Exercising the Dual-Boot Option with Windows Vista

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I've noticed that there are many questions in the community about dual-booting Windows Vista. This is a very common scenario at Microsoft and as such, I figured I'd walk you through our typical dual-boot installation procedure via the corporate network. Many of my colleagues choose to run both operating systems simultaneously (not me -- I'm all Windows Vista, all the time) by partitioning their hard drives and running a separate OS on each partition. They do this for a variety of reasons, but in many cases it's so they can test new builds of Windows Vista while retaining Windows XP (or another OS) on another partition. This will allows them the flexibility to perform build-to-build upgrades more easily while retaining the original OS as an alternative should there be a blocking bug in the Windows Vista build.

 

Using RIS to Install the First OS

There are different options for installing and configuring Windows Vista at Microsoft; the one I use most is RIS, or Remote Installation Service. I use RIS to rebuild the workstation and repartition the hard drive into two partitions. One partition will be used for Windows Vista and the other partition will receive an OS in current release (say, Windows XP). If the hard drive originally has only a single partition, it's necessary to reformat it and create two logical partitions. Note that it's possible to create a new logical partition without reformatting, but doing so would require purchase of a third-party software product.

 

In every case, it's advisable to back up any critical data before repartitioning the hard disk and installing a build of Windows Vista, as reformatting and partitioning will delete all data on the disk.

 

During steps 1-10, most of the work is done by RIS:

  1. Restart the computer. When the OEM boot screen appears, press F12. The Windows Boot Manager screen appears.
  2. Choose Custom Set-Up, then press Enter. The computer information screen appears.
  3. Type a [computer name] and press Enter.
  4. When the configuration options screen appears, select additional installation options, such as Microsoft Office 2007.
  5. In the Automatically Partition field, type "NO" and press Enter. (This allows you later on to install a second partition.) The OS screen then appears.
  6. Choose the operating system to install and press Enter. The logon screen appears.
  7. In the Admin Password field, type an administrative password of your choice and then verify the password by retyping it in the next field. Press Enter. The OS choices screen then appears.
  8. Choose the appropriate OS version and press Enter. The caution screen appears.
  9. Press Enter to format the drive. The installation info screen appears.
  10. Verify the data on the installation info screen and, when satisfied, press Enter. The Windows Set-Up screen then appears.

Windows Set-Up begins to load files (which may take up to 10 minutes). Once all files are loaded, the Windows logo appears, again followed by the Windows Set-Up screen.

Partitioning the Hard Drive

Windows Set-Up then prompts you to create a new partition on the hard drive. If you did not follow step 6, the prompt to create a new partition will not appear and it'll be necessary to shut down and start again from step 1.

Assuming you did as you were told, the requisite prompt would appear and you'd partition the hard drive thusly:

  1. Select the primary partition and press "D" to delete it. The confirmation screen appears. Press Enter to confirm deleting the partition.
  2. Press "C" to create a new partition. The partition configuration screen appears. Type in the number of MBs for the primary partition and press Enter.

o It's advisable to assign the primary partition between 40% and 50% of the total available disk space. For example, if the drive is 38154 MB, you could assign the primary partition 18000 MB. The second partition will be created in the remaining space.

  1. The installation script runs (which may take up to 30 minutes) and then the computer will reboot. The activation script appears.
  2. The activation script will prompt for a product key. Enter this and click Yes. The next screen verifies the product key.

The last step in this stage of the process is to join the computer to the domain.

 

Using ASI to Install to the Second Partition

Now that you've installed your primary OS and created both partitions, it's time to install and configure an Automated Software Installer (ASI) client on the new OS. This client is provided internally to MS employees and enables the user to install Windows Vista on the second partition.

 

From this point, we essentially execute a process that looks much like a repeat of the "Using RIS to Install the First OS" section, only this time using the ASI client.

 

Finally, once that second installation is complete and on the next restart, you're presented with a boot screen that allows you to choose the partition you'd like to boot from, and hence the OS to load.

 

It's a fairly simple procedure; granted, we have the advantage of using RIS to accomplish the installation portion, but using a DVD is not much different. If you're looking for the ability to test Windows Vista and still use your current OS for other tasks, enabling dual-booting may be for you (actual mileage may vary).

 

What's been your experience with dual-booting Windows Vista and another OS? How did the installation process go for you, and what's been your experience so far? Let me know in the comments section below, and I'll pass along your feedback to my colleagues on the Development Team.