MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

[Greg]

I have recently purchased PC with quad core 2.4ghz, 4gb ram , 2 x 400gb
Samsung SATA drives. The bootable drive has a 10gb hidden partition (used for
restoring operating system).

The PC has Vista Home premium 64bit installed. As some of my software that I
regularly use does not run in 64bit I wish to install Vista Home premium
32bit as a multiboot.

After reading FAQs etc i am confused. Some seem to suggest that earliest
version of Windows must be installed 1st..others say doesn't matter. Which
version is earlist or does it matter.

How do i go about it, especially as there is the hidden Partition?

 

[John Barnes]

Re: MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

Your best bet would be to add an additional HD. Both are considered
contemporaries and makes no difference what order.
You can split your primary partition (third party product), but your restore
will most likely restore the computer to original 1 visible partition and
the original os, if needed.

"Greg" <Greg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7A77FA4B-8301-46EF-A434-504D46832C2E@microsoft.com...
>I have recently purchased PC with quad core 2.4ghz, 4gb ram , 2 x 400gb
> Samsung SATA drives. The bootable drive has a 10gb hidden partition (used
> for
> restoring operating system).
>
> The PC has Vista Home premium 64bit installed. As some of my software that
> I
> regularly use does not run in 64bit I wish to install Vista Home premium
> 32bit as a multiboot.
>
> After reading FAQs etc i am confused. Some seem to suggest that earliest
> version of Windows must be installed 1st..others say doesn't matter. Which
> version is earlist or does it matter.
>
> How do i go about it, especially as there is the hidden Partition?

 

[Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

Well, actually, he can easily shrink his existing partition, using the built
in tools of Vista. And then install Vista 32 to the partition he creates in
the now empty space.

Vista supports grow/shrink of NTFS partitions. How much the shrink is will
depend on how fragmented the free space is, and how much actual free space
there is, but it's up to 50% of the total disk size.

This can be done during the install of 32-bit Vista, or before hand. I
prefer to do it beforehand to see how much room I can create.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
news:u8VVJlLGIHA.6068@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Your best bet would be to add an additional HD. Both are considered
> contemporaries and makes no difference what order.
> You can split your primary partition (third party product), but your
> restore will most likely restore the computer to original 1 visible
> partition and the original os, if needed.
>
> "Greg" <Greg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7A77FA4B-8301-46EF-A434-504D46832C2E@microsoft.com...
>>I have recently purchased PC with quad core 2.4ghz, 4gb ram , 2 x 400gb
>> Samsung SATA drives. The bootable drive has a 10gb hidden partition (used
>> for
>> restoring operating system).
>>
>> The PC has Vista Home premium 64bit installed. As some of my software
>> that I
>> regularly use does not run in 64bit I wish to install Vista Home premium
>> 32bit as a multiboot.
>>
>> After reading FAQs etc i am confused. Some seem to suggest that earliest
>> version of Windows must be installed 1st..others say doesn't matter.
>> Which
>> version is earlist or does it matter.
>>
>> How do i go about it, especially as there is the hidden Partition?
>

 

[John Barnes]

Re: MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

Since it can only shrink to the first non movable data, which so many have
complained only allows about a 10-15% shrink. Certainly is worth a try as
nothing to loose. Defrag first, and see what free space you can acquire.
Some have had luck deleting the hiberfil and pagefile from WinRE.

"Charlie Russel - MVP" <charlie@mvKILLALLSPAMMERSps.org> wrote in message
news:FEAC447D-19E4-41D2-AEFE-9C8C5F4A64E4@microsoft.com...
> Well, actually, he can easily shrink his existing partition, using the
> built in tools of Vista. And then install Vista 32 to the partition he
> creates in the now empty space.
>
> Vista supports grow/shrink of NTFS partitions. How much the shrink is will
> depend on how fragmented the free space is, and how much actual free space
> there is, but it's up to 50% of the total disk size.
>
> This can be done during the install of 32-bit Vista, or before hand. I
> prefer to do it beforehand to see how much room I can create.
>
> --
> Charlie.
> http://msmvps.com/xperts64
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>
>
> "John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
> news:u8VVJlLGIHA.6068@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Your best bet would be to add an additional HD. Both are considered
>> contemporaries and makes no difference what order.
>> You can split your primary partition (third party product), but your
>> restore will most likely restore the computer to original 1 visible
>> partition and the original os, if needed.
>>
>> "Greg" <Greg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7A77FA4B-8301-46EF-A434-504D46832C2E@microsoft.com...
>>>I have recently purchased PC with quad core 2.4ghz, 4gb ram , 2 x 400gb
>>> Samsung SATA drives. The bootable drive has a 10gb hidden partition
>>> (used for
>>> restoring operating system).
>>>
>>> The PC has Vista Home premium 64bit installed. As some of my software
>>> that I
>>> regularly use does not run in 64bit I wish to install Vista Home premium
>>> 32bit as a multiboot.
>>>
>>> After reading FAQs etc i am confused. Some seem to suggest that earliest
>>> version of Windows must be installed 1st..others say doesn't matter.
>>> Which
>>> version is earlist or does it matter.
>>>
>>> How do i go about it, especially as there is the hidden Partition?
>>
>

