My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....

C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
D: = Data
E: = Vista Ultimate

Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to print,
because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive (£280 when I
bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so I have no
intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing in any case.

The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the drive
while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the physical locations
of the two OS partitions.

I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition images
on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have on booting
the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm quite happy to
keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that makes things easier
but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although I suspect that would
wreck the registry and any other areas where path data is stored).

I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc. so I
don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone advise me
wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?

Thanks,
Tim.

"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>
> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
> D: = Data
> E: = Vista Ultimate
>
> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive (£280
> when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so I have no
> intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing in any case.
>
> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the physical
> locations of the two OS partitions.
>
> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition images
> on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have on booting
> the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm quite happy to
> keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that makes things
> easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although I suspect that
> would wreck the registry and any other areas where path data is stored).
>
> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc. so
> I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone advise me
> wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>
> Thanks,
> Tim.
>[/color]
Although you might not like a radical solution, I would format and re
install Vista on first partition.






--
Ian

Why don't you just virtualise XP?


"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>
> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
> D: = Data
> E: = Vista Ultimate
>
> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive (£280
> when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so I have no
> intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing in any case.
>
> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the physical
> locations of the two OS partitions.
>
> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition images
> on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have on booting
> the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm quite happy to
> keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that makes things
> easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although I suspect that
> would wreck the registry and any other areas where path data is stored).
>
> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc. so
> I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone advise me
> wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>
> Thanks,
> Tim.[/color]

Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea and one
I'll look into.

I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically moving
my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that problem go
away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I am where I am. I
do have dual boot and I do not want to start rebuilding the system from
scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE but I'm quite happy with my Vista
install and do not want to go back to square one with that.

So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or its
contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications) to the
front of the drive?

Thanks again,
Tim.

"Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>
>
> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...[color=green]
>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>
>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>> D: = Data
>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>
>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive (£280
>> when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so I have
>> no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing in any
>> case.
>>
>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
>> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the physical
>> locations of the two OS partitions.
>>
>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have on
>> booting the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm quite
>> happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that makes
>> things easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although I
>> suspect that would wreck the registry and any other areas where path data
>> is stored).
>>
>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc. so
>> I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone advise me
>> wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Tim.[/color]
>[/color]

You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
partition,
but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the effort
you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.

The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.

Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.

"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea and
> one I'll look into.
>
> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that
> problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I am
> where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start rebuilding the
> system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE but I'm quite happy
> with my Vista install and do not want to go back to square one with that.
>
> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or its
> contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications) to the
> front of the drive?
>
> Thanks again,
> Tim.
>
> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>
>>
>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>
>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>> D: = Data
>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>
>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive
>>> (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so I
>>> have no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing in
>>> any case.
>>>
>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
>>> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the physical
>>> locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>
>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have on
>>> booting the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm quite
>>> happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that makes
>>> things easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although I
>>> suspect that would wreck the registry and any other areas where path
>>> data is stored).
>>>
>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc.
>>> so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone advise
>>> me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Tim.[/color]
>>[/color]
>[/color]

I don't have a "problem" with performance, but if I can squeeze a little
more oomph from the system without too much effort or spending money then so
much the better. I have a 6 month old Dell XPS M1710 notebook with 2.16GHz
Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667MHz RAM and nVidia 7950GTX 512MB GFX. The HDD is my
system bottleneck, as it only spins at 5,400rpm. I have enough disk space
(120GB) and don't want to splash out for a 7,200 rpm drive when there is
nothing wrong with the drive I have.

My thinking was simply that if I can (easily) move the OS that I use 99% of
the time to the fast part of the disk then I may just as well do it as not
do it.

I was hoping I could get a small free performance boost just by moving
partitions around. Ghost was just an example of some software I have with
which I am familiar. If there is some other software that I need to make the
move then I am looking for advice on what software that might be. I don't
mind learning something new - I just don't fancy sitting here like a muppet
for hours on end reinstalling and configuring tons of software from scratch.
So if I can do what I want using partition images and maybe a small tweak to
the boot process then that's what I'm looking to do.

