Dual Boot Windows XP and Vista

You may have your own reasons for use of both systems, or you may just have a licenses for Vista andXP and want to use them both.

Install Vista after Installing XP

Installing Vista is really easy if you already have Windows XP installed.

1. Simply boot from your Windows Vista installation disc.
2. Select the disk or partition you wish to install Vista on (make sure you don’t install Vista on the XP partition), and Windows will take care of itself.

After installing Vista, you will be presented with a bootscreen offering you to boot to Windows Vista or an earlier version of Windows(XP.)

Install XP after Installing Vista

1. Simply boot from your Windows XP installation disk, select the disk or partition you wish to install XP on (make sure you don’t install XP on the Vista partition), and Windows will take care of itself.
2. Now boot from your Vista installation DVD. Click Next on the regional settings screen and click on Repair Your Computer. Select the Vista install and run the Startup Repair.
3. The next step is to tell Vista that XP exists by adding an entry for XP to the Vista boot manager. In Windows Vista, click Start and type Run.
4. Right click on the shortcut and select Run as Administrator…
5. Run the following commands in the same order they are presented here:

• bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d "Windows XP"
• bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
• bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
• bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast

Now reboot your computer and you should have the option to boot to either Windows XP or Windows Vista.