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Dual boot

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Ian in Northampton
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Posted May 24, 2012 at 2:24PM

OK, same machine as the 'optical drive' machine...

It came with Vista. I'm no big Vista fan - I prefer XP.

I could easily just install XP on it. However, as I have done previously with a Dell Inspiron 9200, I plan to dual boot it. My thinking is that, if I can't find all the XP drivers I need in the short term, I'll at least have a working Vista machine.

Once I have all the XP drivers, I may convert it to XP only (although that was the plan with the Dell a year ago, and it's still a dual boot machine...)

Anyway... I'm planning to follow the instructions here:

http://apcmag.com/howtodualbootvistaandxpwithvistainstalledfirst_thestepbystep_guide.htm

My question is: the hard drive on the machine I'm planning to dual boot already has both a C: and a D: partition. Do I therefore need to follow the instructions on the second page "create free space for Windows XP"? Or can I start from page 3?

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 2:13PM

Have a look at my previous post and the link. It might be helpful.

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 2:35PM

I've found this driver for XP, link check the board spec is the same.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 2:44PM

rdave, many thanks. I've read your posts and followed your links. What have I missed? Re your second post: been there, bought the t-shirt... :-) It looks like exactly what I need but, unless I'm missing something (again...) when I click on any of the links, they don't take me anywhere. I'd giuess they may once have linked to the Abit site, but now just link to a Google ad page.

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 2:52PM

If you're going to have a go installing XP without sata drivers (it might work depending on bios setting) make sure you create a system-repair disc if you have no Vista DVD. Have a look in Start, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a Recovery Disc.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 2:59PM

OK, an update... I may have found the correct SATA driver. It comes as a .zip file, which I've unzipped. Now, the question is, what exactly would I slipstream into my XP CD? Within the .zip file is a setup.exe file, but I assume that's not what I need to copy...

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:01PM

Sorry Ian in Northampton should have checked the link in Softpedia it's dead. So it's an intel chip. Back to this link, use CPU-Z to check the chipset (should be intel) then using Office viewer if you don't have office look at the Doc. covering If you've got few Intel models and you want to use only one installation disc for all of them then:

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:04PM

rdave: great idea - but that option isn't included in Vista Home Premium (according to the Help file). I have a copy of Norton Ghost around somewhere - I wonder if that would work?

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:13PM

I don't know anything about NG sorry. We're talking cross purposes here a bit. If you're going to use this link to slipstream your driver then use the folder you have after unzipping.

I take it you're not keen on the HP solution.

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Ian in Northampton

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:29PM

Sorry, rdave. NG is an Acronis-alike - you can make a restorable image of your hard drive. The HP approach looks promising. I know that the mobo features the 965 chipset so no problem there. My concern is only that I've convinced myself that the Abit board uses JMicron drivers - not Intel drivers. Do you think the Intel drivers would work? (Or do you think I might be wrong about JMicron?)

Stop the presses: I just checked on Belarc Advisor, and the SATA controller chipset is indeed the Intel ICH8, so I have to believe the Intel driver would work.

I may be about to try this...

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rdave13

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Posted May 25, 2012 at 3:38PM

I'd certainly create an image before you dive in :) Good luck.

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