Re: Vista 64-bit with XP-32-bit on 1 system
- From: "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:25:24 -0600
Hi, Bill.
Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong.....
But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista
This is where you went wrong, Bill. Because of hardware and driver differences, we cannot install ANY 64-bit operating system while booted into a 32-bit OS - or vice versa. It requires a reboot to get the computer's infrastructure into the other "bitness".
So, you can boot into a 32-bit OS, either WinXP x86 or Vista x86, then insert a 32-bit WinXP CD or a 32-bit Vista DVD and run Setup from there. But if you insert a WinXP x64 CD or a Vista x64 DVD and try to run its Setup, you'll get the "incompatible" message you saw. (I don't recall for sure, but I think the same is true if you try to run 32-bit Setup from a 64-bit desktop.)
So, how do you install 64-bit Vista when you have ONLY 32-bit WinXP/Vista already installed? You can always reformat and start over, booting from the DVD and letting it prepare your hard drive. (Setup has built-in utilities to create, delete and format partitions as needed, or you can do much of the job with Disk Management in your existing OS before running Setup - all except reformatting the system or boot volume, of course.)
If you have only an Upgrade Vista package, it will want to see a qualifying version of Windows already installed. (The old "show me the qualifying disk" won't work for Vista; it wants to see the other system installed and activated.)
Several users have reported another method, which I haven't tried. They
Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so the drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.
Yes. Sort of. Depending on what you mean by "consistent".
If you boot from the DVD to run Vista Setup, your Vista boot volume will become Drive C: (to Vista), even if that is the 3rd partition on your second HD. So your boot volume will "consistently" be "Drive C:", whether you are running your original 32-bit Windows or your new 64-bit Vista. But Drive C: will refer "inconsistently" to a different volume in each OS.
It's easy to get consistent drive letters for all volumes EXCEPT the System and Boot volumes. Just boot into each OS in turn and use Disk Management to set the letters to your consistent theme. My system has "just growed" over the years as I've added and retired HDs and OSes, so my drive letters long ago escaped from my original theme, but a few assignments have survived since Win98: My Data volume is always Drive E:, my Mail Stores are always on H: and my Photos are on M:. My DVD burners are V: and W:. Other letters come and ago as new beta builds arrive and then are retired.
There are several convoluted methods to get the system and boot "drive" letters aligned in all OSes. But I think the better approach is to break out of the drive-letter mindset and recognize that those letter assignments are too changeable to rely on. I'm currently running the Win7 x64 pre-beta; my boot volume is Drive Y:, the 7th volume (6th logical drive in the extended partition) on my second HD. My system volume is the first partition on my first HD, which Win7 sees as Drive D:. But, no matter whether I'm running Win7 x64 or Vista x86 or WinXP x86, that system partition is always "SATA 200" and Win7's boot volume is always "Windows 7".
One of those convoluted ways is to install the 64-bit system twice. Accept the default drive letters for the first installation (either WinXP x64 or Vista x64), but do not put it into the volume where you want Vista x64 to be permanently. Then boot into that "sacrificial" x64, use its Disk Management to assign letters to fit your desired scheme, and then run Vista x64 Setup again from that 64-bit desktop, letting it detect the existing letters. Finally, boot into this new Vista x64 and delete the temporary installation.
All this is harder to explain than to do, Bill. Much of it won't make sense until you do it yourself a time or two. Then, just like the rest of our computer experiences, it will become second nature to us.
"Bill Anderson" <billanderson601@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Z_udnWW78IugZ8fU4p2dnAA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
R. C. White wrote:Hi, Gis.
As Paul said, just like any other dual-boot. But there are a couple of Vista differences you should be aware of.
If you boot into WinXP, then insert the Vista DVD-ROM and run Vista Setup from the WinXP Desktop, Setup will "see" and respect the drive letters in WinXP's Registry. So if you've created a new volume for Vista and assigned it the letter V:, then Vista's boot folder will be V:\Windows and WinXP's boot folder will still be C:\Windows. Drive C: will also be the system volume, no matter which OS you are running.
Interesting. Please tell me then, where I went wrong. I have a quadruple-boot system: Two 32-bit XPs (one primary and one in a small partition for testing applications), one Vista 32-bit and one Vista 64-bit. Installing Vista 32-bit on the D: partition from XP 32-bit was a snap -- worked just as you described, Vista knows it's on D:, and there's no confusion with the drive letter designations.
But when I tried to install 64-bit Vista from 32-bit XP or 32-bit Vista I got a message saying the operating system I was trying to install was incompatible with the operating system I was installing from. Thus I had to install 64-bit Vista by booting from the installation DVD and indeed the drive letters are mixed up. My 32-bit installations think Vista 64-bit is on F: but Vista 64-bit thinks it is the C: drive.
Do you know a way to install 64-bit Vista from a 32-bit Windows OS so the drive letter scheme can be consistent in all installations? Thanks.
--
Bill Anderson
I am the Mighty Favog
> But if you boot from the Vista DVD to run Setup, it will not know
> WinXP's drive letter assignments, so it will start from scratch. It
> will assign the letter C: to the volume where you tell it to install
> Vista. So if you choose the second partition on the first (or only)
> HDD, then that partition will be Drive C: when you are running Vista,
> even if WinXP still calls it Drive D:. After assigning C: to its own
> boot volume, Vista will continue with the next letter, and your system
> volume (first partition on the first HDD - which WinXP still calls C:)
> will become Drive D: when Vista is booted.
>
> All these drive letters won't cause any problems at all for WinXP or
> Vista, but they sure can confuse us humans! Especially if our mindset
> is that "drive" letters are permanently assigned. To cut down on the
> confusion, be sure to use Disk Management to assign a "label" or name to
> each volume. This label will be written to the disk and won't change
> when you boot into the other OS.
>
> The terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are counterintuitive and
> confuse many first-time dual-booters. You might want to read:
> Definitions for system volume and boot volume
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314470/EN-US/
>
> Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) will show you which volume is currently
> the system and which is the boot volume.
>
> RC
.
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