How do I run a single program on a triple boot system?????

Hi I'm trying to run a single program on a triple boot system. So far I have partitioned my primary hard drive into 3 partitions. I have installed Windows XP pro 32, Windows Vista 32, and Windows Vista 64 all on the primary hard drive. Basically what I want to do is be able to install all of my programs etc. on my secondary hard drive and be able to open the programs from whichever operating system I choose to use on the primary hard drive. So far I've booted into Windows XP and installed the programs onto my secondary hard drive. I've created program shortcuts and placed them on the desktops. I'm able to boot into the programs from XP but I can't do it from Vista? It keeps giving me errors like wrong serial number. I know that the programs I am installing will work on all 3 operating systems because I've already tried it, so I know it isn't an OS incompatibility issue. If anyone knows why or can tell me what I'm doing wrong that would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

Most programs require registry entries in each of the Operating system's registry database. That means, you'll need to install each program 3 times; one for each operating system. In most cases the programs can be reinstalled into the same directories, however, that isn't 100% true for all programs. That's because some programs have "optimization sets" ( code that works best for the OS ). Since you're going to need to install 3 times anyways, the simplest way is to install each program to it's own separate directory. For instance, your second hard drive could have 3 folders named XP32, Vista32 and Vista64. Then when you install your programs, just install that version under the appropriate OS heading. Everything will be neat and tidy, and you should have very few problems, doing that way.

 

Thanks for the tips prometheos. I'm curious though is it legal to install the same program more than once if you only have a single license? This seems like a bit of gray area, but since I'm only going to be installing the program on one computer and just one hard drive shouldn't that be ok? I'm just not sure how I could activate the software 3 times on 3 seperate OS's without it looking like I'm trying to install it on 3 seperate computers? Do you know how this works? The software I'm trying to install is Adobe CS2. Thanks again for your help.

 

Well I called Adobe and they suggested I just install the program on each OS, however I've only got 2 licenses and if I do this I'm basically giving up 1. What I need to know is if there is a way around it so I can access all my programs from my secondary drive regardless of what OS I'm using at the time?

 

I've tried to find a EULA that forbids what you are trying to do. For the most part, the publishers are concerned about multiple simultaneous use of their products and not the storage of their software product in multiple places. As far as I'm concerned ( this is not legal advice ) you may store multiple copies of your software, but may only use one copy (per license) on one machine at a time. My conscience would be clear about that. Until I see standard "boiler plate" that expressly forbids storing the program, multiple times, I'll continue to do backup and retrieval, like I've always done. Namely, storing the programs in multiple places and on a multitude of media. I hope that helps
.

 

Thanks for looking into it prometheos, for now I think I'll just install the programs to the 2 main os's I use. It would be nice to have it on all three but mainly just because of convenience. Thanks for all of your help.