Moving the partition contents is the easy bit. Keeping drive/partition
letter assignments correct and making sure I can still (dual) boot OK is the
thing I need advice on.


"Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
news:%233ZY28F1HHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
> Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
> partition,
> but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the effort
> you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.
>
> The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
> partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
> in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
> You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.
>
> Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
> AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
> computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
> the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.
>
> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
> news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea and
>> one I'll look into.
>>
>> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
>> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that
>> problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I am
>> where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start rebuilding the
>> system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE but I'm quite happy
>> with my Vista install and do not want to go back to square one with that.
>>
>> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or its
>> contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications) to the
>> front of the drive?
>>
>> Thanks again,
>> Tim.
>>
>> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>>
>>>
>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...
>>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>>
>>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>>> D: = Data
>>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>>
>>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>>>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive
>>>> (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so
>>>> I have no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing
>>>> in any case.
>>>>
>>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
>>>> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the
>>>> physical locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>>
>>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have
>>>> on booting the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm
>>>> quite happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that
>>>> makes things easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although
>>>> I suspect that would wreck the registry and any other areas where path
>>>> data is stored).
>>>>
>>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc.
>>>> so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone
>>>> advise me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Tim.
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

I was picturing a slow old desktop with 1/2 gig of RAM plus indigence.

Now I am imagining that your notebook came with MCE and you used a
full Vista home premium DVD to get the dual boot. If so, there is a boot
repair on the DVD which should fix up Vista after it's moved, but MCE
moved to the upper partition wouldn't boot. You might be able to solve
that with EasyBCD [url]http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1[/url] or VistaBootPRO
[url]http://www.vistabootpro.org/[/url] . Or you could use a boot manager.

You might want to ask about this in the bootitng newsgroup.
Here is a link to TeraByte Unlimited's instructions for posting there:
[url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/oehelp.html[/url]
They also have a video about retaining Vista restore points:
[url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html[/url]

"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:%23KVaRyI1HHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
>I don't have a "problem" with performance, but if I can squeeze a little
>more oomph from the system without too much effort or spending money then
>so much the better. I have a 6 month old Dell XPS M1710 notebook with
>2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667MHz RAM and nVidia 7950GTX 512MB GFX. The HDD is
>my system bottleneck, as it only spins at 5,400rpm. I have enough disk
>space (120GB) and don't want to splash out for a 7,200 rpm drive when there
>is nothing wrong with the drive I have.
>
> My thinking was simply that if I can (easily) move the OS that I use 99%
> of the time to the fast part of the disk then I may just as well do it as
> not do it.
>
> I was hoping I could get a small free performance boost just by moving
> partitions around. Ghost was just an example of some software I have with
> which I am familiar. If there is some other software that I need to make
> the move then I am looking for advice on what software that might be. I
> don't mind learning something new - I just don't fancy sitting here like a
> muppet for hours on end reinstalling and configuring tons of software from
> scratch. So if I can do what I want using partition images and maybe a
> small tweak to the boot process then that's what I'm looking to do.
>
> Moving the partition contents is the easy bit. Keeping drive/partition
> letter assignments correct and making sure I can still (dual) boot OK is
> the thing I need advice on.
>
>
> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
> news:%233ZY28F1HHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>> You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
>> Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
>> partition,
>> but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the effort
>> you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.
>>
>> The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
>> partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
>> in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
>> You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.
>>
>> Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
>> AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
>> computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
>> the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.
>>
>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>> news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea and
>>> one I'll look into.
>>>
>>> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
>>> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that
>>> problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I am
>>> where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start rebuilding
>>> the system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE but I'm quite
>>> happy with my Vista install and do not want to go back to square one
>>> with that.
>>>
>>> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or its
>>> contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications) to the
>>> front of the drive?
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>> Tim.
>>>
>>> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...
>>>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>>>
>>>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>>>> D: = Data
>>>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>>>
>>>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>>>>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive
>>>>> (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often so
>>>>> I have no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless printing
>>>>> in any case.
>>>>>
>>>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of the
>>>>> drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the
>>>>> physical locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have
>>>>> on booting the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm
>>>>> quite happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if that
>>>>> makes things easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them (although
>>>>> I suspect that would wreck the registry and any other areas where path
>>>>> data is stored).
>>>>>
>>>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors etc.
>>>>> so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can anyone
>>>>> advise me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need to do?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Tim.
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>
>>[/color]
>[/color]

