Dual boot xp vista computer

Although both XP and Vista will work, you will not be able to remove or format the XP partition in the future without repairing Vista. Boot from the Vista DVD. Click "Next" and click "Install Now". Don't enter your product key. Click Next click No if asked whether to continue without a valid key. On the next screen, select the exact version of Windows Vista that you have a product key for. If you select the wrong one, you will have to reinstall Vista all over again in order to be able to use your purchased product key; you WILL be required to enter your product key when activating Windows.

Now that you have Vista installed and working, you may have noticed that there is no way to get into XP. Thankfully, getting XP into the boot menu is not particularly difficult.

Thus, a copy of ntldr must be installed on the Vista partition. Open My Computer. Select "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types" and "Hide protected operating system files recommended ". Click OK. Open drive D the partition on which you installed Windows XP. Copy the files "ntldr", "ntdetect. Open drive C and drag the files in.

Note that a UAC dialog may pop up asking for confirmation. Click Start and type cmd. Right-click on cmd. Type the following:.

Now that you have Windows XP and Vista installed on the same computer, you may install drivers and software. Remember to activate your copies of Windows within 30 days; before you activate, however, make sure that Windows runs correctly, and that everything is set up the way you want it. Method 2: XP installed first This is the method I tried after I figured out that the other one didn't work for me.

What I needed I faced a dilemma. Preparation Assumptions: In this tutorial, it is assumed that you have a single hard disk in your computer, and your computer meets Windows Vista's system requirements. Planning your disk configuration The first thing to do when preparing a dual-boot is to plan how you will configure your hard drive.

I have partitioned the disk as illustrated below: Partitioning the disk I happened to have a second installation of Windows XP on a separate hard drive, and I thus used Windows XP's diskmgmt.

Installing Windows Vista Before we can actually install Vista, there is an important thing we must do, viz. Type the following: diskpart select disk 0 select partition 1 active Close the command prompt and click Next. Proceed with the Vista installation as usual. Adding XP back into Vista's boot menu Now that you have Vista installed and working, you may have noticed that there is no way to get into XP.

Conclusion Now that you have Windows XP and Vista installed on the same computer, you may install drivers and software.

Comments 5 Skip to comment form. I followed this tutorial with Windows 7 instead of Vista and this worked flawlessly! Create two partitions, C and D. Install XP on D. I remember from previous experiences that XP still called its drive C even though it is technically D. The next two sections will help you configure both versions on your computer, depending on what OS you have installed first: Windows XP is installed If you want to dual boot XP and Vista and XP is already installed on your computer you will not have to do much work to dual boot vista.

Windows Vista is installed If you were like me and compley reformatted your hard drive and wiped out XP when you installed Vista, your setup is going to be a little more complicated. When the setup is finished, your computer will automatically boot into Windows XP.

Boot your computer to the Windows Vista install DVD , click Next on the regional settings screen and then click on Repair your computer in the lower left of the window. Select your Windows Vista install and then run the Startup Repair. This will fix the Windows Boot Manager and Vista will once again startup automatically.

This is done through Windows Vista. Manually Crash Windows - Blue How to Block Specific Driver or Can't connect to computers in your Now we can create a new partition for XP to live on and make sure that the drive letter is set the way we want. Now you will need to close out of disk management and reboot your computer. Once you come to the screen where you can choose the partition to install on, then choose either the unpartitioned space or the new partition you created.

Update: VistaBootPro is no longer free, but you can still download the free version. NET 2. This will scan your computer and then automatically fill in the XP version..

Click the Apply Updates button and then reboot your computer… you should see your shiny new boot manager with both operating systems in the list! Or screw up your files. If you have issues with using the shrink volume feature, check this article for some tips. Use Google Fonts in Word. Use FaceTime on Android Signal vs. Customize the Taskbar in Windows What Is svchost. Best Smartwatches. Best Gaming Laptops. Best Smart Displays.

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