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General discussion

Dual OS help

Aug 22, 2007 2:31AM PDT

I have a Lenovo Y500 Laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic installed. Now i like to install Windows XP. Should i install it in same Drive(CHappy or in D:. I have only two partitions.
Earlier once i installed XP in D:, but during bootup it didnt show the two OS. It directly used XP. I was unable to use Vista at that time.
Or can i install it in my external (USB) hard drive. If so, can i install Linux also in the external drive? But i need vista because i dont have drivers for Graphics, Bluetooth, etc., for XP.

Discussion is locked

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Dual-booting...
Aug 22, 2007 8:20AM PDT

* You should never install two OSes to the same partition, for it can lead to some serious problems. You didn't mention what's on D:, so installing XP there may or may not be an option, but you won't want to install it on C:.

* The problem you encountered previously is normal. Vista uses a different boot manager than XP, so if you install XP after Vista Vista will be rendered unbootable. You'll want to click here for information on restoring Vista after XP's installation. No data should be lost, and from then on you will be given the option of booting to Vista or XP.

* No, Windows cannot be installed to an external drive...thus far Microsoft has decided it's not worth the effort and risk of piracy. You can, however, install most Linux distros to an external hard drive.

Hope this helps,
John

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Dual OS
Aug 22, 2007 11:17AM PDT

Thanks for your post. I have all my music, Software backup and other Program Files in the D:. Will XP installation on D: affect these files? On installing XP i can even remove the Program Files in D:.
And can i install Linux on my external hard drive?

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You don't need to install Ubantu Linux on
Aug 22, 2007 11:45AM PDT

a seperate partition from XP.

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Linus' NTFS support is shaky though...
Aug 22, 2007 12:31PM PDT

It's doable, but certainly not recommended, especially if the partition is NTFS-formatted.

John

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Installing XP on D:...
Aug 22, 2007 12:11PM PDT

* It shouldn't affect the files as long as you don't choose to format the partition, but it's always a good idea to have backups of your files just in case.

* If those are program installers deleting them would have no effect. However, if you installed programs to that directory from Vista then deleting those files would render those programs unusable.

* Yes, you can install Linux to an external hard drive, provided your BIOS supports booting from an external USB device. You can also run some distros, such as Ubuntu, directly from the CD without installing if you so choose.

Hope this helps,
John

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Vista and Linux
Aug 23, 2007 12:29AM PDT

I have Vista installed on the C:. Can i install Linux on D:? Can i have both the OS available during bootup to select from?

If not can i install Linux on the external hard drive and use it?

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RE: Vista and Linux...
Aug 23, 2007 1:30AM PDT

1.) Originally you mentioned installing XP on D:. Have your plans changed? If so, then yes, feel free to install a Linux distro on D:. If you're installing XP on D:, though, you'll want to install Linux elsewhere.

2.) As I said in my previous two replies, yes, provided your computer supports booting from a USB hard drive.

John