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General discussion

can you?

Mar 4, 2007 4:22AM PST

I have read that there is a download that will let you try vista free for 30 days. Where do I get it? Can you run vista and still keep xp installed? Is it possible to run two operating systems on your computer?

Discussion is locked

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Not really...
Mar 5, 2007 3:55AM PST

If you have a copy it is possible to install it without activation for 30 days, and then 'renew' the trial up to 3 times for a total of 120 days. However, Microsoft does not offer Vista for download unless you are purchasing it. You can, however, go to Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. and try it out, or use a friend's computer that has it installed.

To answer your other questions, yes, it is possible to install Vista while leaving XP installed, and yes, you can alternate between two or more operating systems on the same computer.

John

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thanks
Mar 5, 2007 4:07AM PST

Thank you very much John. I appreciate the feed back. How would you install 2 operating systems and switch between the two?

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Dual-booting...
Mar 5, 2007 4:29AM PST

The concept is called dual-booting, and is achieved by installing each operating system on a different partition (logical division of a hard drive) or different physical hard drive. When you boot your computer a "boot loader" would then let you choose which of the operating systems to boot to. Depending on what operating systems you are installing, and in what order, it could get a little tricky. In the case of XP and Vista, you should always install XP before Vista to avoid problems.

John