I just bought Windows Vista and I was wondering how I could partition my HDD so I could keep XP. I read that PartitionMagic didn't work with Winidows Vista. How could I partition my HDD so I could have Vista and XP at the same time. Any help?
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php download this and burn it to a cd then boot your computer with it. when it cme up just select your main partition and resize it so each os willl have about half the drive or however much space you would like to kake it. then format the new partitoin to ntfs and hit apply changes and your done. install vista on the empty partition.
You can use any partition program to create partitions on a new drive (the only time you need a vista only partition program, is if you want to run it from the vista environment).
First create your xp partition (primary active) NTFS, next create your vista partition(also NTSF), and probably a third partition for your data.
1. load windows xp first on the primary active partition.
2. load vista second (vista will automatically install the bootloader that will allow which windows to load.)
*Note if you load vista first then xp, you won't get a bootloader screen, only vista will load*.
Now you can use the vista bootloader (the first screen that comes up at startup) to choose which windows to run. I tried the above installation procedures with windows xp pro sp2 and vista ultimate. Works flawlessly first time.
Now if you remove Vista from the hard drive (like I did, you will have problems). When Vista is removed, windows xp will not bootup.
This can be fixed as follows.
1.) you need windows xp installation cd, use it to get you into the recovery console.
2.)It will come up with a black screen with white writing. Give it a moment to load the default US keyboard. If you are using a different type press Enter and follow the instructions.
You may have to type your Administrator Password to be able to use the Recovery Console; if prompted please do or you will not be able to continue.
Now you should be at a prompt where you should be able to type. Type in the following commands:
1. type FIXMBR and press enter
2. Press Y if asked
(fixmbr means: fix masterboot record)
3. next type: FIXBOOT and press enter
4. Press Y if asked.
5. When you can continue, restart your computer
6. Remember to take the Windows XP CD out of your drive and it should be fixed.
The above steps, got my Windows xp to bootup, after I removed Vista. What it does is remove all Vista bootloader info from the partition table.
If you already have Windows xp on your hard drive, and you mentioned you have partition magic. You can use partition magic to partition your hard drive as follows.
windows xp = 20gb NTFS (keep it, just make it smaller if needed to make space for other partitions)
vista = 20gb NTFS (this is the minimum I would use "vista is bloated and on my computer the vista system folder was 9gb"
data = NTFS remaining space
I know with partition magic you can shrink/enlarge create partitions even with operating systems on them. It might take a couple of hours, for it to relocate all the data, but I've done it before.
I would recommend you make an image backup (with true image or similar hard drive imaging software) of your windows xp before modifying anything. "Highly recommended".
I think dual boot is the way to go, many of your xp programs/printers/scanners aren't going to work on Vista. You need to have Windows xp as your backup OS ready to boot as needed. I wouldn't load Vista as the only OS till it's proven technology.