Thanks. Yep, the laptop did come with MCE and a "free" Vista upgrade when
available. I'll follow up on the links you've provided.

:)

"Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
news:OVLTUTL1HHA.4916@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
>I was picturing a slow old desktop with 1/2 gig of RAM plus indigence.
>
> Now I am imagining that your notebook came with MCE and you used a
> full Vista home premium DVD to get the dual boot. If so, there is a boot
> repair on the DVD which should fix up Vista after it's moved, but MCE
> moved to the upper partition wouldn't boot. You might be able to solve
> that with EasyBCD [url]http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1[/url] or VistaBootPRO
> [url]http://www.vistabootpro.org/[/url] . Or you could use a boot manager.
>
> You might want to ask about this in the bootitng newsgroup.
> Here is a link to TeraByte Unlimited's instructions for posting there:
> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/oehelp.html[/url]
> They also have a video about retaining Vista restore points:
> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html[/url]
>
> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
> news:%23KVaRyI1HHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>>I don't have a "problem" with performance, but if I can squeeze a little
>>more oomph from the system without too much effort or spending money then
>>so much the better. I have a 6 month old Dell XPS M1710 notebook with
>>2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667MHz RAM and nVidia 7950GTX 512MB GFX. The HDD
>>is my system bottleneck, as it only spins at 5,400rpm. I have enough disk
>>space (120GB) and don't want to splash out for a 7,200 rpm drive when
>>there is nothing wrong with the drive I have.
>>
>> My thinking was simply that if I can (easily) move the OS that I use 99%
>> of the time to the fast part of the disk then I may just as well do it as
>> not do it.
>>
>> I was hoping I could get a small free performance boost just by moving
>> partitions around. Ghost was just an example of some software I have with
>> which I am familiar. If there is some other software that I need to make
>> the move then I am looking for advice on what software that might be. I
>> don't mind learning something new - I just don't fancy sitting here like
>> a muppet for hours on end reinstalling and configuring tons of software
>> from scratch. So if I can do what I want using partition images and maybe
>> a small tweak to the boot process then that's what I'm looking to do.
>>
>> Moving the partition contents is the easy bit. Keeping drive/partition
>> letter assignments correct and making sure I can still (dual) boot OK is
>> the thing I need advice on.
>>
>>
>> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
>> news:%233ZY28F1HHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>> You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
>>> Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
>>> partition,
>>> but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the effort
>>> you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.
>>>
>>> The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
>>> partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
>>> in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
>>> You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.
>>>
>>> Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
>>> AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
>>> computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
>>> the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.
>>>
>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>> news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea
>>>> and one I'll look into.
>>>>
>>>> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
>>>> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that
>>>> problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I am
>>>> where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start rebuilding
>>>> the system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE but I'm quite
>>>> happy with my Vista install and do not want to go back to square one
>>>> with that.
>>>>
>>>> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or its
>>>> contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications) to the
>>>> front of the drive?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks again,
>>>> Tim.
>>>>
>>>> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...
>>>>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>>>>> D: = Data
>>>>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>>>>>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive
>>>>>> (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often
>>>>>> so I have no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless
>>>>>> printing in any case.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of
>>>>>> the drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the
>>>>>> physical locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>>>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will have
>>>>>> on booting the machine if I physically move the partitions about. I'm
>>>>>> quite happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista as E: if
>>>>>> that makes things easier but I'd be just as happy to relabel them
>>>>>> (although I suspect that would wreck the registry and any other areas
>>>>>> where path data is stored).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors
>>>>>> etc. so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can
>>>>>> anyone advise me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need
>>>>>> to do?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>> Tim.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>[/color]
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

