If i partion my Win. Vista hdd and install xp dualboot, will i have to reinstall my vista afterwards? HELP!?

Question

Yeah..well i want to partion my hard drive. I have windows vista home premium, and i want to do it this way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lfC8xKgv_Y&feature=related

So what i want to do is partion my hard drive so that i can run my vista i have installed already and windows xp on the same hard drive. But my question is, is that after i install xp on the same hard drive, this guy in that link i posted says to reinstall my vista after everythings done...will i have to do that..or will i just be fine leaving it after i install xp....cause i have alot of movies backed up on there.

Thanks in advance

Late

Answer 1

Hey brother,

My name is Ryan from Lusaka Zambia (Africa). You can't run Windows XP on the same harddrive without reinstalling vista. In order for you to have a dualboot, backup your documents that you need and format the machine and insatll the 2 os's. if you need help please ask and i will be glad to help if my instructions are not very clear.

All the best

Answer 2

Short answer,

this video should work and you shouldnt lose any data if you follow the directions to a T.  You wont be reinstalling vista.  When xp installs it tells your pc to boot to xp.  The vista install cd boots to the vista install screen, but you wont install, you will click the "repair installation" which allows you to run some commands that will basically undo windows xp and direct the computer to boot back to the vista you had previously installed.  Back it up tho cause you never know.

Long answer,

I dont see why that video wont work as long as your hard drive isnt full.  you will also need to keep a few things in mind.

1.  If your hard drive has data splattered beyond the point of partition (your data is in the area that vista wants to make the second drive) then you will have to wait for vista to move all your data to the first side of the drive... depending on what you have this could take several hours (think defrag, similar operation but with a different goal).

2.  you arent actually reinstalling vista.  you are using the repair feature on the vista installation disk to run a few commands that will undo the changes that xp makes when it installs.  You need the vista install cd to tell the machine to boot to your previous install of vista and not xp, but you wont atually be reinstalling it.  just follow that guys directions and i would keep his video bookmarked on a computer that you arent doing this too for reference.

3.  You shouldnt lose any of your data as long as you have room on the hd to make the second partition.  However, there are 2 kinds of people in this world:  Those who have experienced data loss, and those who will.  if you are worried about it burn a bunch of backup cds or dvds, or if you are willing to front some cash, go buy an external hd and back up your stuff... much faster.  Better yet if you have a friend with a hd you can borrow with enough space on it you can back you stuff up... you might not need the backup but its better safe than sorry.

4. The "you cant run vista and xp on the same hard drive" is technically true.  You get around that by partitioning the 1 drive into 2 (step 1 in the video).  This tells your pc to treat 1 hard drive like 2 hard drives, and since it thinks you have 2 hdds, you can install 1 version of windows per drive it thinks you have.

good luck.

p.s.  It looks like mystics dealer is selling him the good ****, and it looks like hes trying to sell you something...  Cause he is going off on things not even related to the problem.

Answer 3

Bad luck to you.You have to reinstall Vista.

I have an idea if you want to protect your old data,Cut everything in your drive allocated for Vista & Create a new folder Paste it in your new XP drive.

Thsi may take 2-4 hours.Then,Reinstall vista.After re installation of Vista Cut the thinks in the new folder in Xp Drive & paste it in Vista drive.

Then do the following:

Registry Problem Fix(AML Tools free registry Cleaner is recommended)

Disk Optimize & Defragmentation(IObit Smart defrag is recommended)

Virus scan(Avira is recommended)

After that enjoy.

If any doubt e-mail me at [e-mail]

GOOD LUCK.