I need tips for installing Vista on top of XP.

[Akumajin]

So I've done this before: I installed and ran XP, then I partitioned and installed Vista. Vista worked! I had to however make a boot file with some program to get XP to work. All went well there after that until for reasons unmentioned I got rid of the Vista partition. Then all went to **** - the partition's data was unaccessible and I had to reformat/partition the whole HDD and start from scratch with XP (which was fine since I back everything important up).

So my question is this: If I have XP and I install Vista, how do I make it so I can boot into both right away without messing up stuff? Also, what program do you recommend for partitioning? It is 64-bit Vista, 32-bit XP by the way. I used Vista's built in partitioner before (I think) and it worked Ok except for the boot file not being made for XP. So basically how do I get that file made easily and correctly?

Also, in the future I will probably get rid of the XP partition - what is the best way/program to do this with?

Thanks a thousand to anyone who takes the time to read this. I love how helpful this community is.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

before installing Vista, get the partitions sorted out, otherwise vista will kill xp. I use Gparted to do that. I tend to allot 20Gb of space per os partition that I make, but it's up to you what size you make it. I think vista needs 7.5Gb of space, but don't ever put it below 10Gb, just to be safe.
Make sure the partition is formatted with NTFS, not any FAT variation, and you'll be set.

 

[KSoD]

Vista needs 20GB. It will not install on anythign less than that.

Use EasyBCD to dual boot.

Vista XP Dual Boot - Understand the basics - The NeoSmart Forums
How to dual-boot Vista with XP - step-by-step guide with screenshots
Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

There are some guides to read up on with plenty of information on what needs to be done.

 

[Akumajin]

Thank you very much.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Vista needs 20GB

No it doesn't. I'm looking at my partition right now, vista's installed on it, and it's less than 20GB. Close though.
I looked around a bit, and apparently it's recommended to have 15Gb+ for a vista install. So 20Gigs seems to be a good size to allot for a vista partition.

 

[jcortes]

I don't know if you solved your issues yet or not but in case someone uses this post as guidance for the future here is a link that I found useful when i did this.

How to dual-boot Vista with XP - step-by-step guide with screenshots

 

[KSoD]

System requirements for Windows Vista

Funny right from Microsoft. 20GB for Basic, 40GB for Home Premium and Ultimate.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

System requirements for Windows Vista

Funny right from Microsoft. 20GB for Basic, 40GB for Home Premium and Ultimate.

lol, that's the exact page I got my info from
We aren't talking about total hdd size here, coz he's partitioning his.
Vista needs "20-gigabyte (GB) hard disk that has 15 GB of free hard disk space".
When calculating what size he needs to make his partition, you only need 15GB. Say for instance you partitioned a 20Gb hdd into 5 and 15 gig spaces, I'm pretty sure vista would install. I'll test it today and let you know if it does.

 

[Harper]

Vista needs 20GB. It will not install on anythign less than that.

At least. However i would be recommending at least 40Gb as this place quickly fills up.

 

[KSoD]

Yes Soul it may only take 15GB to install. But Vista is a space eater. Anything less than 20GB will fill up in about a week with a lot of web surfing. Just as Harper said.