Dual Boot Windows XP and Vista [How To]

By Rich on August 25, 2008 (26 Comments)

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.)

About Rich

Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix the problems he creates.

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Comments

Jayce

Thanks for the tips. Hmm… Why do I need this? I don’t have Windows Vista yet. :P
http://www.jayceooi.com/ Jayce

Thanks for the tips. Hmm… Why do I need this? I don’t have Windows Vista yet. :P
http://www.jayceooi.com Jayce

Thanks for the tips. Hmm… Why do I need this? I don’t have Windows Vista yet. :P
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AhTim

How to Dual Boot Vista and XP ?…

Why dual boot Vista and XP? I help my sister in-law to order a Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop computer six months ago. She was so excited with the big 20#8243 inch widescreen. But sad because can#8217t play much game in Windows Vista Home Basic. Those g…
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darkplayer

I’ll probably use it if I decide to put XP/Server 2008 on my new Thinkpad t61p. Server 2008, supposedly run 17-20% more efficient than Vista with all the bells & whistles. Keeps getting better and better.
darkplayer

I’ll probably use it if I decide to put XP/Server 2008 on my new Thinkpad t61p. Server 2008, supposedly run 17-20% more efficient than Vista with all the bells & whistles. Keeps getting better and better.
darkplayer

I’ll probably use it if I decide to put XP/Server 2008 on my new Thinkpad t61p. Server 2008, supposedly run 17-20% more efficient than Vista with all the bells & whistles. Keeps getting better and better.
Rich

Server 2008 works a lot better and I’d switch completely if all my hardware would work with it.

We’ve been talking about “Windows Workstation 2008″ here: http://www.mintywhite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=317
http://www.mintywhite.com/ Rich

Server 2008 works a lot better and I’d switch completely if all my hardware would work with it.

We’ve been talking about “Windows Workstation 2008″ here: http://www.mintywhite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=317
http://www.mintywhite.com Rich

Server 2008 works a lot better and I’d switch completely if all my hardware would work with it.

We’ve been talking about “Windows Workstation 2008″ here: http://www.mintywhite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=317
allan

It doest work for my HP Pavillion notebook. I am currently using vista and when I was trying to install XP in the partition that I created it has problems. It says that the installation can not found any partition to instal xp. what should I do? any helpe? anyway I formatted the new partion into nfts.
allan

It doest work for my HP Pavillion notebook. I am currently using vista and when I was trying to install XP in the partition that I created it has problems. It says that the installation can not found any partition to instal xp. what should I do? any helpe? anyway I formatted the new partion into nfts.
allan

It doest work for my HP Pavillion notebook. I am currently using vista and when I was trying to install XP in the partition that I created it has problems. It says that the installation can not found any partition to instal xp. what should I do? any helpe? anyway I formatted the new partion into nfts.
allan

It doest work for my HP Pavillion notebook. I am currently using vista and when I was trying to install XP in the partition that I created it has problems. It says that the installation can not found any partition to instal xp. what should I do? any helpe? anyway I formatted the new partion into nfts.
sauav

my problem is that i have installed xp over vista , but it is booting to xp only, not vista????

help me out????
sauav

my problem is that i have installed xp over vista , but it is booting to xp only, not vista????

help me out????
- http://www.mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  
  It depends what you mean. If you installed XP over Vista, Vista no longer exists. If you installed XP alongside Vista (different partition), you’ll need to add Vista back to the boot loader. The easiest way is to do a repair install of Vista (boot your computer from the Vista disc, select repair my computer, and then fix startup problems. Now you’ll have both Vista and XP on the boot loader when you first start your computer.)
sauav

my problem is that i have installed xp over vista , but it is booting to xp only, not vista????

help me out????
- http://www.mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  
  It depends what you mean. If you installed XP over Vista, Vista no longer exists. If you installed XP alongside Vista (different partition), you’ll need to add Vista back to the boot loader. The easiest way is to do a repair install of Vista (boot your computer from the Vista disc, select repair my computer, and then fix startup problems. Now you’ll have both Vista and XP on the boot loader when you first start your computer.)
Rich

It depends what you mean. If you installed XP over Vista, Vista no longer exists. If you installed XP alongside Vista (different partition), you’ll need to add Vista back to the boot loader. The easiest way is to do a repair install of Vista (boot your computer from the Vista disc, select repair my computer, and then fix startup problems. Now you’ll have both Vista and XP on the boot loader when you first start your computer.)
Aerus

Thank you. It works!
Aerus

Thank you. It works!
Aerus

Thank you. It works!

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