(10 points for first good answer) the hardrive with my current system has xp on it, could I move this to......

Question

a new system and put vista on it?

if i can how do i do this??

e.g. use xp when i want to play an xp only game
and use vista when i want to play a vista only game???
......
NOTE: basically can i put 2 operating systems on the same hardrive and use them at different times??

Answer 1

Actually yes you can! It's called dual-booting, and when you install both OSs on a system, it asks you which one you want to use during the boot-up process. Here's a great step-by-step tutorial.

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm



It has screenshots and everything. Just print out the webpage, transfer the HDD and follow the step-by-step instructions to get a XP/Vista dual-boot.





Best wishes!

Answer 2

You can move the hard drive from the old machine to the now one, but you will more the likely have to reinstall XP. The problem lies in the fact the XP will only allow you to change 3 hardware devices or "MAC" addresses. Each piece of hard ware has a MAC address, there are at least three on the motherboard alone. And that does not take into consideration that all of the drivers that are installed on this drive will not work with the new system.



Here is what you would need to do. First install either of the operating systems. During the installation, you will need to create a partition that is about half of the hard drive's capacity. That will leave enough space to load the second OS. Then install the second OS to the empty partition. You will need to format this partition also.

Answer 3

Yes is the simple answer as long as your running at least a core2duo and have at least a gig and a half of ram. Just go into Fdisk and partition the drive then install vista on the partition when you bootup your pc it will ask which os you wanna boot you get 30 seconds or so to make the choice if you go to startup and recovery you can change this timer and choose which os you want as default incase you turn on your pc and walk away to go put the kettle on or something. I have a 1Tb hardrive with 4 partitions and am running XP Pro, Vista Business and Fedora off it.the 4th partition is for backup etc. Fedora incase your wondering is what you might know as Linux. As long as your hardrive

Answer 4

who said no is an idiot. before you answer be sure first..can't beleive these people have the guts to write wrong asnwers.



anyway my freind yes you can install both xp and vista on the same hard drive with no probs at all, you'll have to restart the pc everytime you want to use a diffrent os



the best way is if your hard drive is partitioned in two equal size partitions, then install the vista like normaly into the other partition where xp isn;t, but don't ever select format just select leave files.



you'll need at least 2gb of ram and each partition about 60gb for best performance. I use 4 diffrent os on the same machine.



you can install both os on the same partition except sometimes you'll find errors as it'll be confusing. but again don't ever select format, always LEAVE FILES AND FOLDERS so you're just adding an os.



when the os are in two diffrent partitions, don't save files or mess with the other just leave it in peace when not in use.



I did xp after i installed vista, but I am sure the otherway around is the same.





all your questions answered at my website www.cheaptofix.co.uk

Answer 5

as the other said its called a dual boot, you need to have 2 partitions on your hard drive. unfortunalty if you already have xp on it the chances are the whole drive has been used in one big partition. what you would need to do is reduce the parttion leaving enough space to create a new one big enough to install vista. if you dont mind losing xp and reinstalling it all over again you could kill disk the whole drive and create two partitions, one for xp the other for vista. this will be time consuming as you will have to do all the updates for both operating systems. you could also buy a cheap hard drive and have an operating system on each. i would look at reducing th partition size of your exsisting drive without upseting your xp install. use something like partition magic but be carefull as one wrong button and you will have to install over again anyway. i did it with 2 hard drives and it gave me the choice of xp or vista at boot up. failing that if you are just trying to play games designed for xp but want vista, the install exe for the game install if right clicked and select properties and then compatibility and select run this program in compatible for xp. what ever you choose good luck

Answer 6

YES, This is called "dual boot"

when you install Vista... it will detect the existence of Windows XP and give you the option to install it to another folder. When you do this.. a selection screen will pop up each time asking you which OS to load.



It is always best to load the oldest OS FIRST and then the Newest OS last. -- So you are in good shape already having XP on it and Adding Vista.. vs. the other way around which is more complicated to dual boot.



Just don't install Vista into the C:\Windows folder as it will overwrite XP.

Answer 7

you can do that, it's called dual booting.



There might be a problem tho. you can't just take out the hard drive off an old system, and put it into a newer system, and exepct xp to boot right.

xp is very specific to the HAL (hardware address layer), so if you switch motherboards, then it won't boot properly. you can switch everything else, and it will boot fine. However, once you switch the motherboard, it will no longer boot.

Keep that in mind.



But you can install vista over your XP, as long as you put Vista in another folder (c:\windows2, or something like that). Vista will modify the boot.ini, so you can choose which os to boot off.

Answer 8

ok sure easy... Install Vista to another directory other than XP is currently on, and dont upgrade existing XP, it should automatically dual boot with XP.



But its more recommended if you install Vista on another partition on the same Hard Drive.



However if you got a new system, XP likely will fail to boot and you need to reinstall that anyway.



so install XP, then Vista try to put it on different partitions.

Answer 9

you need to dualboot the system which is a pain in the preverbial B*tt, the older O/s will need installing first then the newer ie Vista, so ultimately nope. because Vista would require a clean install, you could check the microsoft help sites on technet or the other forums but I cant see it happening without a format first

Answer 10

YES --- ITS CALLED DUALBOOT



I HAVE IT :)



basically, what happens is when u turn on ur pc, it asks u to select vista or xp



its realy good :)



and i know a really easy guide \



here it is if u have vista installed first



http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm



here it is if u have xp installed first

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dualboot_vista_with_xp__stepbystep_guide_with_screenshots.htm



those sites are slow to load..be patient





also if u type in youtube ' dualboot xp and vista' there ares some cool guides



i have done it b4 so if i need help email me :)

Answer 11

Yes but you will have to partition your hard drive, Partition Magic will do this for you. You make an extra partition, this will probably be called "D". Install Vista onto this new partition(Drive). then you can run the OS of your choice by opening the My Computer Icon and select which drive(& therefore the OS) you wish to use.

Answer 12

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Answer 13

Yes, you can create a Dual-Boot PC, Vista and XP off one H.D.

Answer 14

yes install vista then download windows virtual pc and then start it up put ya xp disk in install xp then you can have xp in a windows running in vista

Answer 15

yes you can do it in 2 ways **********

....

1st way: use this link:http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=sp&pvid=pm80 ************



2nd way :you'll have to first erase your entire computer, create partitions on the hard drive, install xp on one partition and vista on the other partition in this way you can achieve what you wanted,

Answer 16

You can do this, you need a disk partition manager, google it and try and find a good free one.

Answer 17

ok first yuu need to find someone who will let yuu borrow the cd of the software! then put the cd in the computer whilst its starting up and it installs all yuu have to do is type a code in and press next several times x

Answer 18

You could go out, buy a link, and then what it will do is it will actually link you on to vista and it will go there... ok???

Answer 19

What you are asking about is called a "Dual Boot," and is very much possible.



Good Luck!

Answer 20

depends on how old your current system is, the HD may not be compatible with a new system.

Answer 21

the answer is a simple no.