Dual boot Vista & XP on T400

Hi everyone, I need to dual boot XP and Vista on my T400 - I need to use DB2 Visual Studio add-ins for a course I'm taking, and they are not compatible with 64-bit Vista. Currently have Vista Business 64 installed.

I'm going to be following this guide:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

I have a Lenovo-specific question, though. Switchable graphics will not work in XP, correct? Will I have to manually choose integrated or dedicated in BIOS before installing? I have read guides RE: setting AHCI compatibility and a few other things but nothing quite seems to be complete or current. Once I install XP and the wifi driver, will I be able to simply install System Update and download all of the appropriate drivers?

This is going to be my likely quite frustrating project for the weekend, so I'd appreciate any help that could be given.

 

Yes, switchable graphics wont work in XP and will need to set which one to use in the bios and since you plan on dual booting, if you still want to use switchable graphics under Vista you will have to manually enter the bios and change it back. Also, system update has been discontinued by lenovo, so you will either have to manually install using the SWTools folder or download and install them from lenovo's support site.

BTW, will your add-ins work in Vista 32, that might be a better alternative than XP.

 

It's likely that they would install in Vista 32 - I don't have access to installing Vista 32, unless I can do so with my same Vista 64 license. But XP is probably my best bet in the interest of a consistent development environment.

Are XP drivers included in the SWTOOLS folder? I see in the ETHINTEL folder it only seems to have Vista drivers.

 

Yeah, you might be better off downloading the drivers from the website rather than SWTools folder although I have found that many manufacturers tend to include both XP and Vista drivers. Downloading the ones from lenovo will probably be newer than what is available in that folder.

 

Thanks for the responses. Hopefully I can get this underway tomorrow at work.

 

Vista drivers sometimes work in XP and vice versa. You can get a set of Vista 32 bit recovery discs here for less than Lenovo will charge for a set.

 

You can run your Vista 64 with the bios graphics settings (discrete or integrated with os autodetect turned off) you need for XP. The first time you boot Vista 64 with discrete set in bios it will install the drivers needed for that environment and the same the first time you boot with the integrated setting.

 

Okay, thank you. It's good to know I won't have to go way out of the way with BIOS settings to install XP.

 

I don't know why Lenovo didn't save all driver into an ISO or a ZIP file. It's very difficult and cost too much time to download all driver and application for fresh install a new OS.

 

Pulled it off without much of a hitch. Just had to disable my display (both of them in device manager) and reinstall the Intel drivers after they inexplicably messed up and I was stuck in VGA resolution.