Application compatibility remains one of the most annoying issues among some more conservative Windows Vista users.
The ability to upgrade the software to a new Windows Vista compatible version is not always an option. The company that developed the application may no longer be around or the cost to upgrade is too high.
In order to play old games or run legacy applications you need to install Windows XP, without blaming M!©®o$oƒt
If however, you don't want to give up all of the advances in Windows Vista just so that you can play old games or run ancient applications once in a while, then the answer is to dual boot Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Dual booting Windows XP and Windows Vista on the same computer will allow you to select from a boot menu what operating system you want to run. This menu is shown right after you power on your computer.
Setting up both Windows XP and Windows Vista on one computer can be a little tricky depending what operating system (OS) you have installed first.
The next two sections will help you configure both versions on your computer, depending on what OS you have installed first:
Windows XP is installed:
If you want to dual boot Windows XP and Windows Vista and Windows XP is already installed on your computer you will not have to do much work to dual boot Vista.
Just boot to your Windows Vista install DVD, select a custom install and install Windows Vista on a separate partition or physical drive than where XP is installed.
This will leave your Windows XP install intact and automatically install a boot menu with both XP and Vista listed.
Windows Vista is installed:
If you reformatted your hard drive and wiped out Windows XP when you installed Windows Vista, your setup is going to be a little more complicated.
Follow these steps:
Boot up your computer with a Windows XP install CD and install Windows XP to a different partition or physical drive than where Windows Vista is installed. When the setup is finished, your computer will automatically boot into Windows XP.
Don’t worry, Windows Vista is still on your computer if you correctly installed XP to a different partition or physical drive.
When you installed Windows XP, the Windows Vista Boot Manager was replaced by the Windows XP boot components.
The Windows Vista Boot Manager needs to be fixed by using the Windows Vista install DVD.
Boot your computer to the Windows Vista install DVD , click <Next> on the regional settings screen and then click on <Repair your computer> in the lower left of the window.
Select your Windows Vista install and then run the Start-up Repair. This will fix the Windows Boot Manager and Vista will once again start-up automatically.
Boost your PC! Clean and repair registry, improve performance.
Now we need to add an entry to the Windows Boot Manger for Windows XP.
This is done through Windows Vista. When you are back in Windows Vista, open an administrative level command prompt window and run these commands:
bcdedit /create {ntldr} /d “Windows XP”
bcdedit /set {ntldr} device boot
bcdedit /set {ntldr} path \ntldr
bcdedit /displayorder {ntldr} /addlast
Reboot your computer and test out the new boot menu.
Dual boot has now been configured on your computer.
You will be able to enjoy the enhancements of Windows Vista without giving up the ability to run older applications that require Windows XP.