Want to dual boot Vista 64 with Windows 10 Pro on separate drives

[hdsledge]

EDIT: Found this and seems to be a good solution. Does anyone agree or disagree that this is the best method and if not, why? Thanks.

[[[ Safest way to dual BOOT on two disks.
Disconnect one you don't want that OS on because you may end up with BOOT spread over both of them and if you remove one or BOOT from wrong one you can end up with no OS at all.
After installing that OS, you can use: EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies on first or even both disks to give you BOOT menu to chose OS you want to BOOT to.
That process never failed me even with various OSs, like Windows of all kinds plus Linux distros.
]]]]

My original question:

I have Vista Premium 64 installed and want to install latest Windows 10 Pro on a separate drive. Want to be able to pick which opsys to boot into and have access to data on the Vista drive while booted into Windows 10 Pro and vice versa. What is the best/simplest procedure to facilitate the result and are there any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Have read other entries here but I am starting out with working Vista 64 install and want to make sure it all works after I install W10 Pro on the other drive. Sorry if I am asking a question that has already been answered and appreciate links to the solution if so.

ps. Have Asus P5E3 Premium mbd.

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ps. Read where one user found the easiest/simplest/trouble free way to do this is to disconnect the original drive and install Windows 10 onto the new one, then plug the old drive back in and boot to one or the other with cmos setup menu.

Any drawbacks to this method or can someone suggest a better way? I want to make sure the drives act independently in case one fails I can boot to the other with no problems.

 

[Math Geek]

nothing tricky here. 2 main easy ways. one is the way you found which is to remove the drive with vista on it and then install win 10 to second drive. then select which to boot to from boot menu at start-up.

second way just as easy is to install win 10 to second drive with first one still installed. windows will see the first drive and set-up the dual boot menu for you as it installs win 10. then on start-up you get a menu which let's you pick which to load.

end is same thing and both are just as easy. but with second method do be VERY careful and e sure to install to the second drive and not over the top of your vista install. name vista drive an obvious "vista" title and second as obvious "win 10" title so you can easily see which is which and not be guessing at install time.

 

[hdsledge]

Leaning toward first option since I will only boot occasionally back to Vista 64 to use old graphics program installations. Will the old Vista 64 drive be immediately recognized by the W10 installation after I plug and restart so I can transfer files? Have read about problems with W10 not recognizing USB or drives formatted with older operating systems unless it is installed on them.

On the boot menu option I want to make sure if either drive fails I can restart and immediately boot to the other one by changing boot sequence in bios. Have read that some have problems in case of drive failure the other drive will not boot and repair installs have to be performed. Is that a valid concern?

Thanks Math Geek

 

[USAFRet]

A better way might be to have the Vista install in a VM, instead of a full Dual boot.

Dualboot to ward off a drive fail is a waste of resources.

 

[Math Geek]

not a big deal if one of the drives fails in a dual boot set-up. a quick boot repair and it's working again. not worth worrying about really. only takes a couple minutes.

you're overthinking this and trying to make it a bigger deal than it is

pick one and go with it. they are both basically the same really.

 

[hdsledge]

Thanks USAFRet. I downloaded Virtualbox last night. Dual boot or not I'm going to play with it. It sounds cool and will give me a chance to exp with other operating systems. Can't use W10 VM due to my old mbd capabilities (SLAT) it seems.

Wondering about resources used to set up a VM with Virtualbox.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks USAFRet. I downloaded Virtualbox last night. Dual boot or not I'm going to play with it. It sounds cool and will give me a chance to exp with other operating systems. Can't use W10 VM due to my old mbd capabilities (SLAT) it seems.

Wondering about resources used to set up a VM with Virtualbox.

I use VirtualBox daily. I pretty much have a Linux VM running ALL the time.

For an XP install, you just need to devote some RAM and drive space to it.
Maybe 2GB RAM. and 40GB drive space.

5 OS's, in VirtualBox, on my current system.
Linux, Win 10 Pro, Win 10 Home, Server2016, Win 10 Pro host.