Tried installing XP Professional trial as dual boot
 

The page where I am suppose to choose a drive to install XP said there was no disk detected. It didn't even acknowledge the normal drives. I followed step by step up to this point and now I am stuck....help a student of Computer Sciences.

do I need Vista disc?
 

I'm quite new to this, and I'm very sorry if this is a stupid question but:
I've just bought a laptop with vista on it and I installed XP as a secondary OS. Now, to complete the the installation and to make a dual boot, I need the vista installation disc. I'm not sure, but on my X: partition I probably have vista, but i can't boot using that partition. With my laptop I've got vista home edition but not the cd. Is there a way (if I have the vista installation on my HDD to boot the vista from there, or I'll have to buy a cd?

-or how can I boot from (if there is one) the copy of vista from my HDD?

Vista on Dell laptop using 4 primary partitions
 

I could not seem to use Vista to get a logical partition.

Using the Dell direct media install I started from scrach and the fourth partion was defined as logical and I was able to create partitions D and E both logical.
So I now have 5 partitions on disk (two system.)

This means reinstalling Vista (ok if you want a custom install)

L F Johnson

The no disk detected is normal. You have to provide the XP driver for the Storage Manager on a diskette (if you have a diskette reader on your machine or a USB Diskette Reader) and press F6 when prompted at XP installation time. It's difficult to help you because you provide no details. What brand and model pc are you using?

You don't need a Vista DVD at all. Use EasyBCD (freeware) which you can download from Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies.

But, before using it, set your folder options to see hidden files and to show protected operating system files. Then open Windows Explorer and go to the drive where Vista is installed. Copy the folder Boot, and the files bootmgr, boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM and ntldr and paste them to the root of your XP drive.

re Dell adding logical partition
 

I would not advise reinstall of Dell Vista unless you wand to do a lot of work.
If you want to learn about your system and you know how to to installs go ahead. I did get locked up a few times but suceeded in the end except for
the free intall of security software was not on install disks.

L F Johnson

Vista Disk
 

Unfortunately, when I purchased my HP laptop there were no boot disks. I have created Vista recvoery disks, but i dont think I can boot from them. Is there a way to install XP without the Vista boot disk?

So, I too, have a system that came with Vista installed, but my computer didn't come with a Vista disc. What can I do?

Google for GAG boot manager. Download it but don't install it Create a new partition that you want to use for XP. Once you have the new partition then install GAG noot manager. It install on the 8MB of lead in on every harddrive and creates a DOS environment so as to control/hide the boot files of each operating system. Using GAG there is no over-riding of the individual operating systems MBR (master boot records). Gag will allow you to install XP without issues of coruption from VISTA.

Vista/xp
 

Thank you so very much!!!! This worked for me like a charm. I bought HP media center with Vista home premium; it is the new one with Phenom. I booted with xp and loaded it on the E drive which I guess was the second hard drive. I got panic when I couldn't boot to my vista but xp. Your tutorial guide was excellent. Thank you a million.