Dual boot: one 32x, one 64x

C32C3 said:

P.S.
Why make a recovery disk before making a dual boot?

It's a "Just in Case" measure. Either method has risks to it. With a Dual boot you are editing the boot manager, if something goes wrong then it could potentially leave both OS'es unbootable, so you need a recovery disk to get it working again.

Also, occasionally a OEM recovery partition won't boot after installing a different OS, so it's necesssary to have the disks.

Likewise, XP Mode is a Windows Update, again with the possibility of something going wrong and needing a recovery disk.

You should have recovery disks anyway... computer problems aren't known for waiting until you have recovery options.

What I meant is, it seems like an awful lot of effort to dual boot for your printer. I get that you want to save money, which is fine, but XP Mode will probably do what you want it to. Personally, I dual boot Linux and Windows, and it annoys me like nothing else, when I have to boot into Windows to use one program, and then boot back into Linux again.

Uh... I don't know is the honest answer. I've never tried to remove XP Mode.

I know that XP Mode makes an entry in the Add/Remove Programs option in Control Panel, so I assume it can be uninstalled like that. It is effectively Microsoft Virtual PC, which can be uninstalled. If you have to go down the route of installing the Hyper-V workaround (update 3) then that may not be removable, I don't know.

I'm not trying to discourage you from dual booting, if you think that's your best option then go for it, I'm just trying to provide an alternative.

theog said:

WinXP Mode is free with Ultimate.

WinXP mode, I believe is free with professional on up.

Rich

C32C3 said:

What you say is true and I will remember what you say about recovery disks.
I also dislike dual boots. Necessarily, they make changes to the boot manager and to undo the changes can be a hassle. The delay on startup is also a pain.
My gut feeling is that the XP Mode is not the solution but its worth a try.
Question: what changes to my registry will installation of the XP Mode make? If its not the solution I am looking for can it be uninstalled and my system returned to its previous state?
When I have time I will use the link you provided and read more about the XP Mode.
Thanks.

If the use of the scanner is very infrequent you may want to investigate making a bootable USB key or USB external drive or drive in a docking station.

You can find out how to make just about any media boot an OS on this site:

reboot

DeaconFrost said:

I avoid multi-boot setups like the plague, so I'm definitely in the camp of virtualizing. You can run the printer's software in XP for whenever you need it. Should you ever upgrade the printer to something compatible, you can easily remove XP Mode without take a chance of rendering the system unbootable.

If you have a backup image you'd have to be pretty careless to do so. Esp. if the XP boot drive was external! I mean, there's paranoid and there's paranoid. Plus there's no better simulation that the actual OS and hardware. Sucks to spend 4 hours getting a VM set up only to find the thing don't work when done!

edit: btw one reason I suggested an external USB is I'm told an "easy" way to make it bootable is to get an image from an OS you are not using anymore(like from an old PC with XP installed as C drive) and restore it to the external drive. No messing with boot menus. Just use the boot option on startup screen to boot from the USB. Much less error prone. Many of the "guides" how to mix and match Vista/XP don't put in the vital info how to cure "ntdetect.com|ntldr missing or corrupt" and that single step is what makes people waste all the time and pull their hair. :)

edit2: of course running off external USB 2.0 it's gonna' be pretty damn slow. That's why I suggested only for very infrequent use.