Parallel Installation

When I purchased my computer the Windows XP Home Ed. Software did not include SP1 which I downloaded at a later time. Since then the system has been set to "˜Automatic Update’ and all critical updates have been downloaded and installed and no "˜running’ problems encountered.

Then came SP2 which was also downloaded and installed and thereafter my computer problems started - some of the things happening, amongst others were:

An unbelievable slow down in speed
Hanging at any given point in time
Taking hours to install a software program that would normally be done in minutes
Numerous conflicts
Numerous occasions where a window would say the system had a serious error and would have to close
etc
etc
etc

Fortunately I had created a Restore Point prior to downloading and installing SP2 and my only logical solution to keep me going was to restore to pre download and install time.
Result:- computer back to the way it was.
I have since purchased a brand new Windows XP Home Ed which includes SP2 and was thinking of running a parallel installation then deleting the originally installed Windows folder.

QUESTIONS:

In the Add/Remove programs folder there is a listing of all the updates, as shown below,

Windows XP Hotfix - KB820291
Windows XP Hotfix - KB821253
Windows XP Hotfix - KB822603
Windows XP Hotfix - KB823182
Windows XP Hotfix - KB824105
Windows XP Hotfix - KB824141
Windows XP Hotfix - KB825119
Windows XP Hotfix - KB826939
Windows XP Hotfix - KB826942
Windows XP Hotfix - KB828028
Windows XP Hotfix - KB828035
Windows XP Hotfix - KB828741
Windows XP Hotfix - KB833987
Windows XP Hotfix - KB835732
Windows XP Hotfix - KB840987
Windows XP Hotfix - KB841356
Windows XP Hotfix - KB841553
Windows XP Hotfix - KB842773
Windows XP Hotfix - KB873376
Windows XP Hotfix - KB889293
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) [See KB810243 for more information]
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q322011
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q327979
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q331695
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q331958
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q814995
Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) Q815485
WinHTTP QFE
X10 Hardware(TM)

Following a parallel installation can all of these files be removed as well as the initial Windows file or are Hotfix files removed prior to par’l inst?

Are there any latent problems with par’l inst?

It is assumed that all other data files and settings will remain without change. Is this so?

It is assumed that AV software should be disabled during installation. Is this so?

Is there any help and advice that you can give me that may help me to perform this parallel installation without creating further problems?

Again I assume that once the new installation is complete in its C:\ Windows\whatever folder the original Windows folder is removed and the new folder is renamed "˜Windows’?

Many thanks once again for your help.

The tokolosh man

 

Hello tokolosh,

The only instances that I've read of two OSes on the same partition was by error on the part of someone attempting to repair the installation and gave them lots of trouble, to put it mildly. Unless someone comes along that has done this specifically on purpose and knows the drill, I would advise against it.

What you should be doing is a paralell install in the form of dual booting either on another partition on the C drive or another drive - potentially cheaper with another drive because partitioning software is more expensive than a 40 gig drive for instance. Doing it this way is really easy and the new installation will have access to the current partition/drive and vice versa.

Or if you're willing to spend on another XP OS with SP2, then why not just clean install that?

Regards - Charles