wwwd Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Right, I have a Samsung Q45 laptop and obviously it comes pre-installed with Vista. But I notice when I go to My Computer there are 2 hard-drives (I'm not sure why). Is there an easy way to have XP as an operating system (alongside Vista) so I can just choose on boot up which one I want to run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidrick Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Is there not a hidden recovery section in the 2nd partition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykez69 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 where you say there is 2 hard drives, its probably just one hard drive partitioned, maybe either way, install xp on the hard drive with no windows install on you can boot up at start up either vista or xp why do you want to do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123-escortgti Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 The second partition in the hard drive, is your recovery! I wouldn't touch it, if something goes wrong with the laptop, you'll be buggered! Installing XP would mean new drivers for everything. Plus, some of the hardware probably isn't compatible with XP as the machine was built for Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 The second partition in the hard drive, is your recovery! I wouldn't touch it, if something goes wrong with the laptop, you'll be buggered! Installing XP would mean new drivers for everything. Plus, some of the hardware probably isn't compatible with XP as the machine was built for Vista. Find that hard to believe recovery things are a waste of time, XP sorts out most drivers, and windows update will do the rest! I'd format it Mike and run XP, i hate vista! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 If you currently have Vista installed and trying to install XP along side then you are going to run into problems with the boot options. http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_a...ystep_guide.htm here is a guide that will walk you through it. The proper way to do it is to have XP and then Install vista. Theres nothing stopping you from resizing your current partition and then createing a new one and leaving the backup partition alone. Hardware isnt OS specific, its down to drivers and since XP is still very much the standard operating system I very much doubt you will run into not being able to find drivers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 dual booting vista and xp with vista installed first isnt that difficult, although I notice in the previous link that EasyBCD has been updated so that you don't even need the vista DVD, which is handy as if you have a restore partition you more than likely dont have the vista dvd anyway. And it is quite possible that there is hardware which isnt compatible with XP, sony in particular are notorious for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123-escortgti Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 dual booting vista and xp with vista installed first isnt that difficult, although I notice in the previous link that EasyBCD has been updated so that you don't even need the vista DVD, which is handy as if you have a restore partition you more than likely dont have the vista dvd anyway. And it is quite possible that there is hardware which isnt compatible with XP, sony in particular are notorious for it. I have a sony LM-2E, thats probably why a lot of my hardware isn't compatible with XP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisxn Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 screw it all and get Windows 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadge Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) Just because drivers don’t appear on the Sony website doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Many manufactures use practically the same parts so it’s pretty much always possible to find drivers as long as you know the specific hardware you are looking for. I have a sony LM-2E, thats probably why a lot of my hardware isn't compatible with XP! And which particular piece of hardware are you after a driver for? Edited March 5, 2009 by Gadge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo81 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Screw Vista, DL() Windows XP with Service Pack 3. Don't partition your hard drive because windows runs crap with partitions.You get the choice to delete partitions when you boot of a Windows CD. Download "CPUZ", Run it once you have finished installing Windows XP and it will tell you what Motherboard you have etc. Google the motherboard Make, Model and the word drives you should have no probs!Your better of having another pc in the house when you do this cause you will need an internet resource and XP might not recognize your hardware straight away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Just because drivers don’t appear on the Sony website doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Many manufactures use practically the same parts so it’s pretty much always possible to find drivers as long as you know the specific hardware you are looking for. My God, you're right. I just wish I had the intellect, good looks and sheer brilliance you have. Why didn't I think to just look for the manufacturer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluliz Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 And it is quite possible that there is hardware which isnt compatible with XP, sony in particular are notorious for it. Only on the Home user laptops but I'm sure most of it could be found quite easily. The business grade ones, IE anything thats will sit on docking station have an XP downgrade disc which will install XP, but also there is an EXE to run after the XP install that sorts out compatibility issues. Drivers can then be pulled off the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig855S Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 The second partition in the hard drive, is your recovery! I wouldn't touch it, if something goes wrong with the laptop, you'll be buggered! Installing XP would mean new drivers for everything. Plus, some of the hardware probably isn't compatible with XP as the machine was built for Vista. Find that hard to believe This is the case with my 10 month old Advent..Onboard sound and graphics things do not have XP drivers available so i have to keep vista..and i hate it. With XP i'd be able to run programs that it currently cant run with the vista (cant even play online poker on this piece of Shite) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee_2f2f Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 (edited) screw it all and get Windows 7. +1 Windows 7 done everything for me, including drivers... I have had no problems with the o/s as of yet. Edited March 5, 2009 by Escort_2f2f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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