0) later on this year, grab that.

 

This is how I divided my dual boot on 80GB.

Partition 1 - Primary partition: 20GB for XP
Partition 2 - Primary partition: 35GB for Vista
Partition 3 - Logical parition: <25GB remaining for Storage

Vista uses quite a lot of space especially Ultimate. I think it takes around 15GB+ just for the OS so would advise at the very least 25GB.

I use partition magic and it's pretty easy to deal with. Install XP (if not done so), install partiton magic, create any additional partitions you need and then install Vista. You don't need to choose install new OS wizard in partition magic, vista will detect all your partitions. Just choose the correct one. For me it was parition 2 (a blank primary NTFS partition) where I installed Vista. When you have finished installing Vista, on every bootup you get to choose which OS to boot into.

I wouldn't advise changing the size of the Vista partition afterwards though except within Vista itself as suggested by Skagen. Many programs have compatibility issues with Vista and it's tempermental when you change the partiton size with other programs.

 

I know there are many versions, but can they vary that much? Vista Business on my laptop took up exactly 7GB of HD space when I opened up the laptop direct from the factory - and that included manufacturer-added utilities and progs.

If you were installing Vista yourself, it should be possible to skips some options and take even less, I would imagine. At least on Vista Business. I dont have hands on experience with any other Version.

As for Win XP, you can get that sucker under 2GB with no sweat - and even smaller if you make a customised, tweaked install.

 

Okay here's my Master Plan:

Laptop:
HP DV6000T
2GB Ram
120GB HD
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200
Vista Business 64bit (comes preloaded)
XP Professional 32bit

Process:
1. Back up drivers, other personal data.
2. Reinstall Vista OS. (HP computers come with too much bloatware)
3. Use Vista's built in partition program / bootmanager
Partition 1 - Primary partition: 15GB for XP
Partition 2 - Primary partition: 25GB for Vista
Partition 3 - Logical partition: 80GB remaining for Storage
4. Visit NBR.com and report results

I'm still debating if I should increase the partition for XP to say something like 20GB, and decrease 10GB from storage (thus making it 70GB) and increase Vista to 30GB. This option is mostly for games, several sequencers I use for music production, and photoshop. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks again for all your help, suggestions, and hints.

Note: Vista will be installed first, then XP Professional. If you disagree, please let me know, I'd like to know why. I've read about night_2004's dual boot blog, and I believe he installed XP first. (I will probably install Vista first since it comes with a partitioning / boot managing program. Again, if you think I should install XP first, let me know please!)

- Michael

 

Just increase XP's disk space to 20GB and I don't think there will be anything to add.