Dual boot XP and Vista - how to?

[Philmar]

I am not a computer whiz....my passion is photos, not bits and bytes

I have 64 bit Vista that I have been holding on to waiting for it to 'mature' as an OS. Now I'd like to give it a whirl. I don't want to commit to it yet and would still like to have the option to boot with XP as I get better acquainted with Vista.
My current pc has:
Antec P180 aluminum mid-tower case
Intel D975XBX2 motherboard
Intel Core2 Duo E6600
3 Hard Drives:
     2 x WD Caviar 320GB (data)
     1 x WD Raptor 36GB (for XP/apps)
Antec TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W power supply

This is my plan...tell me if anything is wrong with it:

I am considering buying a 1 TB hard drive for my RAWs and photos and another Raptor for my Vista. So I'll have a 5 HD rig.

I'd like to install Vista on a new raptor. Use the new 1 TB drive for data. Keep my existing raptor for XP. And use the existing 320gb WD HDs for CS3 and Windows file page (and maybe backup for my jpgs). I already have external HDs that I use for backup.

I'd like to know anything that I may be overlooking, i.e. my power supply is not up to it, the case won't support that many HDs, it is impossible to set it up this way, the set up is wasteful, excessive ect.
What problems will I encounter?
And when my rig boots how does it choose which OS will boot?

If I boot with Vista, will I still have access to the programs loaded on the drive with XP? That is where CS3 is loaded.

What will my Vista desktop look like? How will I open a program (like CS3) on my XP HD?
If I upgrade to CS4 what potential problems might this setup create?

Is it foolhardy to have the programs on a different HD from the OS? This is what will be happening if I am booted in Vista. Will I have to move a lot of my programs to the HS with Vista?

As you can see computers aren't my forte - so thanks for the help/tips/advice/warnings...

[dalethorn]

I can't advise on the dual boot, but have you considered using the Microsoft Virtual PC?  The Virtual PC doesn't support all hardware options, but I've found it easy to move files to the main machine (i.e. the "real" drive) to backup or print from there when needed.

[iancl]

I am currently dual-booting XP and Vista 64-bit.

My set-up:

Antec 160 Case
Zaltec 900W power supply

EVGA X58 Motherboard
Intel Core i7 920
6GB Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz RAM

XP: on old 250GB 5000RPM Maxtor PATA
Vista: 64 on 750GB 7200RPM Seagate SATA
Storage: (internal) Second 750GB 7200RPM Seagate SATA
External first back-up: Third 750GB 7200RPM Seagate eSATA connection

Soon to add: NAS system for another active back-up.


---------------------


Some thoughts:

"If I boot with Vista, will I still have access to the programs loaded on the drive with XP? That is where CS3 is loaded."

You will still have access to items on the XP drive. Although, you'll have to perform a take-down of the drive to gain full access; but, that's easy. HOWEVER, you can NOT RUN your programmes in XP from your Vista OS boot. You will have to re-install your programme in the Vista machine to run them.

You can't run programmes installed for one OS inside another OS.

"i.e. my power supply is not up to it"

550W is probably just about the lower limit to power 5HDs and 1(2?) optical drives and a Dual Core CPU. I'd recommend a 750W PSU at a minimum and maybe more.

"the case won't support that many HDs"

I don't think it will -- internally. My impression is it holds 4 HDs in the HD bays. I've seen a friend's system in that case and I have the Antec 160 which is a similar vintage of design. But, you might be able to install a HD in one of the optical bays? It is a pretty modular case. This should be easy to ascertain from the online specs or from a computer-specific forum. Just put one of the 5 in an external case -- if it has an eSATA connection, it should be just as fast as if it is internal. In fact, you can easily boot from an external drive.

* I also recommend considering other options than the Intel motherboard. They are short on features for the price in general (although I have no experience with this board in particular). Go to Newegg and look at the MB reviews for your set-up.


"And when my rig boots how does it choose which OS will boot?"

If both were installed on the same drive, you get an option after the BIOS to choose which partition to boot into.

But, since the two OSs will be on different drives, you simply tell your BIOS which drive to boot first (i.e. change the primary boot order sequence). The first drive to boot will determine which OS loads.

--


"What will my Vista desktop look like?"

Like a clean install.


"How will I open a program (like CS3) on my XP HD?"

You can't -- unless you boot into XP.

---


If you have further/follow-up questions, feel free to ask them.

P.S. I have so totally loved Vista 64 that I have only booted into XP to retrieve specific things I forgot to back-up (i.e. to deactivate my copies of CS web standard, design standard, and to export my PS actions).

Everything runs sooo much better in the 64 bit OS and the OS is really a joy to use. I was genuinely concerned given all the bad press that Vista has received. But, after I got it all set up (about a week of tinkering and settings set-up) I have NO desire to go back to XP at all.

[JDClements]

Hey Phil, I went to Vista64 full time and had no regrets or problems. The only annoyance is having to confirm some things three times (like deleting certain things). Otherwise, it is mature OS and I immediately preferred it to XP.

Note that if you have Photoshop installed anywhere else (like on a laptop), you will not be able to have it on XP and Vista desktops at the same time, since you only have two installs available to you.

[Vautour]

I agree with iancl on most things. I only think that your psu should be sufficient unless you've got a high end graphics system. Then you might need a stronger psu.

[etrexler]

Have you looked into VmWare?

[Philmar]

Thanks everyone.
I have the multi-booting Windows environment questions answered above, as well as from MS:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...749fe1033.mspx

Have attempted to use Antec online power calculator but am not 100% certain I've inputted the criteria correctly but I think I should be fine. I might just downgrade to a 4 HD rig to be sure.
I guess nobody could tell me if my PSU would be wanting as I didn't list all of my components and peripherals (see I TOLD you computers aren't my passion)

My current pc with XP installed has:
Antec P180 aluminum mid-tower case
Intel D975XBX2 motherboard
Intel Core2 Duo E6600
3 Hard Drives:
          2 x WD Caviar 320GB (data)
          1 x WD Raptor 36GB (for XP/apps)
Antec TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W power supply
BFG e-GeForce 7600GT nVidia GeForce 256 MB PCI-E
4 x 1.0 gb OCZ 800 RAM
1 LG GSA-H22N DVD RW 18x
Microsoft Basic Keyboard & Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical Black
Zalman NPS-9500-Cu-LED CPU cooler
Vantec Stealth 120 mm fan
1 TB WD external drive with separate power supply for backup (plugged in ONLY whenever I download new photo files that need backing up)
Use wireless USB antennae
Use USB receiver for wireless mouse and keyboard

I might just go with a 4 HD drive set up. Really the only reason I was to go with a 5 HD rig was because I would have 5 HDs after buying a new Raptor and WD 1 TB drive. I was just going to keep the 2 older WD 320 GB drives around for scratch disk and Windows file paging ONLY because I have them. But if it is a luxury that could fry the PSU, then it will be wise to leave them out - perhaps as yet additional backup storage.

[Philmar]

yikes!!!
From Intel site, I understand my motherboard has:

Four Serial ATA interfaces with RAID support (four additional interfaces available with optional discrete RAID controller)

If my DVD writer is SATA then I can only plug 3 SATA drives in to the mobo. i don't understand what "four additional interfaces available with optional discrete RAID controller" means. is this refering to IDE?