Multibooters
Dual and Multibooting with Vista


This site’s main aim is to understand Vista’s boot requirements,
particularly with regard to third-party boot managers and cloning.		 Site Motief
Home
Vista Quirks and Bugs
Vista's new Partitioning
Rules
Vista's MBR DIsk
Signature
Vista's Boot Files
bootmgr and BCD
Installing Vista
Cloning Vista
Drive Letter Problems
Vista Tested
Boot Managers
Vista Boot Floppy
The Multiboot Process
The Windows System
and Boot Partitions

Windows Seven LogoWINDOWS
SEVEN
Much of the Vista material on this site will apply to Seven, but there have been a few notable changes which can make some of the information here not applicable or not entirely safe for use with Windows Seven. See the new Win-7 page for current updates.


 

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Warning icon DISCLAIMER:
 The information on this site is offered in good faith and no responsibility can be accepted for misuse that leads to loss of data or damaged hardware. There are any number of ways that the slightest mistake in procedure could trash a system. If you have a mission critical OS that you cannot restore, or data that is not fully backed up, then you should not be experimenting with such things.

Info iconThis web site was never intended as a complete how-to guide on the subject of multibooting or cloning. The focus has been to publish information about Vista that was not seen elsewhere. Effort has been made to keep articles as non-technical and concise as possible.







 

Vista Changes The Rules

Vista Logo
Vista has re-written many of the established rules in the areas of multibooting, cloning, moving and deploying a Windows install. Almost none of this was highlighted or adequately documented and there is still very little accessible official information to be sourced on the subject. Here you will find some articles covering the main changes from previous Windows versions.

 



article iconVista Quirks and Bugs
A brief summary of the main issues that it is worth being aware of before you install Vista. A few are just annoying, but others can lead to lost partitions and data.

 

article iconVista's New Partitioning Rules
Details on the new partitioning scheme and how it can cause problems with dual or multibooting and imaging and cloning.

 

article iconVista's MBR Disk Signature
The Disk Signature is now an integral part of the Vista boot process and so needs to be maintained, particularly when imaging or cloning to other hard drives.

 

article iconVista's Boot Files - bootmgr and BCD
An examination of how the bootmgr and BCD files operate and how they find the OS to be booted. The disk signature and the offset of a Vista partition are crucial to their operation.

 

article iconInstalling Vista
How and when Vista decides to configure its own bootmanager with other OSes on the computer. What changes are made to another Windows OS and how to reverse these changes. How to install Vista as a fully independent OS without its bootmanager being placed inside another Windows install.

 

article gifCloning Vista
Solutions to the problems of cloning or moving Vista to other partitions or drives.

 

article gifDrive Letter Problems
How to recover a Vista clone or image that won’t boot to the normal full desktop because the Windows drive letter has become changed.

 

article gifVista Tested Boot Managers
Details on some third-party bootmanagers tested with Vista.

 

article gifVista Boot Floppy
How to make a Boot Floppy that works for Vista.

 

article gifGuide to the Multiboot Process
A straightforward introductory guide to the boot process in general and the Vista dual and multiboot method of operation. Goes on to cover how to avoid the pitfalls of the Microsoft way of multibooting and how third-party bootmanagers operate.

 

article gifSystem and Boot Partition
Just a brief explanation of what the Windows System and Boot partitions are and how to determine which is which.

 
 

 

 

 

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These pages are not guaranteed to be free of errors. I cannot offer support but if you can answer any of the questions on this site, or correct any mistakes, then please let me know by using the feedback form.   McTavish_January_2007
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