Vista - ANother dual boot question

Been reading everything I can on dual booting XPPro & Vista and must say
that I am thoroughly confused.

Basically, this is the situation - I am constructing a new system. I have
XPPro and Vista Home Premium - both OEM versions.

I want to set it up this way

1 - 320G SATA HD - 3 partitions - 80G XP Pro - 80G Vista - 160G Programs

2 - 74G SATA Raptors in RAID 0 for gaming and graphics

1 - 500G SATA hd as backup

1 - SATA DVD Burner

Considering that I have the OEM versions( purchased legitimately) that look
for a blank disk will that cause me problems after I have installed one OS?

Would it be possible to set up the dual boot so the current system drive is
always "C" and program drive is "D", if so, how?

What would be the best procedure to follow for dual boot installation -XP
first or Vista?

Since programs will be installed on the 3rd partition, how can I install
them so that each OS sees them correctly?


Thanx,

Vic Baron


--
There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
don't

"Vic Baron" <vgbaron@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uGrRRkQ2HHA.4400@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Been reading everything I can on dual booting XPPro & Vista and must say
> that I am thoroughly confused.
>
> Basically, this is the situation - I am constructing a new system. I have
> XPPro and Vista Home Premium - both OEM versions.
>
> I want to set it up this way
>
> 1 - 320G SATA HD - 3 partitions - 80G XP Pro - 80G Vista - 160G Programs
>
> 2 - 74G SATA Raptors in RAID 0 for gaming and graphics
>
> 1 - 500G SATA hd as backup
>
> 1 - SATA DVD Burner
>
> Considering that I have the OEM versions( purchased legitimately) that
> look for a blank disk will that cause me problems after I have installed
> one OS?

Blank partition, not disk. No problem
>
> Would it be possible to set up the dual boot so the current system drive
> is always "C" and program drive is "D", if so, how?

Make your XP (make active) and Vista drives primary partition and the
Programs drive a logical drive within an extended partition. Easiest way is
install XP first (which you should do anyway) then Vista. Make sure your
320G sata drive is first in boot priority when you do this, that way XP will
be your system drive in both systems and you can then re-letter all your
other drives as you want them, and both XP and Vista will be C.
>
> What would be the best procedure to follow for dual boot installation -XP
> first or Vista?

See above.
>
> Since programs will be installed on the 3rd partition, how can I install
> them so that each OS sees them correctly?

They have to be installed from the system you are going to use them on, and
if both systems, you need to install them to the same directory from both
systems.
>
>
> Thanx,
>
> Vic Baron
>
>
> --
> There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
> don't
>

Thank you John. That's what I needed to know!

Vic




"John Barnes" <jbarnes@email.net> wrote in message
news:ucpe4JR2HHA.1184@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> "Vic Baron" <vgbaron@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:uGrRRkQ2HHA.4400@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Been reading everything I can on dual booting XPPro & Vista and must say
>> that I am thoroughly confused.
>>
>> Basically, this is the situation - I am constructing a new system. I have
>> XPPro and Vista Home Premium - both OEM versions.
>>
>> I want to set it up this way
>>
>> 1 - 320G SATA HD - 3 partitions - 80G XP Pro - 80G Vista - 160G Programs
>>
>> 2 - 74G SATA Raptors in RAID 0 for gaming and graphics
>>
>> 1 - 500G SATA hd as backup
>>
>> 1 - SATA DVD Burner
>>
>> Considering that I have the OEM versions( purchased legitimately) that
>> look for a blank disk will that cause me problems after I have installed
>> one OS?
>
> Blank partition, not disk. No problem
>>
>> Would it be possible to set up the dual boot so the current system drive
>> is always "C" and program drive is "D", if so, how?
>
> Make your XP (make active) and Vista drives primary partition and the
> Programs drive a logical drive within an extended partition. Easiest way
> is install XP first (which you should do anyway) then Vista. Make sure
> your 320G sata drive is first in boot priority when you do this, that way
> XP will be your system drive in both systems and you can then re-letter
> all your other drives as you want them, and both XP and Vista will be C.
>>
>> What would be the best procedure to follow for dual boot installation -XP
>> first or Vista?
>
> See above.
>>
>> Since programs will be installed on the 3rd partition, how can I install
>> them so that each OS sees them correctly?
>
> They have to be installed from the system you are going to use them on,
> and if both systems, you need to install them to the same directory from
> both systems.
>>
>>
>> Thanx,
>>
>> Vic Baron
>>
>>
>> --
>> There are 10 kinds of people - those who understand binary and those who
>> don't
>>
>