Hi,
I am currently using vista with my personal notebook as it is less prone to virus (heard from friends) but I'm more comfortable with XP (it's functions and displays). Will dual use of Operating system not affect each other in case the anti-virus failed to delete the virus? Collection of your ideas, experiences, comments or suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. :S

A virus could potentially damage both OS'es, depending on the type and design. I would just use a good antivirus/spyware package and get used to Vista.

You want to dual boot windows XP and Vista? It won't work if that's what you are after; I've tried. Maybe there is a way, but I haven't gotten it to work.

You can dual boot Xp and Vista! http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm

As for the virus thing. Lets say you have a comp with Vista and linux, and you get a virus on vista. Both OSs are installed on one harddrive, the virus is free to move from vista to linux. However since the virus was programmed for vista it won't affect linux. But you will have XP and vista, so if vista gets a virus or xp gets a virus it could well travel over and since both are windows, both might be affected.

So yes a virus could affect both if you dual boot.

Vista is just as vulnerable to viruses as Xp is. Dual booting will not solve this problem. I suggest you choose any one OS and stick with it. Just install a good Anti-virus program. AVG is a pretty good Anti-virus that's free and is available for bot hXp and Vista. (http://free.avg.com)

It has possibilities that both os may get affected of virus. Good to have dual boot because you can choose which os you are going to use but that would also occupy space on your hard drive.

Dual boot can be good if you do it right, but dual booting two versions of Windows seems pointless to me.

Whatever.

Dual boot can be good if you do it right, but dual booting two versions of Windows seems pointless to me.

Whatever.

sure have to agree with that,
why dual boot ,microsft has fee software to run a virtual machine ,you don't have to install xp on the hard drive .
do google search for microsoft virtual machine ,i did it briefly with vista and win98

AVG is a pretty good Anti-virus that's free and is available for bot hXp and Vista. (http://free.avg.com)

Yep. I have it installed already. It was also suggested by a friend before.

I really appreciate all your shared ideas.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.