Before I Test Install Xp Pro For Dual Boot

[benitosan]

My C disk has the Home XP installed and the C disk only has about 4 gigs left.
Want to test drive the XP Pro and will install that on a separate external disk.
This disk already has 3 partitions and I'll probably make a 4th and install the XP Pro on it.

I have a boot and install disk which I got from a newsgroup and I already test installed on a separate, older puter. Succeeded on the second try.

Some of the questions are....

Once it's installed and I decide XP Pro isn't worth it, is uninstalling it a matter of deleting the partition it's on or is there a lot of registry cleanup I have to do later?

Is there a registry cleaner that's maybe especially made for this purpose? I'm guessing you can't remove XP Pro using add/remove programs.

If I simply delete the partition, will the puter think it's still a dual boot and go through that select OS thing in the beginning? Or worse yet, will it freeze looking for the missing XP Pro?

Oh yeah, since the XP Pro isn't really legit , will I have to stop it from trying to update? Does MS check serial# and do they care to that extent?

[DL.]

Don't dual boot Xp and Xp unless you hide one of the partitions or you'll have a crosslinked mess. MS won't bust down your door and really don't care if you can update.
VMware is the best for trying things out.

[benitosan]

Didn't think of the obvious, crosslinks. Does that mean XP Pro will write into the register that the Home XP uses?

I took a look at VMWare's homepage but it seems to be for IT and servers.

[toddiscool]

Ok, here are the things that you need to think of.

1. Do not just make a partition and install it. Use something like partition magic, and go through the wizard to install a new OS, and set the new partition as active.

2. Also set your self up a fat32 partition (just a small one, the minumum allowed) to install boot magic, after you install the other OS.

3. If you do decide to not use pro, just set boot magic to automatically boot up to the old home edition, and delete the other XP partition, but keep the fat32 that bootmagic is installed on. You can uninstall it, but you never know what will happen.

There are other, better boot loaders than boot magic but you do not need to worry about it for what you are trying to do.

[benitosan]

>1. Do not just make a partition and install it. Use something like partition magic, and go through the wizard to install a new OS, and set the new partition as active.


Dang, would've used Partition Magic to create the partitions on the external HD had I known about their wizard and bootmagic. I already have partitions created using a trialware of Acronis Partition Expert. Hope partitions created by 2 different programs won't screw up the OS install.

On a sidenote, was suprised that a 300 Mhz Compaq with only 128Megs would even allow XP Pro to be installed. That's the old test puter I mentioned earlier.

[toddiscool]

If you do not set the new partition as active, thus hiding your old partition it is going to over write your boot sector. Meaning that you will not be able to boot into your old OS. I cannot stress this enough.

Really if you are not sure what you are doing you should google for a guide on it, it will save 5 or 6 hours and a big headache in the long run.

[DL.]

Sounds like you went to the VMware server downloads. VMware is pretty easy to get off emule and maybe kazaa. It works like virtual pc but without all the glitches.
If you can't find that, MS have virtual PC as a free trial for 90 dys or something. Better than messing with your registry and boot sector till you know it better.

The question about crosslinked registry, It is possible that some software will split the install between the two XP's if one is not hidden. Bootmagic does hide the inactive partition. I've never worried about creating a special partition for bootmagic though.
It will work without it, just install from your existing OS>

[benitosan]

You're right, I do need to google a bit more. Well, more than a bit. :)


Guess not having too great a trouble with installing XP Pro on the old puter as a dual boot of Win98 and Pro gave me a false sense of security? When I booted up on the old Compaq it waited for me to select either Win98 or Pro and defaulted to the XP. Then I did change the startup so it would default to the Win98 after 30 sec or so.

I'm not too clear about the boot sector: the C has a boot sector for the Home XP and the XP Pro won't create a boot sector on the external HD where I'm installing it?
Scuse the newbie questions cuz that's what I am in these sort of things. :D

[Wizzandabe]

Originally posted by DL.@12 November 2003 - 07:02
Don't dual boot Xp and Xp unless you hide one of the partitions or you'll have a crosslinked mess. MS won't bust down your door and really don't care if you can update.
VMware is the best for trying things out.
I am dual booting XP PRo and 2000. I think I installed XP, then installed 2000 after, on a different partition, and now when ever I format c:\ (XP) 2000 still reconises, and I dont need to reinstall that. :D

So cool. :P

[benitosan]

I'll look around for VMWare and also for the Virtual PC you mentioned.
More toys for me. :P

[Wizzandabe]

How much RAM have you got?

[DL.]

Originally posted by Wizzandabe+12 November 2003 - 09:42--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Wizzandabe @ 12 November 2003 - 09:42)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-DL.@12 November 2003 - 07:02
Don&#39;t dual boot Xp and Xp unless you hide one of the partitions or you&#39;ll have a crosslinked mess. MS won&#39;t bust down your door and really don&#39;t care if you can update.
VMware is the best for trying things out.
I am dual booting XP PRo and 2000. I think I installed XP, then installed 2000 after, on a different partition, and now when ever I format c:&#092; (XP) 2000 still reconises, and I dont need to reinstall that. :D

So cool. :P [/b][/quote]
And..... ???

