I have a HP Pavilion Entertainment PC which came Windows Vista 32-bit OEM pre-installed, Home Premium. I want to keep the Windows Vista, but I also want to install Windows 2000 Professional on the same machine.
1. If possible, I would like to do this without erasing the current Windows Vista installation. 2. I am ready to prepare Recovery DVDs before I go ahead. 3. There are no personal documents or files on the computer yet. 4. The laptop has a single hard drive, with more than enough space for Windows Vista and much more.
5. I have a DVD that came along with the laptop, which says, Windows Anytime Upgrade to Vista. It does not have any license key printed on it nor do I have a separate license key on paper. Apart from this DVD, I do not have any other separate Windows Vista Home Premium Installation DVD.
6. If required, I am ready to use tools like EasyBCD mentioned in some discussions.
What is the best way to go ahead with this ? I know the standard Microsoft instruction is to "first install earliest version and then the later versions", but in this case, I want to do the other way round.
If required, I am ready to overwrite Windows Vista with Windows Professional and then install Windows Vista as multi-boot, but where would I install Windows Vista from ? Will the Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD be enough to re-install Vista as multi-boot on Windows 2000, after the I overwrite Windows Vista with Windows 2000 ? Will the recovery DVDs be helpful or enough in any way for the mutli-boot installation.
