dual operating systems

[frhrwa]

scenario.. I got hit by lightening a few weeks back.. my computer is pretty much toast, so I got a new one, but it comes with VISTA (I hate VISTA).. my old one had XP Pro sp3 on it.. I want to take the hard drives out of it anyway to get the data, can I install it in the new one and use either the vista, or the XP? and, can I transfer files from the old hard drive to the new one.. the new system is 64bit too.. ? thanks. wayne

[sofaspud]

I haven't had any issues with Vista. Been using it on this computer for a couple of years. One of the
first things I did though was turn off all that 3D animation 6u!!sh*t. But I digress...
Yes, I'm sure you can make a dual boot system. As far as I know, though, you still need a third-party
boot manager to handle the details. I'd be very careful about transferring files back and forth. You may
run into incompatibilities with drivers and such. User-generated data files should be fine.

[reloadron]

You can remove the HDD from the toasted system running XP Pro and install it in the new system and use software like VistaBootPro to edit the BCDEDIT.EXT Vista boot loader to see and boot from the XP drive, basically adding XP to the Vista boot loader. However, I'll venture 10:1 that you will have problems. The current XP install on the old HDD contains all the drivers and software that ran with the hardware on the old system, exactly as sofaspud points out. Your existing motherboard chipset drivers, LAN drivers and other hardware drivers will likely create a nightmare.

Here is what I would do. I would install the old HDD in the new system as an added HDD. Then boot Vista and see if the added HDD shows under Computer. If it shows I would open the drive and look for those things you want to keep such as documents & files, folders and such. Within your Documents in Vista I would create a new folder named something like My Old Stuff and move (drag and drop) your stuff you wish to keep to thet new location. Once that is done and your stuff is safe and secure I would reformat the old HDD.

NOTE: Within the new OS you may need to take ownership of your old files and folders in the XP install. A Google of taking ownership of files and folders in Vista should get you through that.

Next from within Vista I would load the old XP disk and reinstall XP to the newly formatted HDD and any programs you want to run on XP. Once XP is installed I would reboot the system into Vista (which it should boot into) and run Vista Boot Pro and edit the BCDEDIT.EXE Vista boot loader to include the XP install. When you reboot you should have the option of booting into Vista or XP. That done, begin loading the needed XP drivers for the new hardware. Then any Windows XP updates and such. This is all done from XP.

That is about it in a nutshell to create a dual boot system since Vista is already installed.

Ron

[frhrwa]

great.. I knew the old info might interfere with the VISTA, was going to go in to control panel and delete all of the old stuff, but the computer wouldn't fire up, so.. the idea of transferring to temp folders, then wiping clean the old drive and so forth sounds good to me.. I don't suppose my Office Pro 2003 will work on this dang vista will it? also, got a free upgrade to windows 7.. anyone know about that program? I've worked on a few Vista systems, and HATE it.. thanks everyone for your inputs, I enjoy reading and gaining from all the questions and answers you guys have! by the way, what do you guys know about installing ligtening rods and systems? I got a direct hit on 8-23, came through my ceiling in the bedroom, 1:15AM... wiped all low voltage lines and melted them, hit my ceiling fan, blew it up and sent hot metal down on me.. blew out my front window, blew me out of bed.. set the house on fire, and on and on.. so now I'm rebuilding the house that I had just finished the previous day.. this time with a lightening rod system.. and to think, I have a tall metal flag pole out front, my workshop is all metal and taller than my house, and my ceiling peak is the lower peak of the roof line.. ? anyway, thanks again.. wayne

[MrAl]

Hi,


Just a few notes...


Sometimes the new systems come with only the serial drives when your old drive is IDE. This would create
a problem where you would have to get a hardware converter to switch to the new system.

Assuming your new system has hardware for the old drive too...

As sofa was saying, the new motherboard will not run with the old XP system install, but once XP gets up and
running it may load new drivers and all automatically if you are booting to that drive. If not, you'll have to
reinstall i guess, but you may also first have to download drivers for the MB from the web to get XP to work.

Another thing though is that the new hardware may include other things like a DVD burner or something
like that, which XP doesnt have drivers for so you'll have to download those from the web too.

Once you get everything you can save it and next time you wont have as much trouble.

[reloadron]

great.. I knew the old info might interfere with the VISTA, was going to go in to control panel and delete all of the old stuff, but the computer wouldn't fire up, so.. the idea of transferring to temp folders, then wiping clean the old drive and so forth sounds good to me.. I don't suppose my Office Pro 2003 will work on this dang vista will it? also, got a free upgrade to windows 7.. anyone know about that program? I've worked on a few Vista systems, and HATE it.. thanks everyone for your inputs, I enjoy reading and gaining from all the questions and answers you guys have! by the way, what do you guys know about installing ligtening rods and systems? I got a direct hit on 8-23, came through my ceiling in the bedroom, 1:15AM... wiped all low voltage lines and melted them, hit my ceiling fan, blew it up and sent hot metal down on me.. blew out my front window, blew me out of bed.. set the house on fire, and on and on.. so now I'm rebuilding the house that I had just finished the previous day.. this time with a lightening rod system.. and to think, I have a tall metal flag pole out front, my workshop is all metal and taller than my house, and my ceiling peak is the lower peak of the roof line.. ? anyway, thanks again.. wayne

You have the deepest sympathy of myself and my wife as I read her your post. We recently had an in depth discussion about lightning in this forum and I think the general conclusion was that no rules apply and lightening does pretty much as it pleases. Personally when it comes to a direct large strike I don't see traditional lightening rods or surge protectors being of much use or help. Good homeowner's insurance does help.