Good for you I guess :lol:

Imagine an 80 gigabyte drive partitioned into many 5 gb partitions. Now you can install about 38 different operating systems on that one hard drive. if you really had to ;) without hiding partitions, at least with the NT systems. Windows 9x is more fussy. Then you need to hide the partitions from each other.

But&#33; with no hiding, If two are the same, like XP and XP, some crappy programs (like windows update) will try to install parts to whichever has the most room. Maybe the registration to one and the program files to another.
2000 and XP are quite happy together. It&#39;s when you mix XP, Longhorn, and maybe server 2003 or windows 95, 98 and me, that you have problems.
This is what makes VMware so usefull. No rebooting the host to change to a different system, if you have enough ram, you can have many guests open at once and use the best for each purpose or mood.

[benitosan]

512 RAM. The machine can&#39;t take any more than that.
Wish I had a gig.

[DL.]

512 is lots for VMware. Virtual PC is the one that takes too much ram.

[Wizzandabe]

Originally posted by DL.@12 November 2003 - 10:07
512 is lots for VMware. Virtual PC is the one that takes too much ram.
I was just going to say. I know VPC, never used VMware though :o

[DL.]

VMware is great. You can add harddrives or CDroms or any other hardware and it has a defragmenter in the drive properties as well.
With NAT, or Bridged network, it can run most server OS&#39;s well too. If you have a fast machine, you might even forget you&#39;re working in the guest system. I have only found 2 OS&#39;s that it won&#39;t run by default but with some custom settings, it will run those as well.

[benitosan]

Sounds like VMWare is pretty compact and tightly written. Is 512 enough for Virtual PC?

I was surprised my 128 Meg Old Compaq not only ran XP Pro but I could even encode an Eccleston clip on TMPGEng. I learned something from that experience though. When in XP Pro there, I can&#39;t necessarily doubleclick and run a program that was installed in the Win98 partition. WinDVD for instance.

There must be an alternative to having to reinstall every program for each OS, no?

[DL.]

VPC will lag a bit at 512 if you have the host XP and the guest XP. Both will want at least 250. It is just slower than VMware anyway.

vmware workstation (www.vmware.com) is the one you want. astalavista should have the numbers for you ;)

[benitosan]

Thanks for the heads up on the VMWare Workstation.
Looks like I&#39;ll be looking at some MILF popups when I visit Asta. P)

Hey, maybe if I succeed in getting VMWare working, I can install Microsoft Office System 2003 on it that I just got through unRaring from an ng?

Better get some Z&#39;s. Eyes have blurred out.

[LTJBukem]

benitosan

Is your copy of XP home a legitimate copy? What i mean is, did you pay for it and install it on only one system?

Why do i ask?

Well, if it is a licensed copy of XP home, i do not see any reason to install XP pro. The differences between the Pro and the home versions of XP are unimportant to the average home user; you will probably not notice any difference between the two operating systems.

If, on the other hand, you have an unlicensed version of XP home, and that includes installing on two or more systems, why not just go ahead and install XP pro, if that&#39;s what you want to do? What are you expecting to happen that will make the installation "not worth it"? I can tell you now what you will happen - Windows XP. If you have already successfully installed XP home on your system, then XP Pro will install just the same.

As far as updating is concerned, don&#39;t worry about it. While Microsoft make it as hard as they can for the public to pirate their new OS&#39;s, they do not prosecute the millions of home users that beat this &#39;protection&#39;. While it is a good idea to turn off Windows &#39;auto update&#39;, due to privacy issues, as long as you don&#39;t have a blacklisted key you&#39;ll get all updates from the Windows update site no problem; read the pinned topic on Windows XP for more info.

I&#39;m sorry if my post seems a little dismissive of your question, that is not my intention, we all like messing about with our computers and trying new things out. It&#39;s just that i wanted to make this point to you, being surprised as i was that noone else already had.


:)

[benitosan]

>Is your copy of XP home a legitimate copy? What i mean is, did you pay for it and >install it on only one system?

Yep, the HP came with the OEM pre-installed.
The older puter (Compaq) which I made dual-bott with the Pro is an OEM with Win98.

>not notice any difference between the two operating systems.

The Pro does have the backup function which the Home lacks.
And it&#39;s just curiosity, but maybe with some purpose. The HP did not come with a restore disk unlike the Compaq so should the Home OEM ever become kaput, a re-install may not work without the restore disk. The HP does have a hidden parition in the C drive which I assume has the cabs there to reinstall but should I be at that point, I may just opt to install from the Pro disk which is bootable. So I wanted to check around the Pro.

> read the pinned topic on Windows XP for more info.

Will do.

>I&#39;m sorry if my post seems a little dismissive of your question

Not at all.
Thanks to you and all who have replied.