One Program,2 Operating Systems,Single PC

S

I have 2 OS installed in my PC,ie. Windows Xp and VISTA on separate partitions on the same computer..

there are several programs that i use both under XP and VISTA.
i have to install the program twice ie one under Xp and another VISTA..which takes up twice the amt of space for the same program

i was wondering if i could save some space by creating a common place for the program and accessing them from under both OSs..

Is it possible.

No Buddy its not possible

When a program is installed. it creates entries in the registry of the OS which is currently being used

Softwares, which require registry settings and which also stores their required files in some other folders, like Windows, Common Files, etc, can't work in this case.
But a few softwares, like WinRAR, Winamp, etc can run.

Use Portable Apps from www.portableapps.com if they suite you. As they are not installed in the first place, no problems can come. I avoid installing stuff as far as I can avoid it. Keeps registry clean and when I wanna get rid of the program I delete the folder.

Heh .. Some years ago I was having W2k and XP dual boot (W2k eval version suckkkkkks ) and when I needed to install a program in both OS, I just give one location and it installs alright .. All the common files are installed in the OS directories and registry entries are created.
So if you need to install one software in two OS, just install it in one OS and boot from another OS and run the installer and give the install location as the previous one ..
Tried and tested ..

R

Hey that would be great I am thinking too for trying Vista, it would be great if all the XP installed softwares can be accessed from vista.

So if you need to install one software in two OS, just install it in one OS and boot from another OS and run the installer and give the install location as the previous one ..
Tried and tested ..

I have XP running so I simply install Vista on another partation & run the installer once again of the programs I need on vista & while installing give the path to XP drive C:\program files\

Is that what u meant?

Yeah .. Thats what I mean ..

hmm...batty, it will work but not with all the apps. It won't work with applications using file based licensing, like Autodesk or Adobe applications. there license is saved in a file

Right now i m using Vista & XP in dual boot, with vista as the primary OS. only some apps are installed twice, which save their configuration in document & settings folder (it's changed in Vista), however some other apps can run from the XP partition too

Also, I have tested many-many programs using same trick told by it_waaznt_me for dual boot having

Win 98 & Win 2000
Win 98 & Win XP
Win 2000 & Win XP
Win XP & Win Vista (Not much progs tested, still testing)

kumarmohit said:
Use Portable Apps from www.portableapps.com if they suite you. As they are not installed in the first place, no problems can come. I avoid installing stuff as far as I can avoid it. Keeps registry clean and when I wanna get rid of the program I delete the folder.

Thanks for the link

Thanks for repu