The day after setting up dual boot

Here's a link to a forum that specializes in dual-booting. Register and post
your questions there. They'll be happy to help.

http://www.pronetworks.org/forum/index.php

Mark

"DJF" <DJF.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:48ED80C7-02BB-4E66-85D5-C72E481DF232@microsoft.com...
> I'm going to get a new desktop with XP installed. I have a copy here of
> Vista
> Home Premium and I'd like to set up a dual boot. From reviewing everything
> I
> can find online, I think I can handle that.
>
> Eventually, I expect I'll migrate over to Vista most of the time. When I
> partition to install Vista, I understand I'll be creating a new drive
> letter.
> Any recommendations on relative partition sizes on a 500GB hard drive?
>
> But ... something I've not been able to locate is whether, once I install
> Vista and then install Office 2007, presumably under Vista, whether I'll
> be
> able to access Outlook, Excel, etc. from either OS - will I be able to
> open
> my Outlook 2007 if I boot into XP? Will one version of my browser run from
> either OS?
>
> Where should I install Office 2007 - on which drive?
>
> I realize Office 2007 has new file formats. But if I boot into Vista and
> open Word 2007, will it be able to see earlier Word files I bring over
> from
> my old computer. Do they have to be on one drive or the other?
>
> Thanks for advice. Also, a little encouragement on setting up the dual
> boot
> system would be nice ... the last time I partitioned a hard drive I did it
> from a C: prompt, maybe 15 years ago.
> --
> DJF

If I understand your question, it revolves around trying to use a single copy of Office 2K7 for both an XP OS and a separate Vista OS. Since each "OS" is considered (by MS) to be a unique installation, what you're attempting to do is in violation of the licensing restrictions.

OK, so everyone will say -- why is this important?

Because ... what you're trying to do most certainly will NOT work, and when it fails, could very likely trash all of your Office-related files.

While you could try saving your data files on a third, shared partition, such that either OS could then access the files, nonetheless, the program files, system files, registry settings, and user setting will be unique to each OS instance. For example, using default settings, and using Outlook, your email files (.PST files) will be installed on the two different "C" drives. This means that if you read outlook mail in XP, save the mail, remove it from the server (in the process), then when you boot into Vista, you will not find the mail. Why? Because it's gone from the server and neither OS can see inside the "user" files of the other OS (not without a lot of security tweaking).

If you leave the mail on the server, then both OS's can see it -- because it's in a common place. Same would likely be true if you are able to save your Outlook mail files to a common, shared partition.

Double-booting effectively wipes out System Restore. This has been documented ad nauseum -- so it's not a matter of debate. If you use third-party image backup and restore (and you should!), this is no problem. But if you don't, booting into either OS effectively wipes out ALL the restore points created by the other OS.

When you boot into either OS, unless you go to great pains to hide the other OS, you will not only be able to see most (not all) of the contents of the other OS, even worse, you will be able to change the files as well. BUt if you do this, don't be surprised if, upon the next boot into the "other" OS, you get a forced CHKDSK reporting unrecoverable file corruption. I had that happen to me when I was first dual-booting XP and Vista and learned my lesson -- the hard way.

In summary, what you're attempting to do carries high risk of data corruption, and in the worse cases, trashing one or both OS's. I would advise against it.


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