Re: XP and Vista
- From: Bruce Chambers <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:10:57 -0600
Louis126 wrote:
Hello All,
I am a Computer Networking major at a small community college in the town where I live. I know that someone else presently has a very similar question, but I feel mine is specific to my own need, so I will present it here in hopes someone will be able to help.
My laptop was pre-loaded with Vista Home Basic. However, my wife has a laptop also (which I gave her when I bought this newer one), which was pre-loaded with XP Professional. Like the person who has also already posted a question in this community similar to my question, I too have a software program (In my case I need to use it for a class I am taking at the college I am now attending). The program was designed to run in XP, and does not do well with Vista.
So my question is, can I use the Reinstallation CD (which came with my Dell laptop), which has Windows XP Professional on it, and create a DUAL BOOT on my Toshiba laptop which is currently running Windows Vista Home Basis.
No, it is not possible. There are two reasons for this, one legal, and one technical.
First of all, by your own admission, you have an OEM license for Vista Ultimate. An OEM license must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC) and is _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which it's installed. An OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another computer under _any_ circumstances.
To even attempt to do so would be the equivalent of your telling the world that your given word and your signature on a contract are completely without value, never to be trusted.
Secondly, if the OEM CD was designed by a specific manufacturer, such as eMachines, Sony, Dell, Gateway, etc., it will most likely be "BIOS-locked" to install only on the same make/model PC for which it was designed, as an anti-piracy feature.
I am aware that, one of the things I would need to do in order to determine if this would be possible would be to find the information on my Vista laptop which gives a rundown of the partitions and drives. However, for the life of me, I cannot seem to find that information on this laptop. It seems like Vista hides stuff like this pretty well (I know that it's much easier to find stuff like this in XP, in my opinion).
It's all actually in exactly the same place on both operating systems: Right-click Computer > Manage.
So, if anyone knows anything about what I am asking, could you please respond, and let me know all of the steps I would need to take in order to get the ball rolling on this DUAL BOOT (if it would even be possible to do such a thing, as I have described here).
First and foremost, if the specific computer model in question was designed specifically for Vista, there may well be no WinXP-specific device drivers available to make the computer's diverse components work properly. If this proves to be the case , installing WinXP in a virtual machine would be your best option, anyway. Consult the computer's manufacturer about the availability of device drivers. Secondly, adding another OS might void any support agreements and, sometimes, even the warranty. Again, consult the computer's manufacturer for specifics.
If WinXP do device drivers exist, purchase a legitimate license for WinXP Pro to install.
Normally, the older OS must be installed first unless you wish to acquire and use some 3rd-party partition and boot management utility. (In which case you have to follow the instructions provided by whatever 3rd party solution you select.) However, this KB Article (not for the faint of heart or technically-challenged) explains how to repair the Vista boot process after installing WinXP:
Windows Vista no longer starts after you install an earlier version of the Windows operating system in a dual-boot configuration
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529
MS-MVP John Barnett's Guide is considerably more user-friendly:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm
However, dual-booting is no longer necessary in a great many situations. Why not download a Virtual Machine application, such as Microsoft's VirtualPC 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp?) or Innotek's VirtualBox (http://www.virtualbox.org/) and run WinXP and your legacy applications within a virtual computer? Both are free and work with Vista.
NOTE: Microsoft does not support the use of VirtualPC 2007 on Vista Home editions, but several people have reported that it works. Your results may vary.
--
Bruce Chambers
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http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
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