Dual Boot Server 2003 and XP?

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mattarse

Weaksauce
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Jan 10, 2006
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Im wanting to mess around with Windows server, however I don't have access to an extra PC to instal it on. Im thinking about downloading the 180 day trial, but not sure if I can dual boot it. My home network currently has xp pro on the desktop (where it would be installed), and XP home on one laptop, and my work laptop uses XP Pro.
Anyone have any experiance with this? I just want to be able to learn hands on without screwing over my current setup.....

Ok Ive been looking a little more, and wonder if it would be better to run it on my home laptop, b/c I forgot about XP Home not being able to join a domain, and Active directory etc is where I want to gain familiarity. So I have an older Dell Inspiron 1100 with XP Home, can I dual boot Server 2003 on it? Now this is actually my wifes, so I need a little safety ;)
But everyhting on that is backed up and since it's seldom used it's actually pretty easy to rebuild...
Any help or advice guys....
 
2K3 will install a boot loader. You'd choose which OS to boot into after the install. I would install 2K3 on another partition if you have the drive partitioned out.

THe alternative is to run the OS in a VM. There is a 45 day trial version of MS's Virtual PC you can download or just buy it. I don't think Microsoft's virtualization, at least the app that runs on a workstation OS, is that expensive. The caveat here is that to run the Host OS and a VM, the memory requirements are relatively high. I'd think 1GB, or at minimum 768MB.
 
I've been looking into it more, and the dual boot setup doesn't look like too much of a problem. Im mainly woried about how it would run on the laptop now, it meets the system requirements, but Im trying to make sure there won't be any driver problems as the notebook has an OEM copy of XP now from Dell.
 
mattarse said:
I've been looking into it more, and the dual boot setup doesn't look like too much of a problem. Im mainly woried about how it would run on the laptop now, it meets the system requirements, but Im trying to make sure there won't be any driver problems as the notebook has an OEM copy of XP now from Dell.
Click to expand...
just download the main drivers from Dell just to be sure. 2k/XP drivers normally work for 2k3.

Since it's an older laptop... I am guessing all drivers will be built into Win2k3. Dell's older machiens (old black noisy plastic ones) were VERY basic on hardware. Normally nVidia or ATI graphics, 3COM nics, intel chipset, and so forth.
 
If it is a dell there there is virtually no chance you'll have driver issues. However as mentioned, if your really concerned then just log on to dell support and check to see if 2003 drivers exist for that model.
 
Alright, Im going to do the install about now. Just double checking that my backup worked, Just in case ;)
 
I've dual booted XP and Server 2k3 on several desktop boxes with no issues to speak of. It seems to use a very similar bootloader to XP. Just make sure you have a primary (not logical) partition to install it on.
 
Why not download GSX server from VMWare and run either or both at the same time? Or, if you can lay your hands on a box with workstation 5.5+ then you can make an image and use the player (which is free). There's a lot of options out there which will not require you to choose which to run and besides, without clients requesting something from the server there is a limit to what you will learn.

Just a thought.
 
another vote for vmware.

i've got a latitude c640, i've upped the ram to a gig and it runs fine. if you use the vmware server then dont bother installing the web interface elements, that saves you having to load iis, and it still works fine. (the web interface is only used if you want to control vm's from another machine - which for certification purposes probably isnt really required).

vmware > dual booting... imho.
 
Until this thread I hadn't really given much thought to virtualization software. Personally I have no experience with it, but vmware looks interesting. Ive already got the trial version of Server 2--3 running on the laptop, although i haven't had time to set it up yet. However Im thinking of trying out vmware as well.
Am I reading it right that I can set it up to act as more than one server and client? because basically with the server 2003 Im stuck with one server and 1 client - well 2 in a way, but my work laptop I have to basically keep in a no-risk setup, so not really usefull. My day would be shot if I showed up to work and couldn't connect to the network. And since it's a new job.....
It will be the weekend before I really have any free time to try out vmware, but am going to look more closely. I may have been a little hasty in grabbing the server 2003.
 
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