One foot in the grave (ie XP)

April 27, 2007 7:41 AM

Is this stupid: buying a Vista laptop intending to immediately install and dual boot XP Professional?

So I'm in the market for a new laptop and most of the new models have an option for Vista or XP Pro. Now it feels counter-intuitive to order a brand new laptop with last year's OS, but XP Pro has proven to be both reliable and stable.

If I do get a Vista laptop (probably Home Premium, possibly Business?) I would have to install XP Pro and dual boot almost immediately since my law school administers tests via Examsoft's Softest (which has yet to have full Vista compatibility...plus even if it did, I'd be too fearful of it crashing or locking up while uploading/taking a test).

My question I guess is: should I expect to run in any problems using an XP Pro dual-boot installation from Windows installation gunk, hardware incompatibility, etc?

posted by MaverickX to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

If the laptop you buy has the option to select either XP or Vista you should be OK otherwise you might not be able to find all XP drivers. You will most likely still have to hunt down the correct XP drivers from the manufacturer since most laptop have custom HW on them.
posted by Ferrari328 at 7:51 AM on April 27, 2007

I would suggest getting XP and leave Vista out of the equation for the moment. XP is at the most stable and secure it will pretty much ever be, while Vista is a new, and lacking support from tons of vendors.

If you really want Vista, I'd wait until at least the 1st service pack. If you can't wait I believe that generally when dual booting Windows OSes the advised method is to install the older OS first, because the newer OS generally does a better job of detecting and not destroying the older installation.
posted by zackola at 8:01 AM on April 27, 2007

Response by poster: Hmm, well I guess one of the main reason that I wanted to get Vista pre-loaded is because I've already got an copy of Windows XP Pro and didn't want to have to pay for a copy of Vista later.
posted by MaverickX at 8:03 AM on April 27, 2007

Can you find a vendor that sells laptops without an operating system installed? That way, you're not paying for a supplemental XP license, and you can stick with the more proven OS until you absolutely have to upgrade. (That day's still a few years away, I suspect, and with amount of negative press that some of Vista's features are receiving, it might have a significantly different character to it after the first service pack)
posted by Mayor West at 8:09 AM on April 27, 2007

No, you shouldn't expect any problems. Keep in mind that you will need to reformat your box, install XP first, and then install Vista (presumably on a separate partition). Make sure you get good install media with a complete set of drivers.
posted by crazycanuck at 8:16 AM on April 27, 2007

It's fine, and it's not stupid. Your laptop won't explode just because Vista is on it, and finding drivers is no different than on a single boot machine. Even if you don't use Vista very much right now, I would recommend booting to it and running Microsoft Update every two weeks or so, just so you don't end up later needing to do a ton of updates.

Vista-first installation tutorial.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:17 AM on April 27, 2007

...I've already got an copy of Windows...
You got a license for that copy??
I assume you're removing XP Pro from whatever machine it's on now, cause, uh, you only get to install it one place at a time, right? So you might as well get a legal copy of it.

From the other point of view, the IT guy here got Vista on a laptop from Dell and hated it so much he called up and got them to send XP to him, so now he's got both.

I haven't heard anybody saying anything good about Vista, so why not stick with what you're comfortable? (confirmed Win2K user)
posted by MtDewd at 8:26 AM on April 27, 2007

You can run into problems, as Ferrari noted. I did this recently with a toshiba a130 and had a very tough time finding all the proper windows XP drivers. I did get everything working eventually, though.
posted by escher at 8:31 AM on April 27, 2007

Be careful to make sure that your new laptop comes with, or can create *a Vista install CD*.

Not a recovery CD: if your plan really is to dual boot, a recovery CD typically won't permit that, since they wipe the drive completely.
posted by baylink at 8:38 AM on April 27, 2007

Response by poster: @MtDewd: No worries, this is a legit purchased copy of Windows XP Pro that was installed on a desktop that has long since bitten the dust.
posted by MaverickX at 8:39 AM on April 27, 2007

Response by poster: @baylink: I was looking at the Lenovo Thinkpads, not sure whether they simply include recovery CDs or full Vista installation CDs.

My guess is the former.
posted by MaverickX at 9:05 AM on April 27, 2007

basically what I did, and for the same reason (law school wants XP), except I hated Vista Basic so much that I said screw it, created the recovery discs, and then nuked everything and installed just XP Pro. No problems so far, and I can always install Vista again if I really want to.
posted by yggdrasil at 10:57 AM on April 27, 2007

Response by poster: @yggdrasil : what laptop did you happen to buy?
posted by MaverickX at 11:07 AM on April 27, 2007

I bought a Dell Latitude D820 with Vista Business Edition. I flattened the drive and partitioned it in two, then installed XP Pro on one partition and Vista BE on the other. The Dell Latitude is in their business line and the site offers downloads for both Vista and XP drivers.

I'm very happy with it. For what it's worth, I haven't booted Vista in two weeks, though. There hasn't been any need. Just something to consider.
posted by disclaimer at 3:10 PM on April 27, 2007

@MaverickX: oops, totally didn't see your comment, and no email in the profile...

I got an Acer 3680 at Microcenter. I upped the RAM with an extra gig stick and still came in under 500 bucks for a fully serviceable web browsing, text editing, spreadsheet using, digital photography-ing, fairly lightweight laptop. I've been very happy with my purchase.

Disclaimer: I got the Frakenputer version apparently: My RAM was 1 512 stick rather than 2 256, and my hard drive was a 120 GB split into 2, rather than one 80 GB drive. But it was in a factory sealed box, so I'm not complaining.
posted by yggdrasil at 12:28 PM on June 1, 2007