XP Pro installed how to add Vista using Acronis

Hi there,

I have 1 primary HD with 2 partitions on the active partition C I have XP Pro installed I’d now like to install Vista on the second partition which is currently hidden.

According to what I’ve read here I should use the OSS to hide the current active XP Pro partition and set the second currently hidden partition as active. This I have done but then when I start to install Vista it shows the first partition with XP Pro on it and of course the second partition. So I assume that will mean that if I carry on loading Vista on the second partition that it will install its own boot loader which is not what I want, I want to use the Acronis boot loader.

Any hints or instructions on what I might be doing wrong and how to rectify the problem?

Many thanks, Tim.

 

What you have done is correct. Make sure the XP partition is hidden before installing Vista.

If you boot to the OSS menu, put in the Vista DVD, wait for the Vista DVD menu entry to come up, then right-click on it and set the properties how you need (hide XP, set Vista partition Active and not hidden, etc.)

If you deactivate OSS, then the procedure would be to boot to DD and make sure the XP partition is hidden and the Vista partition is Active and not hidden.

During the Vista install, Vista will still display the XP partition in the list. This has not been a problem for me. Just select the correct partition and continue with the install. Once Vista is installed, XP will be hidden and Vista will load from its own partition. Also, I usually recommend that you let Vista format the partition you're installing to. It sometimes solves "first-boot" problems before they happen.

If you have True Image (or another image-based backup program), it's a good idea to image the drive before you add an OS. That way you can restore your current system and try again if something goes wrong.

 

Hi there,

Many thanks for your reply will try it tomorrow and report back.

Again many thanks, Tim.

 

Hi there,

Well I managed to load Vista but after a few reboots and then using OSS to boot into XP I found no matter what I did I could no longer boot back into Vista, I could get to the first Vista screen then it would just reboot. Even worse I could not even repair Vista to boot into.

So I am now one very unhappy Acronis customer. I bought this product to replace BootMagic which doesn’t want to work on my new Gigabyte P35-DS3R MB not only when I bought the product 6 weeks ago did the downloader download not the latest version but the one previous to it, which then found me struggling to understand why Acronis OSS did not work with Vista but throughout I’ve just had problem after problem trying to set up a stable dual boot with XP and Vista.

Surely there must be a safer and more simpler product than this to dual boot without using the Vista boot loader which as you may know when dual booting with XP destroys the Vista restore points.

Please can anyone offer a workaround to get this program working properly or suggest a simple boot loader?

Many thanks, Tim.

 

OSS may be having a problem with the P35 chipset. I know TI currently does and it's updated more frequently.

I sent you a Private Message.

 

Hi there,

Thanks for the PM so far so good. I created a partition in front of the XP install then via Acronis DD I hid the XP partition and made the first clean formatted partition active and installed Vista. Did all the updates then Ghosted the Vista install and then loaded DD and OSS on the Vista partition, thus far I’m able to dual boot.

I also have DD & OSS installed on the XP partition not sure if that has made the difference but as I say after several boots into each OS all is still working, fingers are crossed.

Again many thanks for all your help and advice, Tim.

 

MudCrab,

This seems like what I need to do, but the difference is I will be adding an XP install to a Drive which has Vista installed.

But, I ran into problems when I booted to the OSS menu and put in the XP DVD it did not show up on the menu.

Does it take a while to show up?

HR

 

titanad,

If OSS will see the CD/DVD, it should how up in the menu within 10 seconds or so.

You will most likely have to do it manually following the procedure outlined below:

Deactivate OSS (you can do this from the OSS menu).

Select VISTA as the default OS. Make sure the computer boots correctly and directly into VISTA.

(I'm assuming you have already created the partition for XP.)
Then boot to DD from the CD and set the XP partition as ACTIVE and the VISTA partition as HIDDEN.

Then boot from the XP CD (press a key if needed to boot from the CD) and install XP normally to the partition you setup for it, letting XP format the partition (quick format is fine).

Once XP is installed, install DD and then OSS. It should find the previous installation and update it.

When you reboot, you should get the OSS menu with entries for both VISTA and XP. Check the VISTA menu entry properties and make sure the VISTA partition is active and the XP partition is hidden. Check the XP menu entry properties and make sure the XP partition is active and the VISTA partition is hidden.

When I setup my computer, I had to do all the Windows installs this way because OSS will not see the DVD drive on my P965/JMicron board.

 

Mudcrab,

Well, When I boot from the CD to DD full version, I get the message "Error E 000101F4: Acronis disk director suite has not found any hard disc drives."

When I booted into DD Safe also from the CD and set the XP partition as ACTIVE and the VISTA partition as HIDDEN and clicked proceed the program just froze(no progress for 1 hour+).

