[Gel214th]

Hello all,

I have a Dual Boot setup on my machine currently, One 150GB Raid 0 partition, and one 500GB partition. I have XP loaded on the 300Gb partition (C:\) and Vista on the 500GB Partition (G:\).

I think my Vista installation , and perhaps XP as well, may have been hosed by spyware/virus.

I want to reinstall Vista, but keep my Dual Boot configuration (XP Installation) as well as all my Data.

I also would like to move to Vista 64Bit if I am going to reinstall at this point.

What would be the best way for me to go about doing this?

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Hmmm... I think that since you got the dual-boot working, I can be a little more direct in my questions. If you don't understand, I'll gladly clarify.

Which OS is managing the bootloader? And a partition is usually a portion of a hard drive - do you have XP and Vista on separate hard drives, or just different partitions on the same hard drive?

[The Admiral]

Hmmm... I think that since you got the dual-boot working, I can be a little more direct in my questions. If you don't understand, I'll gladly clarify.

Which OS is managing the bootloader? And a partition is usually a portion of a hard drive - do you have XP and Vista on separate hard drives, or just different partitions on the same hard drive?

[Gel214th]

Hmmm... I think that since you got the dual-boot working, I can be a little more direct in my questions. If you don't understand, I'll gladly clarify.

Which OS is managing the bootloader? And a partition is usually a portion of a hard drive - do you have XP and Vista on separate hard drives, or just different partitions on the same hard drive?

Vista is managing the Boot process, it is the Vista Boot where you select Previous Version of Windows, or Windows Vista and all that jazz.

XP is installed on Hard Disk 0 (I think that's the disk number),which is the RAID 0 Stripe Array , and Vista is installed on harddisk 1, which is a 500GB Western Digital.

remember, the first hard disk which appears logically as C:\ is actually Two Raptor 150GB. 10000RPM drives in a RAID 0 configuration, if that makes a difference.

[The Admiral]

Since Vista is managing the boot process, you should be good to wipe the WD and install Vista on that - just be sure to pick the right drive when you install it! Once Vista is installed, you can use a program like EasyBCD to redo the bootloader and allow access to XP.

[Gel214th]

Since Vista is managing the boot process, you should be good to wipe the WD and install Vista on that - just be sure to pick the right drive when you install it! Once Vista is installed, you can use a program like EasyBCD to redo the bootloader and allow access to XP.

Oh uhh..when you use the word Wipe...what do you mean exactly?
Remember..I want to keep the data on the drive, and just reinstall the OS...

And I want to install Vista 64. Right now Vista 32 is installed.

[The Admiral]

Oh I didn't see that part....

As far as I can find, which is quite a bit, you can not do an "upgrade" install from 32 to 64-bit, you will need to do a clean install. This will not be necessary just reinstalling the 32-bit version, but you can't go from 32 to 64 without a clean install.

[Gel214th]

Oh I didn't see that part....

As far as I can find, which is quite a bit, you can not do an "upgrade" install from 32 to 64-bit, you will need to do a clean install. This will not be necessary just reinstalling the 32-bit version, but you can't go from 32 to 64 without a clean install.

Okies....soooo....do i stick the Vista CD in the drive when I am in Windows XP, and run Setup like I did the first time?
And then select the G:\ Drive to install?

I can lose all the installed programs etc. , no problem. I just can't be reformatting the G:\ drive.

And then...what about my product key? Would that still work in Vista 64?

And..another question...is it worth moving to Vista 64? I have 4GB of Ram in my machine, Quad Core 2.66Ghz, two 8800GTX cards...it's a fairly nice system, two years or so old. But would I really gain Security and Stability from Vista 64? This Spyware experience has me never wanting to go through that again.

[Gel214th]

Hallo,

Any tips on the method for doing this particular installation so that I don't use any data on either drive?

[The Admiral]

Okies....soooo....do i stick the Vista CD in the drive when I am in Windows XP, and run Setup like I did the first time?
And then select the G:\ Drive to install?

Yes, that method will work.

I can lose all the installed programs etc. , no problem. I just can't be reformatting the G:\ drive.

Why not?

And then...what about my product key? Would that still work in Vista 64?

If your CD has 64-bit on it, then yes, it will work. If you go out and buy a version of Vista that has 64-bit, then that product key will work.

And..another question...is it worth moving to Vista 64? I have 4GB of Ram in my machine, Quad Core 2.66Ghz, two 8800GTX cards...it's a fairly nice system, two years or so old. But would I really gain Security and Stability from Vista 64? This Spyware experience has me never wanting to go through that again.

There are some people here that will swear by 64-bit, and others who despise it. I would personally recommend it because of the performance increase. here and here are some arguments against an upgrade to x64, and here is a mostly positive review of one person's upgrade experience.

Any tips on the method for doing this particular installation so that I don't use any data on either drive?

You will need to back up the data on the G:\ drive and format it to do the clean install. There is no way around this - it is the way that 32-bit to 64-bit works.

[Gel214th]

You will need to back up the data on the G:\ drive and format it to do the clean install. There is no way around this - it is the way that 32-bit to 64-bit works.

Oh dear.
Isn't there any way to just...err...install Vista into a new directory and go from there? Or rather to Overwrite the old Vista install?
Can't you do that with XP?

I can just stick the XP CD into the drive and the setup will alert that there is an existing installation, and ask would you like to replace that installation,will Vista truly not work in the same manner?

Do I really have to wipe the drive?

[The Admiral]

Isn't there any way to just...err...install Vista into a new directory and go from there?

You could install Vista on a new partition.

Or rather to Overwrite the old Vista install?

This would be an option if it was reinstalling 32-bit, but not upgrading to 64-bit.

Can't you do that with XP?

Yes, but not 32-bit to 64-bit.

I can just stick the XP CD into the drive and the setup will alert that there is an existing installation, and ask would you like to replace that installation,will Vista truly not work in the same manner?

Nope.

Do I really have to wipe the drive?

Yes.

[Gel214th]

:-|
Well then.

I suppose I really need to wipe the drive.
:-\
:-/

I see.

0_0


EDIT:

Is there a problem installing Vista 64 with 4GB of Ram?

Edited by Gel214th, 13 December 2008 - 04:10 PM.

[Gel214th]

Ok I did it. I installed Vista 64. Now I have a problem.

Before the install, the Windows XP installation was set as Drive C:\

Now after the Vista 64 install, the XP INstallation has been set as Drive D:\



I also have lost my dualboot start options, the system now goes directly to Windows Vista 64.

How do I fix these two issues?

[The Admiral]

Once Vista is installed, you can use a program like EasyBCD to redo the bootloader and allow access to XP.

As far as the drive letter of XP as it appears in Vista, this is very easy to change, if it really matters that much to you. You can find instructions here. But you will be unable to change Vista's drive letter as it appears in Vista.

Edited by The Admiral, 14 December 2008 - 08:46 AM.

[Gel214th]

It has been about a month running Vista 64, and I am very happy with it. I have encountered no problems so far, everything that worked in Vista 32 before, works in Vista 64 now. The system runs smoothly, though I do not see any remarkable 'speed up' in terms of general system responsiveness.

Thank you very , very much Admiral for all your help with this OS move on my part.

I really appreciated yours and everyone else's input.