How can i Install Vista on the same partition ?

[compguy786]

Hey guys
i was in the process of installing vista, when it came up that i can install on the same HD, but would erase my windows xp, is there a option where i can keep both OS on the same drive, it also says i can "extend" a partition and thats its unreversible...what does that mean ?
thanks

 

[djnes]

Extend means it will just make that partition larger, I believe. You can't have Vista and Xp installed on the same partition. You need to break off some free space on the drive, and then install Vista to that area if you need to dual boot.

 

[khanable]

Yea, what djnes said. You'll need to create a second partition in order to install vista and use it with win xp.

Check out partition magic.. remove some space from your current partition and create a new partition in the freed up space. Should be a-ok from there.

 

[compguy786]

hmmm...that sucks, then later how can i delete the partition or reform it to the originial one, any way to do that ?

 

[khanable]

if you use partition magic yea, there is a way. You just delete the vista partition, and then merge the free space back into your win xp partition..



Oh, and please, backup data before toying with partitions. I've lost data (had it backed up, though) from playing with it. It's rare, but it does happen here and there.

 

[compguy786]

last night i made the partitiion with part magic, and then rebooted when the setup or w/e make the partition, it failed to make a new partition because of some unresoloved thing
any idea ?

 

[digital_exhaust]

Are you sure that the partition is not there? If you didn't format the new partition, it may not show up correctly. Go to computer management and check storage, and see if the partition is there shown as 'unallocated'.

If not, try using GParted, I find it actually works better than Partition Magic, but maybe that's just me..

 

[compguy786]

i havent installed vista yet, and also the partition i selected to format to NTFS, and it doesnt pop up on my computer either

 

[Fark_Maniac]

VMWare it. you keep XP intact and you can run both systems at once.