Dual Boot Windows XP and Vista [How To]

Personally I love Vista and have not experienced problems with it. However, there are times when I need to use XP (i.e. when I’m writing an XP compatible guide for this website) You may have your own reasons for use of both systems, or you may just have a license for both and want to use them both. In this guide you’ll learn how to dual boot Windows XP and Vista.

In this guide I’ll show you how to install XP after having Vista installed, and vice versa. Installing Vista after installing XP is a lot easier than installing XP after Vista; however, you should have no problem with both approaches.

Please Note: You either need to install each operating system on a different physical disk or you will need to partition your drive before attempting a dual boot. Each partition should be a primary partition. Google will point you in the right direction if you don’t know how to partition your drive.

Installing XP after Installing Vista

1. Simply boot from your Windows XP installation disk, select the disk or partition you wish to install XP on (make sure you don’t install XP on the Vista partition), and Windows will take care of itself.

2. Now boot from your Vista installation DVD. Click Next on the regional settings screen and click on Repair Your Computer. Select the Vista install and run the Startup Repair.

3. The next step is to tell Vista that XP exists by adding an entry for XP to the Vista boot manager. In Windows Vista, click Start and type Run. Right click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator…
Run the following commands in the same order they are presented here

bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d “Windows XP”
bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast

Now reboot your computer and you should have the option to boot to either Windows XP or Windows Vista.

Installing Vista after Installing XP

Installing Vista is really easy if you already have Windows XP installed. Simply boot from your Windows Vista installation disk, select the disk or partition you wish to install Vista on (make sure you don’t install Vista on the XP partition), and Windows will take care of itself. After installing Vista, you will be presented with a boot screen offering you to boot to Windows Vista or an earlier version of Windows (XP.)