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Author Topic: Dual Boot PC's  (Read 3618 times)

J.Man

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Dual Boot PC's
« on: June 01, 2008, 11:46:22 AM »

Hi, I was wandering if it was safe and legal to create a dual boot PC but another thing is i'm not sure how I have Vista installed but I want XP instead. Here is my OS if it helps.



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« Last Edit: June 02, 2008, 08:02:34 PM by kitz »
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roseway

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2008, 12:30:43 PM »

Do you really want everyone to know your product key?
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  Eric

roseway

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2008, 09:14:58 AM »

This doesn't seem to have moved on at all, so I'll do my best although I know very little about Windows.

>> Is it safe?

I would have thought so. All recent versions of Windows have supported dual booting, and it should be a setup option during installation. Perhaps someone who knows would confirm this?

>> Is it legal?

If you have legitimate Windows CDs, and those versions aren't already installed on other hardware, then it must surely be legal. If you've previously installed those versions on other hardware and registered them, then you will have to persuade MS that those previous installations have been deleted.

I'm afraid that's about as far as I can go with the question.
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  Eric

oldfogy

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2008, 05:59:01 PM »

First of all!
Is your Harddrive (HDD) a SATA or IDE drive ?

Do you have the original Vista disc (as it will be needed later)

Is XP going onto a partition of the same drive, or onto a second HDD ?

Some info and DL link for EasyBCD can be seen here. (last couple of posts)
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=1513.0

This site also has a very good tutorial which you may want to print-out first.

How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm
« Last Edit: June 02, 2008, 06:06:31 PM by oldfogy »
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kitz

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2008, 08:06:01 PM »

Ive edited the image in your post.

As regards to dual booting - yes its safe and legal.. but you will need the installation disks.
Follow the links provided by OF. :)
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J.Man

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2008, 04:13:33 PM »

Both my HDD's are SATA

I dont have the Vista Disc but I have the XP disk.

im going to put XP on the 2nd HDD or it depends if it is easier :)

And thanks for those links :)
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oldfogy

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2008, 05:20:02 PM »

Sorry I have to keep this message ultra short as I am already late for a meeting.

1. You need to find out and download the SATA drivers for your HDD, these will be required at the start of installing XP (F6 etc)

2. You may very well need the Vista disc to carry out a "very small" repair after installing XP, which is quite a common occurrence and only takes 2 minutes.

Sorry I have to go now, but will be back later.

*****************

edit
Let us know when you have the SATA drivers.
Actually I should of said "SATA Controller" not driver.

Although I'm not sure how you find which one it is that you will need, I think it will have something to do with the make and possible size of the HDD, so if you post those details hopefully someone can help you with that part.
Although on some newer mainboards apparently this is not necessary.

However, as you are saying you want to install XP on the second drive (providing this is not a partition) actually makes it a lot easier and you "may not" need the vista disc.

Initially you could try just installing XP and see if it recognises your HDD, if it does then you will not need the SATA controller and so skip step 1.

Step 1:
So all you need to do once you have the SATA controller loaded onto either a floppy disc or CD is to go through the motions of installing XP, but keep a careful eye on the bottom of the screen at the start of the installation, because you will be asked if you need to install addition software (or a message similar to that) and to press F6 to accept, later on it will ask for the destination of the addition software (this being the SATA controller)

Step 2:
To install XP place the XP disc into the drive and boot-up the PC, before you get to the setup stage you will be asked which drive to install XP onto, so chose your second drive.

Once the install has completed you will probably then have to change the BIOS setting to boot from the Vista drive, then you can install EasyBCD, "this small program allows you to select which operating system to boot into each time the PC is started" it also allows you very easily to change, not only this setting, but how long the notice will appear on your PC screen asking which operating system to boot into.

The process, as said earlier is easier because you will be installing onto your second drive (not a partition of the main drive)

So basically, that's all there is to it, but I would strongly advise that you backup your main HDD by creating a recovery image before starting and also if possible get hold of a Vista disc.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2008, 01:57:52 AM by oldfogy »
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J.Man

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2008, 09:27:03 PM »

I think i have done it when i boot up my PC i get like a menu to choose which OS i want  but IE wont work but I can work around that
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oldfogy

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Re: Dual Boot PC's
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2008, 04:43:46 PM »

Glad to hear you seem to have it up and running and I hope you managed to get your internet working.

Now if you haven't already installed "EasyBCD" (from the link below)
I would suggest you install it, as you can then very easily set it to boot automatically into your desired operating system each time you boot-up.
Also change the time that the boot screen shows before continuing to boot-up process.

Some info and DL link for EasyBCD can be seen here. (last couple of posts)
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=1513.0

As far as I know, this should be installed onto Vista.
(at least that is the way I have installed mine, which works very well)
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