Dual Boot: Windows Vista and Windows XP or Windows Server

"PreInstalled Windows Vista" and Windows xp/2k3/... as Dual Boot

(windows distant view and x, how to ...)

Mr. Xyz thinks to buy a Hybrid Car and came to know if he will buy High Tech Hybrid Car he becomes ineligible to keep his old Ford Truck. DOES'NT THAT sound insane, well that's what i am talking about ...

Windows Vista is a family product of Microsoft LETS prove it!

If you are willing to buy laptop pre-installed with vista, Have windows xp/xyz ready and few hours of spare time to make your new laptop usable (Well, if you just wanna surf (the net) it's alright you can go to the beach and enjoy the sunshine).

If you want to have third party software or even Microsoft products the chances are bleak it's supported by Vista (distant relative), as the time will go by your luck will work.

What i am trying to say is be ready to enter the world of Dual Boot. Well if you have ram 3GB or more, it's better to use VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC.

Let's get Started

1) Make a partition.

Click this: Google Search Partition your hard drive
or
Site Hard Drive Partition with Screen Shots

Note: Make note of the newly created partition, it can't be C.

2) Change the Boot Sequence in BIOS

Click this: Boot Sequence

3) Insert the Windows xp/2k3/xyz cd/dvd and reboot your machine.

Click this: Install Windows XP

Note: Select the newly created drive step 1.

4) Reboot your machine

Great you just lost your vista ... but don't forget to verify whether windows xp/xyz installation was successful or not. Good Luck for the Drivers compatibility.

5) Insert your Restore CD, the one which came with your machine
or
choose the Restore option at the boot time which mean pressing the right Function key on
your machine.

Then Choose Repair, do not select full Restore and repair the vista without deleting or
formatting the drive.

6) Boot into Vista, well that's the only option you have.

7) Look for bcdedit.exe and bootsect.exe on your drive, these are hidden files.

8) If you can't find the files mentioned in step 7, Download Easy BCD
9) Install it but launch/play with it at your own risk.

DON'T LAUNCH IT

10) Find the above mentioned files bcdedit.exe and bootsect.exe

11) Copied from hereNote You can run the commands in the following procedure by using the command prompt. If you run these commands in Windows Vista, run them at a command prompt that has elevated user rights. To do this, click Start, click Accessories, right-click the command-prompt shortcut, and then click Run as Administrator.

1.	Use Bootsect.exe to restore the Windows Vista MBR and the boot code that transfers control to the Windows Boot Manager program. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt: Drive:\boot\Bootsect.exe /NT60 All In this command, Drive is the drive where the Windows Vista installation media is located. Note The boot folder for this step is on the DVD drive.
2.	Use Bcdedit.exe to manually create an entry in the BCD Boot.ini file for the earlier version of the Windows operating system. To do this, type the following commands at a command prompt. Note In these commands, Drive is the drive where Windows Vista is installed. • Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Description for earlier Windows version" Note In this command, Description for earlier Windows version can be any text that you want. For example, Description for earlier Windows version can be "Windows XP" or "Windows Server 2003". • Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} device partition=x: Note In this command, x: is the drive letter for the active partition. • Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr • Drive:\Windows\system32\Bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast
3.	Restart the computer.

12) You are Done, helping vista to be a family member of Microsoft Products.