On 24/01/2010 19:09, gordon wrote:
> Is it possible to run windows xp pro 32bit and windows 7 64bit on separate
> partitions on a 64bit computer?.
Hi Gordon,
Yes it is.
However - speaking as one who runs Windows 7 and XP side-by-side all day
long, for business reasons - I highly recommend you consider running
32-bit XP in a Virtual Machine on Windows 7: such as Microsoft Virtual
PC or VMware Workstation 7.0.
Dual-booting is possible; however is is always fragile and error prone.
For every respondent who says "I've been dual booting for years with no
problem", there'll be at least one other who has seen an unexpected
"NTLDR not found" error or similar disaster. Basically, Windows does not
handle dual booting well. However, running in a VM is a mainstream and
well-supported way of running two versions of Windows side-by-side.
By running XP in a VM, you can share and copy files back and forth
between XP and Windows 7, and run XP apps and Windows 7 apps side by
side at the same time. No need to stop, reboot, run the other system,
reboot, and switch back.
I use VMWare Workstation myself; however Microsoft Virtual PC is also
good, and it's free! So try it out and see if you like it:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/
VMWare is particularly useful if you want to run non-Windows operating
systems, such as Linux or Solaris, in a VM.
There are some other 3rd party VM platforms out there as well, with
various pros and cons: Parallels, VirtualBox, etc.
Hope this helps,
Andrew
--
amclar at optusnet dot com dot au