Dual Booting Windows XP and Vista
Recently a client asked if it were possible to have both Window XP and Vista co-exist. The answer to this question is yes, but the installation can be tricky depending on which OS is installed first.
In this short article i discuss the two possible scenarios as follows:
Installing Vista after XP
Installing XP after Vista
Installing Windows Vista after XP:
This option is a piece of cake. If you already have Windows XP installed then it’s a relatively simple process to install Windows Vista on top of Windows XP.
There are a few assumption for this mission:
- Assumes you already have Windows XP Installed and Configured
- Assumes that you have a spare primary partition on your hard drive other than the one on which Windows XP is installed, or a second hard drive
- Assumes obviously that you have a Windows Vista CD/DVD and serial key (your own not one off the web)
To achieve this simple mission follows these steps:
- Simply Boot your Computer with the Windows Vista CD
- Select the disk or primary partition on which you wish to install Vista
(DO NOT INSTALL VISTA ON THE PARTITION WHERE XP ALREADY EXISTS) - Then it’s business as usual, follow the onscreen instruction to completion
- After successfully installing Windows Vista, your System will reboot and offer you a multi-boot menu where you can select the desired operating system
Installing Windows XP after Windows Vista:
This option requires a little coaxing. If you already have Windows Vista installed then half the battle is done.
Again as above there are a few assumption for this mission:
- Assumes you already have Windows Vista Installed and Configured
- Assumes that you have a spare primary partition on your hard drive other than the one on which Windows Vista is installed or a second hard drive
- Assumes obviously that you have a Windows XP CD/DVD and serial key (your own not one off the web)
To achieve this mission follow these steps:
- Simply Boot your Computer with the Windows XP CD/DVD
- Select the disk or primary partition on which you wish to install Windows XP
(DO NOT INSTALL WINDOWS XP ON THE PARTITION WHERE WINDOWS VISTA ALREADY EXISTS) - Then it’s business as usual, follow the onscreen instruction to completion
- After successfully installing Windows XP
- Remove the Windows XP CD from the DVD/CD drive
- Insert your Windows Vista DVD into the DVD/CD drive and reboot
- On reboot follow onscreen instructions and click NEXT to the regional settings screen
- Then click Repair your Computer
- Select the Windows Vista Install and run the Startup Repair
- Next we need to tell Vista that XP exists by adding an entry for Windows XP in the Vista Boot manager In Windows Vista
- Client Start and type Run
- Right click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator
- Run the following commands in the order they appear
bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d ?Windows XP?
bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast - Now reboot your computer, If you followed the above instructions correctly, you will be presented with boot options for Windows XP and Windows Vista.