Dual boot Xp & Xp 64

[iDV8]

I can't get video to open in LW's composit background using Xp 64. I'm having a heck of a time with anything video, although I finally have acess to DVD's through Mediaplayer, but I can't get Premier or Avid to work. Does anyone else use video in Xp 64?
Because I need my video editing software can I just dual boot Xp and Xp64 (I've never had to dual boot befor)? Tell me if that is a logical conclusion.

[mkiii]

If you want to dual boot xp32 & xp64, it is best to have xp32 installed & set up first, then install xp64 on a different drive or partition.

If you don't do it that way round, you will probably end up overwriting the ntldr file for xp64, with the older xp32 one , and from that point things start to get a little bit difficult to fix unless you have a guru, a spare machine, internet access, and a network standing by to do a bit of system rescuing.

Essentially, it seems that the boot system from xp64 lets you boot both, but the one from xp32 doesn't.

[dgon64]

Dual Boot is a good way to go if you need access to stuff that won't work in XP64. I have a dual boot with W2000 and XP64 and have the best of both worlds on one computer. XP32 should work the same way and as stated by mkiii, it would be best to install your 32-bit OS first as you can use XP or even a third party program to create a new partition on which to install XP64. Once you get it working though make sure you create an emergency boot-up disk in case you have a problem later on. LW Layout crashed on me once causing havoc in my boot-up sector and I couldn't start either OS. That was the one thing I hadn't backed up-resulting in having to reinstall W2000. Dual boot can be tricky but it's the only way I've found around some of XP64's incompatibility issues.

[iDV8]

Thanks mkiii and dgon64. I think I'll do that. Cheer me up though and tell me some of the practical advantages you have experienced from xp 64 so I don't feel like this has just been a big pain in the rear.

[dgon64]

If you have a large scene, LW in XP64 is definitely the way to go. I've posted this several times so sorry for being redundant but in my own case, I have a scene that has a large terrain file with building and road objects that won't even load in LW32 under XP PRO or Win2000 but was no problem under XP64. This enables one to set up and render larger scenes in LW itself doing less comp work in the long run. Try it- you'll like it and LW9 even more!

[iDV8]

That's good to know dgon64. I'm installing my dual boot as we speak, or type and I'm glad to hear this trouble will be worth it. Hopefully they'll get Xp64 running everything right one of these days.