HR

 

titanad,

In order to do the installs manually, DD will have to work or you'll have to try another partition manager.

I don't know if the quiet acpi=off noapic option detailed in Section II of the True Image PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU POST thread works for DD not not, but you could try it with the full mode and see.

When running DD in Safe Mode, check your BIOS settings for your hard drives. If you have an IDE or COMPATIBLE mode setting for the controller, then try that (you can change it back to what it was before booting into Windows).

I would also try doing the steps and applying the changes one at a time. Set XP partition Active, apply changes. Hide Vista parition, apply changes. Etc.

 

hi there...

i have an XP Pro installed (on C:\) before, then i installed vista ultimate in a slave hard disk (D:\). it went well, until i had to format my drive C:\ (xp installed), then i reinstalled the xp. after i reinstalled the xp, the OS select is no longer loaded. so i can't load installed vista on my computer.

is there anyway how to bring up the OS select again? like before i format and reinstall the xp? please... anyone

 

If OSS was installed on the C: drive/partition and you then restored it to a state were OSS was not installed, you won't be able to get it back.

This is the primary reason it's a good idea to create a small partition just for OSS (do a custom install and select that partition). That way you can restore your Windows partitions and not distrupt your OSS settings.

You will probably have to reinstall OSS. If Vista was installed on the second hard drive and wasn't booting from the first hard drive, then hopefully OSS will detect Vista okay and add it to the menu. Otherwise, you'll probably have to set the Vista drive first in the BIOS disk order, make sure the Vista partition is Active (and probably hide the XP partition), do a Vista repair and then reactivate OSS.

 

Hi

reference with "XP installed and to install Vista on a seperate partition as in my case below :

Single IDE 250GB 2 primary partitions with XP installed on the 1st partition and the 2nd partition at the moment hidden which i'm planning to install Vista,so as in the post by TimAnn would this work the same for me with my setup and of course OSS and DD? remember my 2 partitions are primary,i'm not sure about TimAnn's

 

donajassociates,

You should be able to follow the same instructions. The partitions both being Primary is correct.

Is OSS currently installed and working with XP?

When booted to OSS, if OSS recognizes the Vista DVD then you can right-click on the Vista DVD menu entry and set the XP partition as hidden and the Vista partition as Active and not hidden. Then boot from the Vista DVD and install Vista. Select the partition you created for Vista and let Vista format the partition (click the Advanced button to get this option).

When Vista needs to reboot, it will either boot back to Vista or back into OSS with a new entry for Vista. If it boots to Vista then let the install continue. If it boots to OSS, then check the new Vista menu entry properties are correct (XP partition hidden, Vista partition Active and not hidden). Then boot into the new Vista entry to continue with the install.

Once Vista is installed, you can install DD and OSS in Vista if you want.

If OSS has been deactivated by installing Vista, then installing OSS from Vista should reactivate it.

Several things to consider. You might want to create a small partition (100MB or so) for OSS (assuming OSS is not already installed). When you install OSS, do a custom install and select that partition. That way the OSS files are not on any OS partition and later restores of those partitions will not mess with your OSS files. Also, it's best to make a backup image of the drive before making changes like this. This will allow you to restore back to the current state and try again if things go wrong.

If the Vista DVD does not show up when booted to OSS, then you'll have to do a manual install. You can follow the instructions in Post #8, except you'll be installing Vista instead of XP.

 

MudCrab

OSS is not installed yet,the setup mention here it will work,now when everything works well with vista and XP what do you think adding Rollback Rx on XP for example,since Rollback Rx supports Multi-boot systems how is this going to work with OSS? Any thoughts with that? I'm not sure that Rollback Rx is compatable with any bootloaders such as OSS only Windows bootloader!!


Don T.

 

Don,

I have never used Rollback Rx so I can't say if it would work with OSS or not. However, OSS is installed into the MBR and it's files are located on another partition (an OS partition or a small paritition you've setup for OSS). If Rollback Rx takes over the MBR, but can "chainload" what was there, then I don't see why it wouldn't work. If it takes over booting itself, then there would be a problem and OSS would have to be reactivated (which would probably deactivate Rollback).

I've done a little searching, but there's not too much to find. There is this old post: Rollback Rx on multiboot system with Acronis DD

From what I've read, Rollback says it installs "under" Windows. It has a boot-up option to restore before Window starts. It seems quite apparent that it takes over the booting process. The Manual says to use the "Custom" setup option which allows for multi-boot computer. However, it does not say anything about booting using third-party boot managers. See this link and this link.

You may want to ask Acronis Support or Horizon DataSys directly if the programs will work together.