Install Vista with existing XP?

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cesium666

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I currently have a RAID setup that has XP on it.
I am getting a new hard drive, and I am going to install Vista on it.
EDIT: I want to remove the RAID setup that has XP on it AFTER I transfer my files to the new hard drive with vista.

Is it possible to install vista on the new hard drive while leaving the existing XP install (on different hdds) alone? And then is it possible to boot into just Vista, while leaving the XP drives accessible?

I basically just want to keep the XP drives around so once vista is installed, I can move most of my files (music, movies, documents, pictures, etc etc etc) to the new hard drive; I will remove the XP drives after that is completed. I don't have an external hard drive so it's not feasible to just backup everything.
 
You can actually install Vista to the drive XP is installed on, then access all your files as they will be moved to c:\windows.old. No need to dual boot, which is what you seem to be asking for, but if you want to dual boot anyway, then yes, you can install Vista to a second hard drive and a boot menu will appear asking which OS you want to boot everytime you boot the machine.

[edit] One thing though, if you install Vista to a second hard drive (or third) you can't take out the first hard drive since it will contain Vista's boot loader. [/edit]
 
Well I don't want to dual boot, as the drives where XP is installed will be removed. I just want to have temporary access to the drives where XP is installed, so I can transfer all of my files to the new hard drive which will have Vista.

If I'm not making sense let me know, and I'll try to reword it lol

EDIT: lets see if this makes sense?

Drive A has XP
Drive B will have Vista

I want to transfer files from Drive A to Drive B and then remove Drive A, thus leaving me only with Drive B with Vista and all of my files.
 
I would:

1. Install the hard drive you want Vista installed on into the system
2. format the drive and copy all files over from within XP
3. remove the XP harddrive(s)
4. Install Vista making sure you don't format the drive
5. Move the files to your user directories if desired
 
Is it guaranteed that if I don't format the drive when installing vista, all those files won't be deleted?

Then again, as long as I don't delete the files off the XP harddrives, then if something goes wrong I can just start over from scratch.

Thanks a lot, I greatly appreciate the help!
 
If you have an OS on a HD that is not being targeted by Vista for installation, you will still get a boot loader unless you unhook it.
 
cesium666 said:
Is it guaranteed that if I don't format the drive when installing vista, all those files won't be deleted?

Then again, as long as I don't delete the files off the XP harddrives, then if something goes wrong I can just start over from scratch.

Thanks a lot, I greatly appreciate the help!
Click to expand...

Yes it's guaranteed that the files won't be deleted, I've done it several times.
 
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