Choosing a Vista that is right for you:
You will first need to decide which version of Vista is right for you. This can be a tricky choice with cost, performance, and additions to the software eac playing a role, but Microsoft has done a good job of laying out the pros and cons of each version, you can read details on
each version or see a
side by side comparison.
Once you have decided, and have purchased your software, it's time to get to work. You want to keep your XP in tact, so you chose not to upgrade, but to dual boot your XP and Vista on the same machine, I don't blame you since I did the same thing.
*NOTE: for this explanation I am installing Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition. I am using the DVD version as well. There are essentially no differences if you are using the 5 CD version, just that you will be swapping discs often.
Step 1 - Partitioning:
I prefer to use Partition Magic, but if you have another partitioning tool you prefer, go ahead, there is a free
Partition Magic trial available if you are not familiar with partitioning. The full version is expensive so if you are not constantly using this product this will be enough.
When you run Partition Magic, you will have something like the screen below for your drive (don't worry if yours only has 1 long segment, this is just a comparison)
Before:
-click the image
-from the left hand menu select
create a new partition
-click next twice more
*Be sure the new partition will be created
after the Partition
C:\ where your XP installation is.
-click next again
-click next once more then you will get to choose the size of this partition. (7.5GB - 15GB is your aim)
*NOTE 1GB = 1024MB
-click next
-here you can name your drive anything you want
-click finish
It will now show you what your new drive will look like, before you go ahead with the changes.
After:
-click apply in the bottom left corner and your computer will restart to apply these changes.
-once finished it will then likely restart again, and load into Windows.
WinXP - XP installation
WinVista - Vista installation
* - Linux Ext
* - Swap
XP-Extra - Storage Partition
Now the important things to take from the image of the partition are:
1) It is approximately 15GB
2) It is directly after my XP partition
3) There can be other partitions after Vista, but it is not necessary
*Do not worry about the 2 un-named partitions, they are simply a Linux Ext partition and a swap space. Neither of these are necessary, and they will not affect the installation.