Dual Boot XP and Vista
The tip today from PC Magazine is how to setup your computer to dual-boot Windows XP and the new Vista operating system. This will give you the best of both worlds for the time being. You know what I think would be interesting is for Microsoft to almost use and encourage (translated as “make it very easy”) for the average user to do this to try out new software.
Give people a way to really play with something without having the fear of uninstalling something and messing things up for them if what they’ve got is working.
For example, many people are completely happy and satisfied with Office 2003 and Windows XP for that matter. But make it easy for them to run both new and old versions side-by-side and compare the two in their daily, real-world use settings.
Tags: dual-boot, Office-2003, Office-2007, PC-Magazine, Windows-Vista, Windows-XPRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Business Users, Home User, New Products, Software, User Experience, Windows OS's
11 opinions for Dual Boot XP and Vista
Zoe
Jul 11, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Well, I found Vista’s partition wizard - really was a wizard! Took no time and little tech knowledge to accomplish. Also liked the ease of installing XP on the other drive. But….. could not get my existing printer installed on Vista to work on XP… nor can I get access to internet via network … If anyone has any suggestions - besides the obvious - or has had the same quirks, I’d love to hear how you solved them.
Josh
Feb 29, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Zoe, your problem is drivers. Depending on your hardware that came with your computer (if it came with Vista), most hardware designed for Vista does not have drivers that will work for XP. It’s not that their not on the signed driver list that Microsoft includes, the hardware manufacturers never created them. That’s why you have to find 3rd party drivers. My notebook for instance, the Compaq Presario F750US, works wonderously (as good as Vista can get, anyway…) when running the Vista OS. But when I run XP, I dont have my 802.11 (wireless LAN), my 10/100 Ethernet controllers, my Bus drivers, my VGA drivers, my Coprocessor, my modem drivers, my high definition audio drivers, and many other critical drivers needed for productive work (an Army Computer Technician/Network Operator needs his own personal notebook, no?). So, if you can find the 3rd gen drivers, good luck. As far as anyone else goes, can someone point me to the right direction for my model? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
JP
Zoe Kirk
Mar 4, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Hi Josh:
Thanks for your answer.
I did find out that it was indeed drivers… but had so much difficulty trying to get the drivers downloaded… HP’s website would not work 1/2 the time, time out the other half! I finally ended up phoning HP and they sent me drivers by email… had nowhere near the url configuration of the website ones… but they worked!
NOW!!! for the next problem - my Vista Outlook refuses to send email - just receive it…. How maddening. I have tried darn near everything - except removing it and reloading. I’m using Windows Mail - until I can find the time to back i[p emails in another folder yadda yadda yadda and get the uninstall/re-install accomplished. Any suggestions that may be less difficult?
Cheers,
Zoe
Jason
Mar 4, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Thanks for your help on Zoe’s question. I really appreciate it.
Josh
Mar 6, 2008 at 5:51 am
Well, after about 2 weeks of digging around, I was able to come across XP drivers for similar models with similar hardware. It isn’t perfect but so far the only problem I’ve found is with the sound drivers. I plug in my headphones and the sounds not cutting off the speakers. Other than that, it works fine. If you would like the drivers, I can send you my hardware specs and the links, just email me at jparnell8839@gmail.com
JP
Josh
Mar 6, 2008 at 5:54 am
Zoe, as far as your Outlook problem goes, are you using POP for email? Try reconfiguring your outbound for pretty much the same as your inbound. If that doesn’t work, back up your emails (preferably to a large enough thumb drive or external hard drive) and re-installing it like you said. I’ve never liked using outlook much, but the military does require me to do some training on it. What version are you using? I’ll get it and see if I cant help out.
JP
cybersupam
Mar 7, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Just today I installed XP into another drive with Vista in my laptop. Everything got fine but only problem with the Conexant Audio Driver for XP. I know Vista and XP drivers are not same, and so separately I tried to install everything. When I try to install Conexant Audio Driver it gives an error - “Driver Installation Failed: Could not find the MEDIA for this driver”. But on the other side, Vista is normal as before. So anyone knows the solution for this sticky error message? If so please, help me.
Josh
Mar 10, 2008 at 5:16 pm
cybersupam, you have the conexant audio on high definition audio bus? great, give me an email address and ill send you the link (i dont want to flood the forums with too many hyperlinks.) ill be more than glad to help out.
Gaurav
May 8, 2008 at 6:52 am
Hey guys
I am doomed
Just 1 month back I had purchased this Compaq A993TU model with Vista Home Pre-installed.
Thought would go home and switch Vista to XP.
Actually I had gone to buy a Dell with XP preloaded but fell for Compaq 17 Inch screen that would be good for all development I do.
No I am doomed as HP guys say they don’t support XP on this Model and I am unable to find suitable drivers for it.
Any help would be appreciated
Jason Bean
May 8, 2008 at 8:30 am
Guarav are you already having problems with Vista? Do you have applications that will only run in XP?
Baby_angel
May 12, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Hi! I am not a computer whiz and i need your help guys. I have Compaq Presario C700, with pre-installed vista. I followed instructions from a website on how to dual boot it with xp, and I got through it. My problem now is the drivers. I downloaded drivers from hp website for xp os but non of it seemed to work for me.
I am out of ideas how to solve this. please help. Thanks in advance!
kcire1127@yahoo.com
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