Office Pro 2003 runs fine on Vista and it also runs fine on Windows 7. Matter of fact Office 2000 runs fine on both operating systems. I am not a Vista zealot but I ran the BETA and RC versions of Vista as well as running it now on a few machines and it has run fine for me. I have also been running Windows 7 n the 64 bit and 32 bit versions in both BETA and RC and it really is a nice OS. The test system running dual boot (32 & 64 bit versions) is an older Pentium D on an Intel motherboard and Windows 7 has run great. Windows 7 seems to much better manage system resources like RAM. Beyond MS Office I have found all my developer stuff (Visual Basic 6.0 with SP6) and all versions of Visual Studio run fine on Vista and Windows 7. Just like Vista was new and different than XP there is a subtle change moving to Windows 7 but really not that bad.

I can tell you this. Windows XP had Microsoft Outlook Express for an email client and Vista went to Windows Mail (for those who don't use Outlook). However, Windows 7 does not include an email client. I have been using Mozilla Thunderbird with Windows 7 which works fine and has the look and feel of Windows Mail or Outlook Express.

Ron

[reloadron]

Note the above post totally unrelated to the topic. How long before a link appears? The birth of creative spam.

Ron

[CeaSaR]

And there's the spam!

[frhrwa]

I must be blind, did'nt see the spam thing? at any rate, the HDD won't plug in to then system, serial vs. IDE like mentioned above,... so, my thought, what about installing the HDD into a seperate case with the USB plug.. like an external extra drive, that way I can retrieve my files? any recommendations on what to use to do this? thanks.. and thank you reloadron and your wife for your thoughts.. the strike has certainly give me a new outlook on life!..

[CeaSaR]

frhrwa,

The spam was removed, that's why you didn't see it. Thanks to the moderators for that!

Try Newegg or Tiger Direct and search for "usb hdd enclosure". You'll find a lot of SATA
cases, but there are IDE versions as well starting around $19.

Hey, if you really want to pare down your OS, I still have DOS 6 around here somewhere!
Even Win 3.1!!

CeaSaR

[reloadron]

I must be blind, did'nt see the spam thing? at any rate, the HDD won't plug in to then system, serial vs. IDE like mentioned above,... so, my thought, what about installing the HDD into a seperate case with the USB plug.. like an external extra drive, that way I can retrieve my files? any recommendations on what to use to do this? thanks.. and thank you reloadron and your wife for your thoughts.. the strike has certainly give me a new outlook on life!..

You can buy an external HDD enclosure but most newer ones are designed for the SATA interface. Also, don't know where you are on the dual OS idea but you can't install a Windows OS (any Windows OS) on a removable media drive like an external HDD. Additionally if you go that route with the old HDD you may need to "Take ownership of files and folders" using the new OS to access your old data on the old HDD. Something to keep in mind.

As to the SATA/PATA thing, there are SATA to PATA and PATA to SATA converters that can be had for under about $15.

Ron

[frhrwa]

thanks for the quick reply.. so, if I put the HDD in a case, plug it into the usb port, I can't just access the documents and pictures folders and retrieve my info? that would be a bummer.. but, I guess I could just buy a cheap motherboard and put in this case, fire it up, then transfer the files I want.. ?

[reloadron]

thanks for the quick reply.. so, if I put the HDD in a case, plug it into the usb port, I can't just access the documents and pictures folders and retrieve my info? that would be a bummer.. but, I guess I could just buy a cheap motherboard and put in this case, fire it up, then transfer the files I want.. ?

Yeah, something like that. For example if I take the HDD out of my one machine (the HDD with the OS) and place it in an external enclosure or install it to another machine as a slave when I try to access my Documents and my old folders I may have an ownership problem. Not really a big deal as I just need to take ownership of those folders and files. If you do a Google of "take ownership of files and folders" you will see dozens of hits as to how to do it in XP and Vista as well as XP files on a Vista system. Not really difficult and I was just giving you a heads up in case you did get an access denied.

Actually if you don't go a dual OS (Dual Boot route using an external HDD enclosure is an OK way to go or back to plan A but use a PATA to SATA converter to install the old PATA drive in a new SATA system.

Ron

[frhrwa]

thanks Ron.. appreciate the guidance.. it saves steps and money in the long run, used to save hair, but too late for that, so.. I'll go visit BestBuy and see what they have.. I've also got an external case out in the shop that I bought years back for an external CD or DVD unit, may look at it and see what it takes to make it a HDD external.. also will investigate the ownership of files.. thanks again.. wayne ... you should see the pile of electronics that the lightning took out.. aside from the computer, the Bose surround system, the complete telephone system including the 3pair cable running 300' over to my shop, the entire Brinks security system went up in smoke both locations, house and shop... all of the co-ax melted and toasted all of the tv's, one brand new 55" vizio in the LR.. weather station, clock radio's, etc.. basically toasted ALL low voltage connected items.. THEN, the fireman came in and soaked everything else with water/foam that corrodes almost immediately on contact..

[robetjems]

Hello Everyone,

I have big problem and need solution.
I am not able to start My XP. I have install dual OS XP and Fedora. I have deleted the XP's C: drive where It was installed.
Now the problem is that I am not able to reinstall it due to fedora's Non Dos partition.

I want to delete the Non Dos partition and install XP back..

I dont want to lose my data on other drives like D:,E:, and F: ..

Is there any solution to delete the fedora an can get my space with XP back???