To reply to my own thread, I tried moving the physical partitions around
using Ghost images and sure enough I got stuck with drive letter references
being all wrong and nothing working so ended up reinstalling everything from
scratch.

I tried running XP MCE in a virtual machine within Vista and while the
install and use of XP in a virtual machine was simple enough I was not able
to access my Bluetooth card so printing via Bluetooth - the precise
objective I wanted to meet - was not possible. As a result I'm back to a
dual boot config, this time with C:Vista, D:Data and E:XPMCE.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions.


"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:f8s089$q5g$1@registered.motzarella.org...[color=blue]
> Thanks. Yep, the laptop did come with MCE and a "free" Vista upgrade when
> available. I'll follow up on the links you've provided.
>
> :)
>
> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
> news:OVLTUTL1HHA.4916@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=green]
>>I was picturing a slow old desktop with 1/2 gig of RAM plus indigence.
>>
>> Now I am imagining that your notebook came with MCE and you used a
>> full Vista home premium DVD to get the dual boot. If so, there is a boot
>> repair on the DVD which should fix up Vista after it's moved, but MCE
>> moved to the upper partition wouldn't boot. You might be able to solve
>> that with EasyBCD [url]http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1[/url] or VistaBootPRO
>> [url]http://www.vistabootpro.org/[/url] . Or you could use a boot manager.
>>
>> You might want to ask about this in the bootitng newsgroup.
>> Here is a link to TeraByte Unlimited's instructions for posting there:
>> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/oehelp.html[/url]
>> They also have a video about retaining Vista restore points:
>> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html[/url]
>>
>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>> news:%23KVaRyI1HHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>>I don't have a "problem" with performance, but if I can squeeze a little
>>>more oomph from the system without too much effort or spending money then
>>>so much the better. I have a 6 month old Dell XPS M1710 notebook with
>>>2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667MHz RAM and nVidia 7950GTX 512MB GFX. The HDD
>>>is my system bottleneck, as it only spins at 5,400rpm. I have enough disk
>>>space (120GB) and don't want to splash out for a 7,200 rpm drive when
>>>there is nothing wrong with the drive I have.
>>>
>>> My thinking was simply that if I can (easily) move the OS that I use 99%
>>> of the time to the fast part of the disk then I may just as well do it
>>> as not do it.
>>>
>>> I was hoping I could get a small free performance boost just by moving
>>> partitions around. Ghost was just an example of some software I have
>>> with which I am familiar. If there is some other software that I need to
>>> make the move then I am looking for advice on what software that might
>>> be. I don't mind learning something new - I just don't fancy sitting
>>> here like a muppet for hours on end reinstalling and configuring tons of
>>> software from scratch. So if I can do what I want using partition images
>>> and maybe a small tweak to the boot process then that's what I'm looking
>>> to do.
>>>
>>> Moving the partition contents is the easy bit. Keeping drive/partition
>>> letter assignments correct and making sure I can still (dual) boot OK is
>>> the thing I need advice on.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
>>> news:%233ZY28F1HHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>> You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
>>>> Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
>>>> partition,
>>>> but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the
>>>> effort
>>>> you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.
>>>>
>>>> The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
>>>> partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
>>>> in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
>>>> You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.
>>>>
>>>> Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
>>>> AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
>>>> computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
>>>> the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.
>>>>
>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>> news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea
>>>>> and one I'll look into.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
>>>>> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would that
>>>>> problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing is, I
>>>>> am where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start
>>>>> rebuilding the system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE
>>>>> but I'm quite happy with my Vista install and do not want to go back
>>>>> to square one with that.
>>>>>
>>>>> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or
>>>>> its contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications)
>>>>> to the front of the drive?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks again,
>>>>> Tim.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...
>>>>>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>>>>>> D: = Data
>>>>>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order to
>>>>>>> print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly expensive
>>>>>>> (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print very often
>>>>>>> so I have no intention of buying a new printer. I like wireless
>>>>>>> printing in any case.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of
>>>>>>> the drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the
>>>>>>> physical locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>>>>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will
>>>>>>> have on booting the machine if I physically move the partitions
>>>>>>> about. I'm quite happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista
>>>>>>> as E: if that makes things easier but I'd be just as happy to
>>>>>>> relabel them (although I suspect that would wreck the registry and
>>>>>>> any other areas where path data is stored).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors
>>>>>>> etc. so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can
>>>>>>> anyone advise me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need
>>>>>>> to do?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>> Tim.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>[/color]
>>
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

