Dual boot: Vista and Vista on 2 Hard Drives?

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:17:36 +0100, Nigel Molesworth
<reply.TakeThisOut@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote:

>There are many articles on how to dual boot Vista and XP, but I want to dual
>boot Vista and Vista, with an existing installation, on 2 Hard Drives.
>
>Currently I switch these in the BIOS, but I'd much rather chose at a later
>stage, can this be done?

Use the bootrec /rebuildbcd command.
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392>

>
>Why? Because I keep one of the drives for random software that I rarely use.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:41:26 -0600, "Colin Barnhorst"
<c.barnhorst.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote:

>Simply install Vista on the second hard drive and you will have a dual boot
>menu at start up.

Nope, no menu.

>Of course you need to have two product keys, but I'm sure you realize that.

Nope, and don't be silly.

Because when you attempt a second activation of a product key you will get a
message that the pk is already in use.

"Nigel Molesworth" <reply RemoveThis @thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:hhsk54dk6mk7paddl9e4bim1bh2gr8pv80@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:41:26 -0600, "Colin Barnhorst"
> <c.barnhorst RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>Simply install Vista on the second hard drive and you will have a dual
>>boot
>>menu at start up.
>
> Nope, no menu.
>
>>Of course you need to have two product keys, but I'm sure you realize
>>that.
>
> Nope, and don't be silly.

Nigel - To "generate" a boot option menu - the second Vista install must be
made from withn the first Vista installation - or consider modifying the
boot manager via BCDedit.exe or use a third party boot utility such as
VistaPro.


"Nigel Molesworth" <reply.TakeThisOut@thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:6b5k54dfrjragq61v04jn954adqifftp77@4ax.com...
> There are many articles on how to dual boot Vista and XP, but I want to
> dual
> boot Vista and Vista, with an existing installation, on 2 Hard Drives.
>
> Currently I switch these in the BIOS, but I'd much rather chose at a later
> stage, can this be done?
>
> Why? Because I keep one of the drives for random software that I rarely
> use.
>

That is not true. You do NOT have to make the second installation from with
the first in order to get a boot options screen. You can also install the
second by booting with the dvd. Vista setup will find the other
installation of Windows and construct a boot options screen for both.

If what you say were true then it would not be possible to generate a boot
options screen if the original Vista is 32bit and the second is 64bit
because you cannot run x64 setup from an x86 desktop. But that is exactly
how I set one of my machines up. I installed Vista x86 and then booted the
computer with the x64 dvd and installed my second copy of Vista. I got the
normal boot options screen. It is perfectly normal to perform a parallel
installation of Windows this way.

"AJR" <ajrjdr DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote in message
news:uaFQ2ik0IHA.548@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Nigel - To "generate" a boot option menu - the second Vista install must
> be made from withn the first Vista installation - or consider modifying
> the boot manager via BCDedit.exe or use a third party boot utility such as
> VistaPro.
>
>
> "Nigel Molesworth" <reply DeleteThis @thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
> news:6b5k54dfrjragq61v04jn954adqifftp77@4ax.com...
>> There are many articles on how to dual boot Vista and XP, but I want to
>> dual
>> boot Vista and Vista, with an existing installation, on 2 Hard Drives.
>>
>> Currently I switch these in the BIOS, but I'd much rather chose at a
>> later
>> stage, can this be done?
>>
>> Why? Because I keep one of the drives for random software that I rarely
>> use.
>>
>
>

I have dual booted XP and Vista on two separate hard drives; I've even
installed the same scenario on two separate partitions and on 'every'
occasion I have had a dual boot menu.

Why is Colin being 'silly' as you put it? If you are running Windows XP and
Vista (or any other combination for that matter) you will require the
appropriate licences.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

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"Nigel Molesworth" <reply DeleteThis @thegroup.email.invalid> wrote in message
news:hhsk54dk6mk7paddl9e4bim1bh2gr8pv80@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:41:26 -0600, "Colin Barnhorst"
> <c.barnhorst DeleteThis @comcast.net> wrote:
>
>>Simply install Vista on the second hard drive and you will have a dual
>>boot
>>menu at start up.
>
> Nope, no menu.
>
>>Of course you need to have two product keys, but I'm sure you realize
>>that.
>
> Nope, and don't be silly.