[jbutton7]

Greetings all,

I know there are a ton of resources available on how to clean install Windows Vista with an upgrade disk, and tons of resources available on how to dual boot Windows Vista and Windows XP. I am looking for something that combines the 2 and tells me how to clean install Vista on a pc with a copy of XP already installed and set it up for dual booting. Has anyone found anything to that effect? If not, is there anyone who would take the time to write me a step-by-step. I am sure I could put 2 and 2 together myself, but since I don't have a test box I am afraid of anything going wrong (Even though I have backed up my entire hard disk already). I am a system admin who wants to compatibility test Vista on his home computer, but I want to keep XP. I have a Microsoft Vista Express Upgrade Premium Edition that I was sent for free for buying an XP PC shortly before the release of Vista. I am running Windows XP Media Center Edition if it makes a difference, but I doubt it would. Also, does anyone know if the Vista Express Upgrade DVD is any different than a normal Vista upgrade disk? Thank you so much in advance for the help.

-Josh

[bobroosth]

You have to have some empty space to install Vista onto. Either a partition of your boot drive, or a second drive. Boot from the Vista DVD. It will offer to upgrade your XP or install clean on the empty partition. Once you do that, you will have a dual boot system, Vista and Older Windows. In Vista System Properties, you can alter the default boot system and the timeouts.

I just did this. When booted from Vista, your XP drive will show up as D:.

[jbutton7]

Thank you, I feel a little more comfortable about this now.

-Josh