Dual Boot Xp with ...
 

I'm trying to get Xp in a dual boot with Xp. You may be asking why:

The main reason I need to do this is because the partition with the school software on it, results in a messed up registry. This is because the school makes us download their own software and its completely buggy, messes with the registry for anti-piracy measures and makes the OS (Win Xp) completely unstable (with its background services calling back home - ALL THE TIME)

What options do I have to combat this issue? Would creating a separate account in Xp's user account settings suffice? Or is having a dual boot Xp with Xp the only way around this? If so, what boot manager should I use to do this that is free?

I know you can have 2 partitions with XP on it, and XP is nice and works out the boot options on it's own, just instead of loading XP right off the bat it will prompt you, just remember it'll be smart to change the boot config so you know what one you are booting too. I can help you more if you need. To change the boot config, Right Click on My Computer> properties. Click the Advanced Tab. Click Settings under Startup and Recovery. Click Edit under system startup and that's where you can change the name. So I have "OldXP" and "NewXP". When you go to install the New XP, it will automatically see that you already have one and just add it to the boot file.

A little too long but nice. Here is my option :
If you have already installed in the second partition windowsXp then turn on the view hidden files or folders and then open the boot.ini file. There is the same one that you saw in the previous example. I have used PowerQuest Boot Magic as my boot manager, but it is not free. :)

As PhilBon says you shouldn't have any difficulty.

Consider though another option, running a virtual XP within your current one. You can install the crap software on the virtual xp keeping your proper one clean. I stopped dual booting when I discovered how easy this was.

I like the VirtualBox program but VMWare Player is also good when used with EasyVMX to generate the initial blank machine. Both are free.

Install a second hard drive, put XP on each drive, and set up a simple dual boot. I have done that while transferring contents of my small (original) drive (XP home) to my new, larger drive (XP Pro). It was easy, no worries about partitioning or external boot managers.

On the other hand, when dual booting XP and OpenBSD on the same drive, I used a program called GAG. It's ugly, unpolished, but worked without a whimper.

Well, I did try "VMware", however its very sluggish. I only have 1 hard drive so I'm thinking that the dual boot option is the only way to go. Thanks guys.

I found this software which is free:

Altiris SVS
URL: http://www.svsdownloads.com/

Description: Altiris SVS is a free tool for software virtualization. You "capture" application installs into a layer, then you can use the SVS Admin to deactivate, reactivate, reset, or delete the layer. If you deactivate the layer, all traces of it are removed from your system. It's a very nice piece of software, especially for free!

The Goods: Free software virtualization, excellent for keeping your machine clean and uncluttered.
The Catch: None that I'm aware of.


So basically, when a layer is deactivated all the stuff put in place by the installer and all files/registry changes made by the application disappear, and won't come back until you activate the application.

I found this amazing piece of software which is free and I just had to post it here, knowing someone else might want to use it.

Altiris SVS
URL: http://www.svsdownloads.com/

So basically, when a layer is deactivated all the stuff put in place by the installer and all files/registry changes made by the application disappear, and won't come back until you activate the application.