Creating a dual-boot Gaming PC – Part 1, Installing Windows XP and Vista
Posted on 12. Nov, 2008 by Mike Halsey in gaming, guides and how to's
As I’ve written previously, there are many advantages to having a dedicated copy of Windows just to be used for gaming. You can shut down all the parts of Windows that you don’t need and minimise Windows’ ‘footprint’, maximising gaming performance.
To set up a dual boot system for this with both Windows XP (for gaming) and Windows Vista (for everything else) you’ll need to have a freshly formatted hard drive with nothing on it. If you need to format your hard disk to do this then make sure you have backed up any files that you want kept. You can refer to my three part guide on backups for information on how to do this in the ‘PC support’ section of this site.
If you want to install a system with Windows XP and Windows 7 then you can still follow these instructions as Vista and Windows 7 have an almost identical installer.
Installing Windows XP
Start your PC with your Windows XP CD in and the Windows installer will start automatically. If you have Windows installed already and need to format the drive press the ENTER key when the words ‘Press any key to boot from CD’ appear.
(click on any of the images to view the full-size version)
You’ll be presented with a series of options and you’ll want to press the ENTER key ‘to set up Windows XP now’.
The next window that appears will give you the option to partition your hard disk, this means you can seperate a single drive into different drives, one for Windows XP, one for Windows Vista, one for your files and so on. If you have any partitions that appear in the list you need to delete, you can select the option ‘to delete the selected partition, press D‘. You will want ‘to create a partiton in the unpartitoned space‘ by pressing C.
Hopefully you have a good-sized hard disk. You will be creating three partitions by the end of this process, for XP, Vista and for your files. Ideally, for a gaming machine your Windows XP partition should be at least 50Gb in size (for this you would specify a size of 50000 megabytes). Remember that the operating system is about 5Gb and every game you install will also occupy between 4Gb and 8Gb. Don’t worry about creating partitions for Windows Vista or your files at this stage.
When choosing how much space you should allocate for Windows XP, remember that your Windows Vista partiton should be a minimum of 30Gb, preferably 50Gb and that your files drive will need to be big enough, not only to store all your files, photos and music, but also to give you space for those collections to grow.
Now you’re ready to install Windows XP. At the next stage, select the partition on which you want to install Windows and press ENTER.
You will need to format the drive you’re installing Windows on to. The best choice is NTFS Quick.
Near the end of the installation process Windows XP will want you to set your local settings, country etc. Here you will want to change your country and also your keyboard layout.
For home use, you can happily click through the Network Settings choices.
You can also click through the Workgroup or Computer Domain settings.
Installing Windows Vista
You are now ready to install Windows Vista. You cannot do this from within XP, so put your Vista install DVD in your drive and reboot the computer.
Keep an eye out for the above screen. Press Enter or any key when asked “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD“.
The first thing Windows Vista will ask you, is to set your country settings. This is much simpler than in Windows XP.
Press the Install Now button at the next screen.
At the next screen, because you booted from the Windows Vista DVD, the upgrade option will be greyed-out. You will want to select Custom (advanced).
Windows Vista will then want to know where you want to install it. Because you are starting with a blank hard disk, maybe having used the Windows XP installer to delete all your existing partitons, you should select the Drive Options (advanced) link in the bottom right of the next screen.
Some additional options will now appear. You should press New to create a new partiton for Windows Vista.
Remember, as I said before your partiton size for Windows Vista should be at least 30Gb (30000 Mb in the selection box) and preferably a larger number like 50Gb. It really depends how big your hard drive is however and if you have another hard drive installed you can use for your files.
You will need to create another partition for your files. If you have a second hard disk installed that you can store you files on this would be ideal. Also, you have enough space to create an additional partition you can use to keep a backup copy of Windows on (see my backup articles for details of how to do this) then better still.
When you are happy with the size your have set for your files drive, in this lcase 49995Mb which is a touch under 50Gb (49.995Gb) then press apply.
You will need to format this third partiton, ready to copy your files over to it. You can do this simply just just clicking the Format option with this third partiton selected. Don’t worry about formatting the Windows Vista drive as the installer will do this automatically.
You are now ready to install Windows Vista. Highlight the drive on which you want to install it and press the Next button when you are ready.
At the end of the installation process you will be prompted to set the settings to be used for Windows Update. I would highly recommend that you select Use recommended settings.
You now have a dual-boot system with both Windows XP and Windows Vista installed, complete with a third partiton to keep your files safe and secure.
Dual Booting Windows
Whenever you start Windows you will now be presented with a new boot screen asking you select between Microsoft Windows Vista (the default option) or Earlier Version of Windows (which will be Windows XP). The default time you have to select this is 30 seconds. You can change this in Windows Vista by going to the Control Panel > System > Startup Options.
In the second and final part of this series I will describe how to configure Windows XP to maximise gaming performance. As you’ll obviously not have internet access when performing these operations I’ve made a printable copy of this article, complete with large pictures, available for download here.
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