HI,

i wanted to know whether i can use Vista ultimate on my system which is currently running XP SP2. if yes then how do i switch between two OS.

snowflake22

Thanks for sharing the link to the program one can use to see if their current system will run Vista.

The site said the following. Why does the program need devices that are used with the PC to be plugged in to do the evaluation? What do they mean by 32-bit verson of XP? How does one know if they are using 32-bit on the computer they use?

Before you run the Upgrade Advisor, be sure to plug in any USB devices or other devices such as printers, external hard drives, or scanners that are regularly used with the PC you're evaluating.

The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor works with 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista, except Windows Vista Enterprise edition. It will not work with other editions of Windows.

ScottGem

I've asked you this before, don't you think about the questions you ask? Why do you think the devices would have to be plugged in to do the evaluation??? Think about it!

32 vs 64 bit refers to the number of instructions that can be processed simultaneously. Obviously 64 bit is 2x as fast. However, there aren't as many drivers available for 64 bit Vista, so most Vista packages sold and installed are 32 bit versions.

retsoksirhc

Try doing some research before asking so many questions, you can very easily see what a driver or a HAL is with a quick search on google or wikipedia.

HAL (software) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Device driver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ScottGem

To Snowflake,

That's now 2 of us telling you the same thing. We are here to help you, but you could get answers to a lot of your questions by doing some research instead of waiting for someone to see your question and respond.

Also its not nice to hijack someone's thread. If you have question about what someone posts, start a new thread.

danm261291

It is possible to run Windows XP and Windows Vista on the same machine.

One way is to multi boot your machine. This option means your hard drive is split into two partitions, one on which XP can be stored and run from and one of which Vista can be stored on and run from. You would need to be able to shrink you existing XP partition to create room for a new Vista partition, a program such as Paragon Partition Manager could do this. More information on how to do this can be found here; How to dual-boot Vista with XP - step-by-step guide with screenshots | APC Magazine

Another option is using a virtual machine. A virtual machine is a program that creates a virtual computer without affecting your actual computer. So you could run this program, and install Vista on virtual machine within it. This means that you do not risk damaging your current XP install and you can run XP and Vista at the same time. I would recommend that your machine should have between 1.5GB and 2GB of RAM to do this. Also the virtual machine will create a file for the virtual PC's hard drive, so you will need to make sure you have enough disc space for XP and Vista.
One free vitual machine program is availble from Microsft, there website has more details;
Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

I believe you will need to buy a full version (not upgrade) of Windows Vista to keep both OSrunning to comply with Microsoft licensing.