 

[Charlie Russel - MVP]

Re: MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

On my systems (where I regularly run PerfectDisk), I've been able to get 30%
or more. It's certainly worth a try.

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
news:u3cslPRGIHA.2268@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Since it can only shrink to the first non movable data, which so many have
> complained only allows about a 10-15% shrink. Certainly is worth a try as
> nothing to loose. Defrag first, and see what free space you can acquire.
> Some have had luck deleting the hiberfil and pagefile from WinRE.
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" <charlie@mvKILLALLSPAMMERSps.org> wrote in message
> news:FEAC447D-19E4-41D2-AEFE-9C8C5F4A64E4@microsoft.com...
>> Well, actually, he can easily shrink his existing partition, using the
>> built in tools of Vista. And then install Vista 32 to the partition he
>> creates in the now empty space.
>>
>> Vista supports grow/shrink of NTFS partitions. How much the shrink is
>> will depend on how fragmented the free space is, and how much actual free
>> space there is, but it's up to 50% of the total disk size.
>>
>> This can be done during the install of 32-bit Vista, or before hand. I
>> prefer to do it beforehand to see how much room I can create.
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> http://msmvps.com/xperts64
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel
>>
>>
>> "John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
>> news:u8VVJlLGIHA.6068@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>> Your best bet would be to add an additional HD. Both are considered
>>> contemporaries and makes no difference what order.
>>> You can split your primary partition (third party product), but your
>>> restore will most likely restore the computer to original 1 visible
>>> partition and the original os, if needed.
>>>
>>> "Greg" <Greg@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:7A77FA4B-8301-46EF-A434-504D46832C2E@microsoft.com...
>>>>I have recently purchased PC with quad core 2.4ghz, 4gb ram , 2 x 400gb
>>>> Samsung SATA drives. The bootable drive has a 10gb hidden partition
>>>> (used for
>>>> restoring operating system).
>>>>
>>>> The PC has Vista Home premium 64bit installed. As some of my software
>>>> that I
>>>> regularly use does not run in 64bit I wish to install Vista Home
>>>> premium
>>>> 32bit as a multiboot.
>>>>
>>>> After reading FAQs etc i am confused. Some seem to suggest that
>>>> earliest
>>>> version of Windows must be installed 1st..others say doesn't matter.
>>>> Which
>>>> version is earlist or does it matter.
>>>>
>>>> How do i go about it, especially as there is the hidden Partition?
>>>
>>
>

 

[Altzheimer]

Re: MultiBoot with Vista Home Premium 64 & 32bit versions

Greg indicated at the start of this thread that he has 2 HDs, so some of the
answers he was given don't make much sense to me. He doesn't need to buy
another hard disk and he doesn't need to change the partitions on his system
disk.

Because there is a risk that running your restore program on your hidden
partition some time in the future might undo any changes you make to your
first HD, it would be safer to install your second OS on your second HD.

You can leave your BIOS unchanged. It is set to boot from the first HD. When
you install Vista 32 on your second HD it will add a menu to the boot files
on your first HD.

When you boot, it will always boot the 1st disc initially (just enough of it
to show the boot menu). Then if you choose the 32 bit OS from the menu it
will jump to booting the 2nd HD, instead of continuing to start the 64 bit OS.

You have to make very sure when you start Vista's installer from the 32bit
Vista DVD that you choose the correct disc to install the new system to.

I guess you already have some documents etc on the 2nd disk, but no bootable
system on it? If so, make sure that the installer is not going to format the
second drive, only add the new OS onto it. It can install Vista there without
reformatting it first.

To be extra safe you could backup all your files from your second drive
before starting the install. For example you could copy them onto the 1st HD
if there is enough space.