Vista - Vista 64 dual boot changing drive letter

I wish to install vista 64 on my computer that has Windows XP Pro as dual boot.

Drive C would have XP Pro
Drive G Vista 64.
But when you boot vista it calls changes drive G and calls it drive C.
Can this be stopped or can I install windows XP and Vista 64 to the same
drive?

That is the normal procedure. When you are using XP the drive is C: when you
use Vista the drive is C: The other problem, of course, with dual booting XP
and Vista is that, whenever you boot to XP, all of your system restore and
shadow copy points in Vista are deleted. This is a known problem that is not
going to be rectified.

Personally, I run XP on virtual machine software (VMware workstation,
although this software can be expensive.) Alternatively give Microsoft's VPC
2007 virtual software a try (still free as far as I know). there are
limitations to virtual machines but if you just simply need XP for the odd
application that won't run on Vista then virtual machine software is an easy
option. Providing you have enough memory on you system you can also run the
two operating systems at the same time.

--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
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reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
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"martyl" <martyl@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2AF5C8F3-2B1A-441F-BC7A-A78696C380D6@xxxxxx

Since you can't install the 64-bit system from your XP Desktop you cannot
get your drive letter to change. John's advice provides good advice and
alternatives.

"martyl" <martyl@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2AF5C8F3-2B1A-441F-BC7A-A78696C380D6@xxxxxx

Thank you john

"John Barnett MVP" wrote:

You're Welcome

--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

"martyl" <martyl@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:3C63577E-8CF9-4438-94A6-85E3505CCA3C@xxxxxx

Actually, there is a way to dual boot Vista x64 and XP x32 and retain same drive letters both under XP and Vista.

Here is how:
Under XP change the drive letter of your DVD-ROM to something other than the drive letter you want to have your Vista installed.

Boot from Vista DVD, click "Install Now" and hit Shift+F10, start diskpart and make any partition changes you need (I personally shrunk XP partition by 32Gb and then created another partition for Vista and assigned it drive letter D: )
Go through Vista install as you normally would (make sure that "Automatically activate when connected to internet" is unchecked so you don't have to activate Vista twice -- you'll see the reason for that later). Also don't install any updates or non-disk-essential drivers just yet.
Once you log in to Vista for the first time -- open to registry editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices. Then rename \DosDevices\D: to something else for now (presumable this is your XP partition), rename \DosDevices\C: to \DosDevices\[DESIRED_VISTA_DRIVE_LETTER]: (where [DESIRED_VISTA_DRIVE_LETTER] should be replaced with the desired drive letter for Vista partition -- D in my case). Now rename previously renamed \DosDevices\D: to \DosDevices\C:
(see How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows)

Close regedit and reboot. Now if you boot into Vista you will not be able to run anything and your profile will not be loaded -- so instead of booting normally choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt (by pressing F8 on boot menu screen while Vista option is highlighted). Once you boot into Vista Safe Mode with Command Prompt change drive to your DVD drive and start Vista setup AGAIN by typing setup in command prompt.

Go through Vista installation again and enjoy same drive letter assignments under XP and Vista