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Up to Discussions in Windows
8 Replies Last post: Mar 11, 2008 6:26 AM by smax013  
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rtfire1
435 posts since
Jan 24, 2008
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Mar 5, 2008 12:00 PM

how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system


how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system. Right now I have windows vista installed on my lapto and windowsxp 64 installed on a diffrent drive. when I made the last partion on the drive active it changed something so my windows xp64 will not boot. I was told the easy fix is to just reinstall xp64. I am woundering if vista would have any issues with doing that.

Any help would be great

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Click to view mphenterprises's profile Member Moderators
mphenterprises
9,068 posts since
Feb 19, 2007
1. Mar 5, 2008 12:06 PM in response to: rtfire1
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
Hi RTFire. Yes, Creating a Dual Boot system is very easy. Essentially, all you do is either A) partition an existing hard drive and install the second Operating System within that second partition or B) install a second hard drive and install the second Operating System within that second hard drive.

I am in the process of creating a Dual Boot tutorial; however, you just got the condensed version. :D

This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
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rtfire1
435 posts since
Jan 24, 2008
2. Mar 5, 2008 1:40 PM in response to: mphenterprises
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
thanks mphenterprises but I am looking at reinstalling my xp64 which from what i have read and been told is not as easy
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mphenterprises
9,068 posts since
Feb 19, 2007
3. Mar 5, 2008 1:45 PM in response to: rtfire1
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
No problem. Since it appears you have a specific issue and not just asking a general question, please start a new Discussion with exactly what your 64bit Windows XP problem is and we can try and help you. I honestly do not see any reason why there would be any significant issue with Dual-Booting the 64bit version of Windows XP.

This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
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Click to view rtfire1's profile Member
rtfire1
435 posts since
Jan 24, 2008
4. Mar 5, 2008 1:56 PM in response to: mphenterprises
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
mphenterprises I thought my question was cut and dry.
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Click to view rgreen4's profile Old Hand
rgreen4
3,704 posts since
Oct 22, 2006
5. Mar 5, 2008 2:00 PM in response to: mphenterprises
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
When installing different Operating Systems on different physical drives (not just virtual drives), it is best to remove the primary drive first. Thus, when you have cause to reinstall Vista, remove the XP64, and vice versa. If it is a desktop, you don't actually have to physically completely remove the drive, just disconnect the cables.

While I haven't installed XP64 this way, I have installed XP Pro and Win2K Pro this way without a problem. I have a triple boot machine (Vista, XP Pro, W2K) and simply use the F12 Boot Menu option if I'm not going to boot into the default Vista drive. All three are active and can see each other. Almost all of the programs are on the Vista drive and data is on a network drive.

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Click to view mphenterprises's profile Member Moderators
mphenterprises
9,068 posts since
Feb 19, 2007
6. Mar 5, 2008 2:06 PM in response to: rtfire1
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system
rtfire1 wrote:

Right now I have windows vista installed on my lapto and windowsxp 64 installed on a diffrent drive. when I made the last partion on the drive active it
changed something so my windows xp64 will not boot.

I overlooked this part. I was only referring to the actually Discussion header, "how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system." As RGreen indicated, multiple booting Operating Systems is a seemless process. He has three Operating Systems. I currently have two with full intentions on installing Ubuntu on a third. I am currently using Windows XP and my Windows Vista partition is fully functioning and accessible. When using Windows Vista, my Windows XP partition is also fully functioning and accessible.

Now, I am not sure as to what you mean by the last partition but if you have Windows XP (whatever version) on one drive and Windows Vista on another, there should be absolutely no reason that Windows Vista would fight with Windows XP. The problem is not the Operating System, the problem is whatever you may have done (or not done) when configuring the partition. Therefore, this all goes back to my original statement. It really does not matter what version of Windows XP you have, Dual Booting is very easy.

This is my personal Dream PC: http://forums.pcworld.com/blogs/mphenterprises/2007/12/21/my-gift-to-myself
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rtfire1
435 posts since
Jan 24, 2008
7. Mar 11, 2008 6:03 AM in response to: rtfire1
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system

its not to bad to fix the problem when you go in to reinstall it gives you the option to try to do an auto repair and that did the trick for xp64 then have vista fix how it boots and your all set the vista part was 5 min the xp64 part 1.8 hours.
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Click to view smax013's profile Old Hand
smax013
3,745 posts since
Jan 28, 2007
8. Mar 11, 2008 6:26 AM in response to: mphenterprises
Re: how easy is it to reinstall windows xp on a duel booting system

The potential "difficulties" come in to play depending on how you have your dual (or tri or whatever) boot setup configured. If you use seperate physical drives and use BIOS type drive selection like what rgreen4 does, then it is easy. If you use patitions on one drive with a some sort of boot manager, then it can be a little more complex.


If you are using Vista's boot manager, then I believe things can get "screwed" up if you install Windoze XP (whether 32 bit or 64 bit) AFTER Windoze Vista. As a result, you typically need to go back and use the Vista install disk to "fix" the boot manager setup.

[soapbox] Backup good...no backup bad!! [/soap box]
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