Setting up dual boot on vista

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Graham_s

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can anyone tell me how to set up a dual boot on vista?
I have vista already installed, and i have another computer that has died, and was on XP. I have put the HDD into my computer but can't work out how to set it up. vista doesn't even recognise the HDD. Apart from windows being typical, shoddy windows, all I can think of is that the HDD is the dead part of my other computer. Can anyone help?

Thanks
 
I'm fighting the idea that it might be dead because I really don't want it to be!
No, it doesn't show up in the BIOS, but I haven't tried booting the computer with that drive alone. I didn't want to risk messing my new computer up (and I didnt think of it). I'll have a look at the guide and see if I can get anywhere with it.
 
Have you checked the following:

1. The drive is compatible (IDE/SATA)
2. Jumpers are in right position (master/slave)
3. Is the power source correctly connected? (do you hear it spin up when you turn on the computer?)
4. See if it shows up in Disk Management (control panel -> Administrative Tools - > Computer Management)
5. Are there any physical damage to the hdd? I once bended a pin while connecting a new drive, and this caused all kind of strange behavior.

I think it's safe to connect a dead hdd alone to your new computer , it won't mess anything up. Set the jumper to Master and disconnect any other hdd/cd drive. The worst thing that could happen is that a "no system disk" message shows up.
 
yes, the drive is SATA and all cables are in the right places and connected properly. It won't show up in disk management, it doesnt recognise it at all. There is no physical damage to the HDD, and I don't understand why it would just die. It wasnt even that old. I can't hear if it fires up at startup because I have 4 HDDs.
 
Sorry, I can't think of any other solution right now, maybe you should take it to a technician.
My laptop drive suddenly died after only 7 months, I just rebooted an the drive never booted again. Lost all my information (luckily I had backup). So it is possible that it suddenly stops working.
As a last resort you could try to fiddle around with your BIOS (if you know what your doing), look for options like "Auto detect" or "Detect drives" or something.
But sorry, this sounds like a bad drive, especially if your old computer died. Just to be sure, maybe you could try to boot your old computer with another HDD (one you know is OK). If it doesn't boot, your old hdd is probably dead.
 
The HDD with Vista on should be Master.
The HDD with XP on should be Slave.

When that's done, go to the multi-boot screen duing boot and select the secondary HDD. If that doesn't work, try booting in vista and see if it will find the HDD in "Computer"
 
SATA drives don't have master/slave jumpers as there's only one device per channel. If yours isn't even recognized in BIOS and all cables are fine, it's most likely dead.
 
SATA hd's don't have jumper settings. Each drive is connected independantly, and some manufacturers require you to edit your bios. You have to actually edit the bios for SATA drives and turn on SATA 0, SATA 1, etc. That could be the reason why you're hard drive with XP on it isn't being recognized. SATA 0 will always be your master hdd, with any other SATA drives being the slave drives.
 
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