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Windows Vista Installation Super Guide Part 4: Dual Boot Windows XP with WindowsVistaIn the previous part of this Windows Vista Installation Super Guide, we looked athow you might clean install Windows Vista on a new or used PC, wiping out whateverinformation and data might be on the hard drive. In this fourth part of theseries, we will examine a related activity, and one that will be of particularinterest to anyone that's either nervous that Vista won't meet their expectationsor are already aware that Vista isn't yet compatible with a particular hardwaredevice or software application they still occasionally need to know. Thisinstallation scenario, which I'm calling dual boot, is technically multi-boot,because you can actually install an arbitrary number of operating systems on yourPC if you so choose. However, I feel that dual boot is the most popular of themulti-boot setups, and thus it's the one we're going to cover here. To be clear,the goal here is to create a PC that is configured such that you can choosebetween Windows XP (any version) and Windows Vista (any version) at boot time,using a text-based menu. When you make your choice, you will boot into theselected operating system. If you do not make a choice, the menu will boot intoyour default OS after a set period of time. Note that while we are specificallyusing XP and Vista, it is possible to dual-boot between Vista and other Windowsversions. The rules are generally the same, assuming you're using an NT-basedversion of Windows. That said, older Windows versions in the 9x line, like WindowsMe and Windows 98, and even older NT-based OSes, like Windows NT 4.0 and Windows2000, are no longer supported by Microsoft. We won't discuss them further here.Note: You can also, of course dual-boot between different versions of Vista if youwant. Arguably, you could also install and activate the same copy of Vista on thesame PC multiple times if you so desired.Getting ready for dual bootComedian Steve Martin once joked about how to make a million dollars in realestate: "First, start with a million dollars..." Dual-booting XP and Vista is justlike that: First, start with a working installation of Windows XP. But jokesaside, this is indeed the first rule: If you intend to dual boot between Vista andany other Windows version, you will need to install the non-Vista OS first. Thereason for this is technical: Every NT-based version of Windows ever created hasincluded the ability to multi-boot between different OS versions, and the bootfiles created by these systems include facilities for a textbased menu that letsyou choose an OS at boot time. As Windows has progressed over the years, so havethese boot files. And the boot files in Windows Vista are both newer and differentthan the ones that came before. So while Vista knows all about the boot files andmenus from previous Windows versions, those previous Windows versions knowabsolutely nothing about Vista. So the simplest thing to do is to install XPfirst, and then Vista. Hint: While I won't explicitly cover this possibility here,you can in fact install Vista and then XP if you want. However, you will need touse Vista's recovery tools, on the Vista installation DVD, to later repair theboot menu. We'll look at these tools in a later part of this series, but theadvice still stands: For best results, install XP first and then Vista. OK, we'veestablished the installation order. But there's another issue to consider. Eachinstall of Windows on this system--XP and Vista--will need to be installed on adifferent partition (or a different hard drive, each of which can logically beformatted as single partitions). This means that you will either need: • • Asingle hard drive that has been partitioned into two or more partitions using adisk utility, or... Two hard drives, each of which is ideally partitioned as asingle partition. (You can of course partition however you see fit.)If the system you're going to configure for dual-boot already has a copy of XPinstalled on it, chances are that you only have a single partition. In this case,you will need to defragment the disk and then use a third party disk utility tocreate a new empty partition at the end of the disk to which you can install

Vista. I use PartitionMagic for this purpose and it works well. However,PartitionMagic is a retail application that costs money, and it's hard to find intypical electronics stores. So you'll need to order it online, or find a freealternative. I have absolutely no experience with free disk partitioners, butplease send me a note if you've used one and I'll add that information here.Fousulameen -1-

If you do end up partitioning your hard drive to make room for Vista, note thatyou will want to backup all of your important data first as a precaution. (Youwill also need enough free space on the drive to make a new partition; I recommendat least 10 GB.) Good partitioning tools like PartitionMagic work non-destructively, but this is your data we're talking about here, so do the rightthing and backup first, just in case. If you haven't yet installed XP, do so now.I won't explain the entire process here, but you can refer to my Windows XP CleanInstall (Interactive Setup) /showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp article from 2001 fordetails. If you are doing this from scratch, I do have one bit of advice: In Step5 of the aforementioned article, you'll see a part of XP Setup where you choosethe installation partition. Instead of selecting the entire hard drive, use thispart of Setup to delete whatever partitions are present and then create twopartitions, one for XP and one for your eventual Vista install. Install XP to thefirst of the two partitions. Then, move on to Step 6 per the article. Note: Whilethe Windows Vista Setup routine includes dramatically improved disk utilities whencompared to XP Setup, the one thing it cannot do is take an existing partition,shrink it nondestructively, and then create a new partition for Vista. This kindof functionality would be a killer addition to Vista Setup, no? OK, let's recap.Here are your pre-flight instructions for dual booting between XP and Vista. 1.Install Windows XP first. 2. Backup any critical data from your XP install. 3. IfXP is installed on the only partition on the only hard drive in your PC, run theXP disk defragger and then use a tool such as PartitionMagic to non-destructivelyresize that partition and make space for a new Vista partition at the end of thedisk. If you already have a second partition, or a second hard drive, you caninstall Vista to that location. 4. Once you have a free partition (or hard drive)to which to install Vista, place the Vista Setup DVD in the drive and turn offyour computer. You're ready to start the dual boot install process. Secret:Technically, you could start the Vista install process from within Windows XP. Donot do this! Instead, boot your PC with the Vista Setup DVD and run Setup thatway, as outlined below. The reason for this is a bit hard to explain, but bearwith me: The results are worth it. Here's what's happening. Ideally, in thesimplest possible system configuration, you will end up with three "drives" asdenoted by the standard drive letters we all know and love: C: Windows XP D:Windows Vista E: Optical drive While it's not strictly necessary, I find itsimpler if the current version of Windows--that is, the version to which you havebooted on a dual boot system--is always listed as the C: drive. Thus, when youboot into XP, your drive layout should look like the list above. However, when youboot into Vista, it should look like this: C: Windows Vista D: Windows XP E:Optical drive If you initiate Vista Setup as described above, this is what yourdrives will look like in Vista. If you do so from within XP, they will resemblethe first list, where the current system, Vista, is installed to the D: driveinstead of C:. OK, let's get started with Vista Setup.Installing Vista in a dual-boot configurationOK, if you're ready with a PC that has XP installed and at least one blankpartition, you're good to go. Let's get started. Fousulameen -2-