If I respond to any similar inquiry, I will suggest more strongly that it's
better to let things be, and point them to this thread.

"Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
news:et3mifN2HHA.464@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> To reply to my own thread, I tried moving the physical partitions around
> using Ghost images and sure enough I got stuck with drive letter
> references being all wrong and nothing working so ended up reinstalling
> everything from scratch.
>
> I tried running XP MCE in a virtual machine within Vista and while the
> install and use of XP in a virtual machine was simple enough I was not
> able to access my Bluetooth card so printing via Bluetooth - the precise
> objective I wanted to meet - was not possible. As a result I'm back to a
> dual boot config, this time with C:Vista, D:Data and E:XPMCE.
>
> Thanks to everyone for your contributions.
>
>
> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
> news:f8s089$q5g$1@registered.motzarella.org...[color=green]
>> Thanks. Yep, the laptop did come with MCE and a "free" Vista upgrade when
>> available. I'll follow up on the links you've provided.
>>
>> :)
>>
>> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
>> news:OVLTUTL1HHA.4916@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=darkred]
>>>I was picturing a slow old desktop with 1/2 gig of RAM plus indigence.
>>>
>>> Now I am imagining that your notebook came with MCE and you used a
>>> full Vista home premium DVD to get the dual boot. If so, there is a boot
>>> repair on the DVD which should fix up Vista after it's moved, but MCE
>>> moved to the upper partition wouldn't boot. You might be able to solve
>>> that with EasyBCD [url]http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1[/url] or VistaBootPRO
>>> [url]http://www.vistabootpro.org/[/url] . Or you could use a boot manager.
>>>
>>> You might want to ask about this in the bootitng newsgroup.
>>> Here is a link to TeraByte Unlimited's instructions for posting there:
>>> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/oehelp.html[/url]
>>> They also have a video about retaining Vista restore points:
>>> [url]http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/examples.html[/url]
>>>
>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>> news:%23KVaRyI1HHA.4652@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>>I don't have a "problem" with performance, but if I can squeeze a little
>>>>more oomph from the system without too much effort or spending money
>>>>then so much the better. I have a 6 month old Dell XPS M1710 notebook
>>>>with 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB 667MHz RAM and nVidia 7950GTX 512MB GFX.
>>>>The HDD is my system bottleneck, as it only spins at 5,400rpm. I have
>>>>enough disk space (120GB) and don't want to splash out for a 7,200 rpm
>>>>drive when there is nothing wrong with the drive I have.
>>>>
>>>> My thinking was simply that if I can (easily) move the OS that I use
>>>> 99% of the time to the fast part of the disk then I may just as well do
>>>> it as not do it.
>>>>
>>>> I was hoping I could get a small free performance boost just by moving
>>>> partitions around. Ghost was just an example of some software I have
>>>> with which I am familiar. If there is some other software that I need
>>>> to make the move then I am looking for advice on what software that
>>>> might be. I don't mind learning something new - I just don't fancy
>>>> sitting here like a muppet for hours on end reinstalling and
>>>> configuring tons of software from scratch. So if I can do what I want
>>>> using partition images and maybe a small tweak to the boot process then
>>>> that's what I'm looking to do.
>>>>
>>>> Moving the partition contents is the easy bit. Keeping drive/partition
>>>> letter assignments correct and making sure I can still (dual) boot OK
>>>> is the thing I need advice on.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Michael Jennings" <metarhyme******.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:%233ZY28F1HHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>> You prefer Vista to XP, but you want Vista to have better performance.
