Vista - Back Ups and Dual Boot Questions

Alright...so I screwed up...I didn't quite do this the way I intended to.

Facing a small storage crisis, I decided to install Vista over my XP as a clean install. So I've got Vista only now...but I'm still thinking of dual booting. Is there a way to install XP as the secondary OS without having to reinstall Vista as well? I won't be doing this until I get my new (bigger 160GB) hard drive though.

More pressing is the lack of upgrade options for Vista Home Premium. While it can back up important files like your documents and saved games, it cannot back up the entire system. Ultimate has that feature, but I'm not upgrading to Ultimate until the university offers it starting in May. So I'm short a good system backup solution in the meantime...not to mention a way to image my drive onto my new notebook hard drive when it arrives.

One backup option I thought about was running XP in a Virtual Machine with full access to my hard drives and running Norton Ghost from there (I already own it but it isn't Vista compatible yet). Thoughts?

Any ideas?

 

After coachin' myself up, I'm back for another try. The following assumes a primary D partition has been created. Needless to say, a complete backup would be wise.

Download and install, in Vista, Vistabootpro http://www.vistabootpro.org/ (or if you're a command line fiend, use Vista's BCDEdit).

Reboot and install XP. Vista's bootloader will be overwritten.

Insert Vista install cd and reboot.

Select "Repair Your Computer", then "Startup Repair". Vista Bootloader will be restored.

Remove install cd and reboot. Vista will load.

Startup VBP (Vistabootpro) and select "Manage OS Entries".

Check "Add New Operating System Entry" then select/enter the following:

OS Type>>>>>"Windows Legacy"
OS Name>>>>>Whatever you wish
Drive Letter>>>"C"

Click "Apply". Exit VBP and reboot.

At this point you should (hopefully) be presented with Vista Boot Manager containing 2 entries, one for Vista and one for XP.

 

I'll give it a shot tonight. If I don't report back...

At least Vista has a built in partition manager. And spatial, I think I could run Ghost from XP so good job.

 

Two additions:

You can install VBP in XP. VBP has an option to reload Vista's Bootloader. I tried it...didn't work for me. If you're adventurous, you might install VBP after you load XP and see if it does for you.

Conceivably, you could make the OS list mod and reload the bootloader all in one step, from XP, eliminating several additional steps.

The process (as I see it) would be:

Run "Run Diagnostics" from the "Diagnostics" menu entry, letting VBP find Vista and add it to the list.

Add XP as stated before. Make sure you apply the changes before exiting.

Reinstall the bootloader from "Bootloader" menu entry.

I'm not completely sure if A) VBP will pick up Vista, although I seem to remember it doing so for me and B) that the reload will work, incorporating the changes made.

FWIW, I'd stick with the first method.

also

I tried loading Vista and XP in different configurations, while I was trying to get QuickPlay Direct functioning.

On more than a few occasions, when I added the OS (usually XP) within "Manage OS Entries" and restarted, Boot Manager would reflect the addition of XP, but when I selected it, I got the infamous cannot find ntldr message. Apparently, it has something to do with how the bootloader views the partition letter as opposed to what you think it is. My fix was simply to change the drive chosen for the OS (usually either C or D). I bring this up only to make you aware, in case it happens to you.

BTW, I'd do a run-through with the Vista install cd ("Repair Your Computer" and "Startup Repair") just to make sure everything is in sync with what I wrote.

 

I'm not sure this will work, but I just repartition my primary partition into two separate, smaller partitions. You can use Norton or GPartEd for this. Then, pop in the XP disk on bootup and it will ask where to install it. Select the new, empty partition for it. When it's finished, whenever you boot up you should see the default Vista boot manager, with one choice as Vista and the other as "an earlier version of Windows".

This worked when I had XP on one big partition, I split it up 60/30, and installed Vista on the smaller partition.

 

Well, as for the backup question in Vista - Solved. Acronis True Image has a Vista compatible version now. Since I've been wanting to ditch Ghost anyway...this is fine.

Gator: You started with XP and then installed Vista. I've got the reverse problem.

 

Yah, doesn't XP's install disk launch its install manager when you boot up with it? Again I'm not sure this'll work, because as you said you're trying to do the opposite of what I did.

 

I'd be very careful. There are some problems with the ATI disaster recovery disc vis-a-vis USB drives and for that matter mice. Also it runs very very slow. (we're talking 3hrs to do what should be accomplished in less than 30min). The apparent cause are the drivers used by the linux underpinnings. It is a know problem. If you're purchasing it, ask tech support for a recovery disc based on XE or PE using windows drivers.

In lieu of that, you can create a DR disc using reatogo-X-PE http://www.reatogo.de/ Uses windows drivers so there are no compatibility issues and works very well with my TIv9 Server (which by the way will work under Vista just fine also). Functions much like Bart PE where you can add apps to run when loaded. Think a functioning Windows OS on CD with installed apps. Takes about 30min create one that includes your backup and partition manager proggies. I any case, it's a **** fine app to have around.

If you're in a real pinch, I can upload an image of the ReaTogo I use to get you up and running. Although the app is v9, it should recognize your BU from v10.

Seems to be the order of the day, misunderstanding your plight. I feel better already.

 

Well, I still haven't found a solution...but this all may be a moot point soon.

I'm upgrading my hard drive, and I'll just reload XP and then Vista. Problem solved...when I swap my drives this weekend.

 

I'm curious as to which XP and Vista CDs you have (as in are they full or upgrades or OEMs or restores)

 

XP: One set of recovery DVDs from HP and one academic full install of XP
Vista: One academic version of Home Premium upgrade

 

Night_2004, if you had two hard drives plugged in at once, then all you have to do is install Vista on one drive and XP on the other (making sure your Vista install is not hosed during the XP install, even removing the Vista HDD if necessary), then change the order in which you boot the hard drives in the BIOS. I'm not sure if the nc8430 has a hot swap bay for a second HDD, so if you can't get two HDD's running at once the point is moot.

You could also just make an image of the Vista OS at its present state, then install XP first on your new HDD followed by Vista, then replace the clean Vista install with your imaged Vista. Never done this before though, not sure if it'll work.

 

I'm selling the old drive, and I'm also going with the 64bit version of Vista as opposed to my current 32bit when this is all done. My current install is only temporary.