Triple boot, XP, Vista HP SP1 and Vista Ultimate non SP1 - is it possible?

Hi there

I want to clean install Vista Ultimate on my brand new Asus M70VM, seeing as there seems to be no way for me to upgrade using my Ultimate install disk as it's not an SP1 and the notebook came shipped with an SP1 version of Home Premium.

However I want to be able to do it on a separate partition with the SP1 version still installed so that if I do it wrong (i.e. I can't reinstall all the relevant drivers/apps) then I still have the SP1 version available.

I currently have a dual boot setup with the Vista HP SP1 and XP SP3 so my question is this, how do I go about setting up a triple boot with two different versions of Vista and the XP SP3 OS?

Do I just restore the boot manager using the Vista install disk to repair the startup, in the same way as I had to when I installed XP, and then use EasyBCD to add a third boot option? Which Vista version would it restore the boot manager to?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

 

Triple booting only Windows is possible, however a better way of creating a backup is to use an imaging program like Acronis TrueImage or Norton Ghost; these worthwhile programs allow you to create image files of any partition on your system. It should save you some time.

 

Yeah I'm doing an Acronis image as I type, I have Norton Ghost as well but found it useless, I found out how to backup and restore my system using True Image in 30 seconds, I haven't even worked out how to do it with Norton Ghost...

When you say "Triple booting only Windows is possible" what do you mean? All the OSs will be Windows, 1 XP OS, 1 Vista Home Premium SP1 OS and 1 non-SP Vista Ultimate OS?

 

I meant that although you are triple booting, you are only using Windows.

 

What's the point in TRIPLE booting Windows? That seems a bit much...

 

Yeah well I want to have Vista working, as well as XP, so if I install a clean copy and I don't get it working (due to time more than anything) I don't end up with no working copy of Vista. If I triple boot then I'd at least have the original copy of Vista working.

And triple booting is a no go now because my data partition is the only partition I can use and I'd have to format it, losing some space in the process and losing the games I have on there (which have taken me the best part of a day to install) and I could really do without spending another day installing them...

Why can't M$ make anything simple. I paid for the Vista Ultimate disk I have and now it's practically useless because it's not worth using unless I want to lose data and space just because M$ in their infinite wisdom make it so you can't upgrade a Vista Home Premium SP1 OS to an Ultimate non SP1 OS just so they can make more $ selling SP1 versions.

I can see why people pirate M$ stuff so much now...

I guess I'll just have to rely on Acronis for backups seeing as I can't make any sense out of Norton Ghost and I can't upgrade to Ultimate without doing a destructive clean install. Thanks for the advice though guys.

 

Why don't you buy another drive and install Vista on it? Once everything is working, transfer the files from the old drive to the new drive.

 

Raven, I think you're asking a bit too much from MS.

I mean, seriously, Triple Booting? And because it doesn't work you blame MS. Please spare us.

Just buy a new drive (which you can get for CHEAP) like kego said. Voila, Vista Ultimate non-SP1, AND you have a WHOLE nother drive with your dual-boot.

 

I do triple booting too, see my sig.
But I don't see the point of booting with 2 versions of Vista.

 

having 2 vista on one drive is great for security. imagine using one vista for games/unsafe files/basically junk os, while another vista as a pristine and safe environment used for school/bank/emails. with viruses and malware running amok on windows, the only sure way to have total piece of mind is dedicating a separate vista partition for security's sake.

i already see linux users telling me thats what linux is for, but i rather have 2 vista fully working with my hardware than 1 vista and 1 linux(half crippled because it doesn't even know how to handle a memory card slot, touchscreen, screen rotation, fingerprint reader).theres my reason for wanting a tri boot xp/vista/vista and i imagine the op's reasoning too.

 

Its a pain keeping 3 OS's up to date.

 

MS did make it simple, you just don't understand how software or OS works. SP1 is pretty much like "version 2", what you're complaining about is like trying to "upgrade" version 2 to version 1, which isn't logical/feasible at all. Your Ultimate product key will work with SP1, try calling MS or the manufacturer of your notebook and ask them to send you a Vista SP1 disc without a license key. Or you can also slipstream SP1 yourself. And no, they don't "make more money by selling you a SP1 version" when you already have a non-SP1 key. Just call MS.

 

No actually what I'm blaming M$ for is practically invalidating my current Ultimate disk unless I do a clean install because it doesn't have SP1 on it! I've either, like you said buy new HDD and install it in my new notebook, which I'm not even sure is possible at the moment due to a mounting not being available (afaik). Or destroy the current Vista OS which has all my stuff installed on it now.

Having just spent £1000 on a brand new notebook I see no reason to spend more.

Yes I could clean install, but I shouldn't have to considering I gave M$ my £ for an OS in the first place!

Tried slipstreaming SP1 using vLite but the upgrade option still doesn't appear. Vista SP1 thinks (or knows) my Ultimate disk is an earlier version...

And I don't have the time during "office hours" to call M$ to get them to send me a new disk.

 

Wow triple booting Windows...now I've heard EVERYTHING.

 

Not really, and you only have to do it once in a while.