>>>>> Vista ought to have slightly better performance if it's in the first
>>>>> partition,
>>>>> but I think you'd find that the gain would be worth less than the
>>>>> effort
>>>>> you had spent to get it, which would include learning and experiment.
>>>>>
>>>>> The problem with your scheme to Ghost Vista down to the XP
>>>>> partition is that Vista presently manages the dual boot from there,
>>>>> in the form of the bootmgr system file in the root of XP's C:\ drive.
>>>>> You would need to repair the absence of that in the moved Vista.
>>>>>
>>>>> Have you maxed out RAM? If not, gig sticks are fairly reasonable.
>>>>> AMD processor prices are at desperate to move 'em levels. If your
>>>>> computer is old, compare the cost of giving it little presents with
>>>>> the cost of giving Vista the sort of hardware it feels entitled to.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>>> news:%2303HyOD1HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Because I wouldn't know where to start, but it's an interesting idea
>>>>>> and one I'll look into.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm still not sure that will get me past my concern about physically
>>>>>> moving my Vista partition to the start of the drive though. Would
>>>>>> that problem go away if I didn't have a dual boot config? The thing
>>>>>> is, I am where I am. I do have dual boot and I do not want to start
>>>>>> rebuilding the system from scratch. I don't mind reinstalling XP MCE
>>>>>> but I'm quite happy with my Vista install and do not want to go back
>>>>>> to square one with that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So what's the best way to physically move my E:\Vista partition (or
>>>>>> its contents at least, including any BIOS and/or boot modifications)
>>>>>> to the front of the drive?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks again,
>>>>>> Tim.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Doug" <Doug <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:%23mJ30T80HHA.5764@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> Why don't you just virtualise XP?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Tiny Tim" <dot@dot.dot> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:85E368BD-0600-47CC-B1B5-D2F9E4836736@microsoft.com...
>>>>>>>> My laptop drive is partitioned as follows....
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> C: = Windows XP MCE 2005
>>>>>>>> D: = Data
>>>>>>>> E: = Vista Ultimate
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Vista is my preferred OS but I still have to boot to XP, in order
>>>>>>>> to print, because HP refuse to develop drivers for my fairly
>>>>>>>> expensive (£280 when I bought it) Bluetooth printer. I don't print
>>>>>>>> very often so I have no intention of buying a new printer. I like
>>>>>>>> wireless printing in any case.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The thing is that now Vista is installed on the slowest sectors of
>>>>>>>> the drive while XP is on the fastest so I'd like to swap around the
>>>>>>>> physical locations of the two OS partitions.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I'm familiar with Norton Ghost and I'm quite happy making partition
>>>>>>>> images on the D: partition but I do not know what impact it will
>>>>>>>> have on booting the machine if I physically move the partitions
>>>>>>>> about. I'm quite happy to keep XP partition labeled as C: and Vista
>>>>>>>> as E: if that makes things easier but I'd be just as happy to
>>>>>>>> relabel them (although I suspect that would wreck the registry and
>>>>>>>> any other areas where path data is stored).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I really don't have a clue when it comes to MBRs and boot sectors
>>>>>>>> etc. so I don't want to try pot luck at moving stuff about. Can
>>>>>>>> anyone advise me wether the move can be done and if so, what I need
>>>>>>>> to do?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>> Tim.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>[/color]
>>
>>[/color]
>[/color]