Dual Boot 32/64 bit system

[destro]

I'm looking to build a dual boot system 64 bit & 32-bit.....I have a few questions:

1) All peripherals need to have 32 bit & 64 bit drivers?

2) I'm using a X-58 motherboard with 6 gb of ram. Will windows 32 bit XP have an issue with this? or will windows automaticly switch to only see the 4 of 6 gb of ram.

 

[huron]

1 - You'll install different drivers for each OS.

2 - 32 bit OSs can only address a max of 4GB, so it will do it automatically.

I have a dual boot system. It's great. I hardly ever find myself in the 32 bit environment anymore - almost always operating in 64 bit Vista.

 

[Proximon]

You would likely want to slipstream your XP installation, to insure compatibility... Hopefully XP SP3 with updated drivers will handle it.

Use NLite to slipstream XP:
http://www.nliteos.com/

Install XP first, then Vista 64... it goes smoother that way. When you install from a vista 64 disk you'll get the option to dual boot, when it detects XP.

As huron said, Vista 64 is so good now, you'll rarely need or want XP.