Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my hard
drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a startup menu at
boot time?
Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
What special considerations do I need to be aware of?
I await your reply.
Thank you.
"daveiosys" <daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com> wrote in message
news:daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com...
>
> Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my hard
> drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a startup menu at
> boot time?
> Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
> What special considerations do I need to be aware of?
> I await your reply.
> Thank you.
>
Hi Dave!
In the last fifteen years I've used different kinds of partitioning tools to
make space for different OS'es and bootmanagers to boot different systems.
These are my experiences:
1) None of the commercial partitioning tools I've used (Ranish,
PartitionMagic, Acronis) would I ever consider "safe". That is, when they
tell you to back up your date before using them, DO IT! I've lost so much
data this way, it's sad.
2) Acronis, in my experience, has been the worst. I have actually only had
failed operations and broken drives after using this software. I may have
been unfortunate, but be aware.
3) Note that Vista actually supports resizing partitions, so you might want
to consider this as opposed to using third-party software.
4) The most stable partition resizers I've come across, including when
resizing FAT32 and NTFS, are the Linux-based ones (yes, better than Acronis,
PartitionMagic, Ranish, etc.), so I'd suggest getting a LiveCD, probably
Kubuntu or Ubuntu, and using that. But don't forget to back up! If not the
entire partition, then at least your important data.
5) When it comes to the boot manager, I believe the right order to do this
would be to install XP first, then Vista. I believe the XP bootmanager has
trouble with booting to Vista, but not the other way around. I really don't
think you'd need to install a "special" boot manager to dual-boot between XP
and Vista. Should you later wish to install a Linux operating system, their
boot managers will handle both XP and Vista (and anything else, really). So
that would be the way I'd go.
"daveiosys" <daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com> wrote in message
news:daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com...
>
> Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my hard
> drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a startup menu at
> boot time?
Okay, just to be more concise: This is possible, yes, but as I suggest, the
best way would probably be to install XP, then Vista. This way it'd happen
more or less automatically. If your setup is that you have XP right now and
need to make room for Vista, I'd still say go with a Linux-based LiveCD to
resize the XP partition so there's enough room for Vista. Please note that
Vista needs at least 30GB to install.
> Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
> What special considerations do I need to be aware of?
> I await your reply.
> Thank you.
>
>
>
>
> --
> daveiosys
And, if you have neither XP nor Vista installed on the drive yet, use any
kind of partition manager to set up the empty drive first, then choose the
right partitions while installing. Would still suggest using a LiveCD for
this purpose. But don't forget to format the partition(s) in the XP/Vista
installer. If you have a Windows system running on a different drive, I'd
use that over the LiveCD to partition the drive in question, though.
I'll shut up now :)
"DanielEKFA" <danielekfa@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:48184a3f$0$90264$14726298@news.sunsite.dk...
>
> "daveiosys" <daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com> wrote in message
> news:daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com...
>>
>> Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my hard
>> drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a startup menu at
>> boot time?
>
> Okay, just to be more concise: This is possible, yes, but as I suggest,
> the best way would probably be to install XP, then Vista. This way it'd
> happen more or less automatically. If your setup is that you have XP right
> now and need to make room for Vista, I'd still say go with a Linux-based
> LiveCD to resize the XP partition so there's enough room for Vista. Please
> note that Vista needs at least 30GB to install.
>
>> Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
>> What special considerations do I need to be aware of?
>> I await your reply.
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> daveiosys
>
> And, if you have neither XP nor Vista installed on the drive yet, use any kind of partition manager to set up the
> empty drive first, then choose the right partitions while installing. Would still suggest using a LiveCD for this
> purpose.
No point in doing that with a LiveCD, the XP CD will do that fine.
> But don't forget to format the partition(s) in the XP/Vista installer.
No need to bother if you use the XP CD.
> If you have a Windows system running on a different drive, I'd use that over the LiveCD to partition the drive in
> question, though.
So why not use the XP CD ?
> I'll shut up now :)
> DanielEKFA <danielekfa@yahoo.com> wrote
>> daveiosys <daveiosys.25c5da9@computerbanter.com> wrote
>>> Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my
>>> hard drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a
>>> startup menu at boot time?
>>
>> Okay, just to be more concise: This is possible, yes, but as I
>> suggest, the best way would probably be to install XP, then Vista.
>> This way it'd happen more or less automatically. If your setup is
>> that you have XP right now and need to make room for Vista, I'd
>> still say go with a Linux-based LiveCD to resize the XP partition so
>> there's enough room for Vista. Please note that Vista needs at least
>> 30GB to install.
>>> Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
>>> What special considerations do I need to be aware of?
On Sun, 4 May 2008 11:31:34 +1000, "Rod Speed"
<rod.speed.aaa@gmail.com> wrote:
>DanielEKFA <danielekfa@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> And, if you have neither XP nor Vista installed on the drive yet, use any kind of partition manager to set up the
>> empty drive first, then choose the right partitions while installing. Would still suggest using a LiveCD for this
>> purpose.
>
>No point in doing that with a LiveCD, the XP CD will do that fine.
> Will Acronis Disk Director Suite make non-destructive changes to my hard
> drive to allow me to run XP Professional and Vista via a startup menu at
> boot time?
Yes, provided you have enough disk space.
> Do I just allow program to set and manage partitions?
You'll need to read the manual but it will do what you require.
Partition to install Vista 
Linear Mode
