Vista - Dual Boot of vista x64 and x86 on same drive.

I've configured my system to dual boot into Vista64 (OEM) and Vista86 (retail) on the same drive - 2 separate partitions in a raid 0 configuration.

Vista64 partition: is used exclusively for music recording with 64 bit software only - yes they do exist, I use Sonar.

Vista 86 partition: is for general computer use: Internet, email and such.

I understand that vista64 runs both 64 and 32 bit applications well enuf, I simply want to keep both uses apart from one another - thus my reason for a dual boot.

... so here's my question :^) Has anyone done this before, on a raid 0 using two instances of Vista? If so, could you tell me how well it's worked for you?

...also, concerning the "pagefile.sys". Since I have both vista's on the same drive in separate partitions and vista doesn't like running two pagefiles on the same drive. Should I move one to a second drive? If so, which should I move the x64 or the x86. Maybe both, eh?

thanks in advance to any and all replies,
katdog and Randy

MY Computer:

Dell XPS 420
Intel Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz
2x500 SATA HDD raid 0
1x500 GB, 16 MB cache, Seagate SATA/300 Berracuda
4.00 GB Ram
Vista X64 and X86

Hello Katdog and Randy,

I have never tried it with a RAID configuration, but I do not see a problem with the 64 bit and 32 bit versions dual booting as long as they do not share the same partition for anything.

You should also be fine with the page files to since they are in separate partitions that act like separate drives. I would not move them.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thank you Shawn, your reply was surprisingly quick and encouraging. But, as is the case more often than not, one question answered leaves room for another.

Do I share across partitions? I'm not sure... if accessing the same external hard drives from either partition constitutes a sharing problem, then I have one. If not then I'm good to go... maybe?

... other than that, I plan to keep my page files where Vista put 'em - the thought of managing them myself was a bit overwhelming. I have no kids for similar reasons.

Once again, thanks,
Katdog and Randy

PS: I expect there's more to this dual booting arrangement stuff, then simply installing two operating systems, and I'd be wise to read up. Arrgh!

It depends. If they are just reading from the external drive, then there will be no problem. However if they are both reading and writing files to the same external drive partition, then the external drive will most likely develop corruption problems. It would be best to have each OS use a separate partiton on the external drive for reading and writing to.

This was one of the main reasons why we have to do a clean install if installing from a 32 bit Vista to 64 bit Vista, or the other way around.

That's the answer. Thank you.

Your welcome.