Help with dual booting

RaiZen18 · 01-29-2009, 05:44 PM

Hey all

I recently installed Vista Ultimate on my pc again, I am dual booting XP and vista and want to know if there is a way of getting around the problem when installing games in one operating system and wanting to play it in the other system...

I realize that the registry etc is probably part of this problem, but any ideas how to get round it, without having to install the game twice, I dont have the hard drive space for that...

Thanks guys.

RaiZen...

Richard_Rahl · 01-29-2009, 08:27 PM

you cannot install a program in one system and run it in another.

Opening regular files may be a different matter, but all that has to be installed does not "work" that way. When installing, some special things are being done by the operating system (e.g. making registry entries).

Give it up, man

Gazz · 01-29-2009, 08:40 PM

Installing the game in the exact same directory on both XP and Vista would work I guess. You'd have to install twice but within the same room. It would just mean both operating systems would make some registry changes.

Let me know if it works

RaiZen18 · 01-30-2009, 03:29 AM

K I will test your theory a little later, casue it is now 5:30 in the morning and I am now off to my old high school for their sports day... will try when I get home... thanks for the idea...

Asclepius89 · 02-12-2009, 04:23 PM

So, how did it go? I'm also planning on having Vista on a 40GB partition on a 640GB HDD and XP on a 30GB partition on a 320GB HDD. But I was planning on installing all programs on the 640GB and just using the 320GB for backups etc.

Did you have any problems such as a software/game installing OS-specific files for XP or Vista? For example some software/game installation may detect your OS and install different files, so it could be a problem in those cases? Maybe changing the name of the folder it is installed to then checking out if all files are the same or if there are extra files in the second OS installation would do the trick.

Also if there are files that are different for each OS and overwrite I guess you'd have to create a logon .bat file that would move or rename the files for the specific OS you booted.

RaiZen18 · 02-12-2009, 04:29 PM

No I didn't have to many problems... jsut some games have problems being installed on one OS and then playing it on another... but other than that there is not much...

Asclepius89 · 02-12-2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaiZen18

jsut some games have problems being installed on one OS and then playing it on another

How so? You mean the OS-compatibility problems? For example a game works on XP, but not on Vista, is that what you mean? Or are you trying to install a game on one OS and then playing on the other without installing it again?

whitealexander · 02-12-2009, 08:53 PM

what games and software have you install and become compatible on each?

RaiZen18 · 02-13-2009, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asclepius89

Or are you trying to install a game on one OS and then playing on the other without installing it again?

Yea thats the one... I install, for eg, Sims 2 on XP, then in vista it says it cant find the cd even tho it is inserted... stupid little errors like that. I own the game legally so I tried a no cd patch. Then I got some other error... lol But i have now noticed that my sister installed it in Vista into another directory anyway...

Games that I can play in either OS so far its Trackmania that I have tried cause I kinda addicted lately...

not sure what else does work... but I will let you guys know asap...