Dual boot XP Home with XP Pro

[ianclarke]

Hi

I currently have Windows XP Media Center Edition installed on my desktop. I have also got a lot of media, files, work, etc on the desktop. I don't have an external or second hard drive to back up my data.

I want to learn more about ASP and PHP but unfortunately XP Media (based on Home) doesn't allow the installation of IIS.

What are my options? I could install XP Pro, but I'd like keep the desktop as it is for day to day use, rather than go through the hassle of all the settings and installations again.

Is it possible to install XP Pro on a new partition on the same hard drive and setup a dual boot between them? If so, can I partition the hard drive without reformatting (keeping the current XP setup and data as it is)?

Or would it be a better idea to buy a new hard drive and run XP Pro from the new drive? If I do this, would I have to reformat the first drive (could I keep it as it is - data and at)?

If installing a new drive is the only way I can achieve a dual boot without disturbing the original drive and Windows XP setup, then how difficult would it be to partition the new drive and install a version of Linux? Would this be possible without disturbing the first drive? And being a total Linux virgin, which version would you recommend (SuSe, RedHat, Ubuntu, etc)?

I hope you can help!

Many thanks
Ian

 

[vacunita]

For simplicity's sake, I would; if you really want to learn PHP, install the Apache web server instead of IIS. By itself it doesn't support ASP, but there are some packages that provide the functionality.

Apache has the advantage that it doesn't need XP Pro. it can just as well run on Media Center.


Going back to IIS. Microsoft might not support IIS on Media Center, but that doesn't mean you can't make it run.

Media Center is actually based on XP Pro, so you should be able to add it through control panel, Add/Remove Software, ADD Remove components.


If you want to add a new drive to your system, its as simple as connecting it, letting the system find it, booting with the XP Pro CD and running the installation. It will then ask you to choose a drive, you should know which drive you want to install Pro on to, let it format it and install it. It Should automatically create a boot loader to let you choose between loading your Media Center version, and your XP Pro version.






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