Trying to create dual boot system using one harddrive.

[mgrantes]

Trying to install XP with dual boot capability on HP Pavillion Slimline s3300t. I Have a 500gb harddrive. The 1st partition has pre-installed vista. The 2nd partition is the recovery one. Shrunk 1st partition size (in vista) to free 30gb for newer partition to install XP. Booted off XP install CD and proceeded to install operating system in the newly created 30gb partition.  It prompts for format system (NFTS) and continues to install setup files. However, I can't get past the first auto reboot. System appears to hang and show a black screen with random characters and colors after "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt.

Since XP alters the boot ini file I have to use a vista recovery cd to restore boot capability to vista. I also went ahead and created recovery discs and backed up important data to an external device. (better to be safe than sorry)

Also, I don't think it's a harddrive issue seeing as how I have installed this copy of XP on another computer that has a SATA harddrive.

From what I've read, it seems that I have to install XP first and then Vista. The only problem is that I don't have a Vista installation disc; only the recovery discs I created earlier.

1. Is there any solution that can address the issue I encountered in the first paragraph?

2. Can I install a fresh copy of vista using the recovery discs I created earlier? Or will it literally restore the pc to factory conditions by erasing the XP installation/partition?

3. Considering that I initially messed up the boot file with the failed XP installation, is the factory/recovery partition still recoverable?

Any answers to these questions is greatly appreciated. Thanks. 

[CherylG]

1.Your machine has the Nvidia GeForce 7100/nForce 630i Chipset which usually wouldn't require a SATA driver.Check in BIOS to be sure RAID isn't enabled for hdd.

Is your XP cd a SP2 at least? If not you may need it slipstreamed to be able to handle this install.

2.Recovery Disk will wipe hdd and reinstall back to factory specs.

3.You should still be able to access Recovery partition by booting with a boot utilty cd and Marking it as Active,which will cause the machine to boot into Recovery at next reboot. Or do you mean once you have XP and Vista set up dual-booting?

[CherylG]

TO restore Vista boot>>>EasyBCD:

http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_
stepbystep_guide.htm

OR>>

Use VistaBootPro to restore dual-boot after XP Install.Look at the last section on this page "Create a Vista Dual Boot Menu":

http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/about88231.html

VistaBootPro download link is at top of the page.

Message Edited by CherylG on 12-22-2008 07:47 PM

[Ralph27]

Ralph Cooper is proceeding slowly through the VistaBoot PRO method, having created a new partition.  I have a Net Framework (version 6.0) in my System 32)..

In starting to check VistaBoot PRO I get a box that says VBP has detected that Vista is either missing or on a hidden drive and I may have problems.  Next box is about BCD backup, which I'll do with a more experienced friend.  By the way many thanks for your help to me and apparently many others.  ( I am a retired Asso. Dean of an engineering school, Cal State, Long Beaach, so I appreciate your time constraints)

[mgrantes]

Thanks for your prompt reply. I went into the bios but I didn't see an option to enable or disable raid. I looked under all the tabs and even some subcategories just in case it was hidden. I have the Pheonix - Award CMOS 5.12 (I didn't see any bios updates on the HP support page so I assume this is the most current one). I believe the release date is 4/14/08.

I also read somewhere that I could possibly use MS Virtual PC but it didn't state whether my version of Vista is "officially" supported. Plus, running an OS within an OS leads to performance issues which I am not a fan of. I would much rather have ALL my hardware's resources dedicated to 1 OS than 2 running at the same time.

Regarding the question that you asked: I would ultimately like to setup my computer to keep everything it came with PLUS adding XP capability. For example: 1st Partition=Preinstalled Vista. 2nd Partition=XP. and 3rd Partition=Factory Recovery Image. And of course choosing which operating system to run at bootup.

As always, thanks in advance!

[amarsh04]

Another way of doing this is to if you have familiarity with Linux is to reserve a few GiB of disk space (I used the sysrescue cd and the included gparted program to resize partitions) and use the Debian Lenny netinstall snapshot image (start from http://www.debian.org ) to create a base Linux install, although the Debian Lenny netinstall cd may include repatitioning in the install process. The Debian netinstall requires an internet connection for obtaining updates, and detects other installed operating systems and creates a GRUB (Grand Unified Boot Loader) boot menu with option to chose which operating system to boot. The default boot operating system and time-out to chose an alternative operating system can be changed with a text editor.

There are a couple of things to watch out for. The creation of a choice of boot options may interfere with the option to use the recovery partition. Also, Vista may try to prevent the boot sector being changed.

As with all experimenting involving repartitioning your hard disk, make sure that you have adequate back-ups first, and have a means of finding out more (e.g another computer with an internet connection or knowlegable friend with same able to help out).

[Warrior21]

I am unable to start my HP computer.  Earlier I  installed Linux Mint to run dual boot with Windows 8. This required that i enter the BIOS and disable Secure Boot and enable Legency Support. Once this was done I was able to run the Linux boot disk from the optical drive. When I restarted I was told that the system was "Preparing Automatic Recovery" ...it wasn't. I then attempted to bring up either Windows 8 or Linux without result. I now entered the BIOS and reset Secure Boot and Legency Support to their original setting. My problem is now what do I do. The computer is new unfortunely the supplied documentation is thin as what the problem could be and there is no instructions on the BIOS. Machine details below:

Model Number HP Pavilion p6/2346eg

Product Number C6W61EA#ABD

System Bios JOS_809, rom V8.09

Setup Utility v2.15.1227