Posting Freak
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Finally I got my dual boot to work after getting some friends to help me step-by-step. I only have 1 inconvenience (Some terms might be abbreviated wrong)
When I had to change the BIOS
- IDE
- RAID (Default)
- ACHI
When I use XP, i switch to IDE mode. When I use vista, I need to switch to RAID mode.
Is there a way to have it automatically switch or something? I heard something called a compatible mode but i don't have that option.
Senior Member
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Can't vista use IDE mode anyways?
Posting Freak
Posts: 2,820
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I think i have 2 or 3 harddrives. Reg C drive, recovery D, and H is where i made the XP when i made a new partition
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If anything I would recommend using RAID as the default as the RAID is hardware based and not software dependant. You shouldn't have any issues booting XP off the RAID array and you can dual boot it with Vista just fine. Just make sure the partitions are seperated and you have the RAID set for RAID 0.
IDE mode is for single disk boot only. I would do this... erase the drives and reformat the RAID array. Then, create two partitions, install XP to one partition, and then install Vista to the other partition. This way both will be on the RAID array and you won't have to keep messing with your BIOS each time you want to boot to another OS.
The good thing about your setup is... the RAID doesn't require drivers and is built into the BIOS. If it was a SCSI RAID PCI card then, yes drivers might be an issue.
Posting Freak
Posts: 2,820
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Just to note: I have not booted up XP on raid mode after i finalized everything. It did crash during installation before i ran easybcd and stuff. I do not know what happens if i try running xp on raid mode and i'll test it tonight.
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Actually I would avoid setting it to AHCI. Kas has a RAID controller that self managed (without software). Switching to AHCI can cause a lot of problems after the OS is installed. It's a base specification for SATA drives, but it also does not support the RAID feature without the driver. You can use AHCI if you have multiple drives to manage a RAID array but not on the boot drive itself. If anything you would use this if you have a Software RAID Array using Dynamic Disks (which do not allow a boot drive on the array).
The IDE is for legacy supported systems that do not have a SCSI or SATA driver to support them. This mode is fine for systems like 2000 and XP as well as Linux, but for Vista, 7, and newer Linux systems, it's recommended you use the RAID setting. In fact I wouldn't use it at all unless you have just one single drive in the system booting XP.
If anything Kasssoljoyyx you have to follow these steps because it won't just boot to the RAID on XP...
1. You have to set up the RAID configuration in the BIOS itself.
2. You'll then have to set up the RAID BIOS to detect RAID 0 (striped) or RAID 1 (mirrored).
3. You'll have to format and partition the whole drive array. Use the Windows XP disk first to do this. Create 50% of the whole space for XP and a blank 50% unpartitioned space (the blank space is where Vista will go later.) and install XP.
4. Install Vista to the blank partition space on the drive. This will install the Multi-OS Microsoft Boot Loader which will ask you each time you boot which OS you want to choose. You'll now have XP and Vista on the same disk and not have any issues.
Because the RAID is self managed by the motherboard BIOS you will not need a driver like you would with a SCSI, SAS, or other hardware PCI/PCIe/PCI-X controller card. Basically you set up the drives for RAID, install, and don't worry about it.
