Dual booting

Hi everyone. I am trying to configure a dual boot with Windows 7 first and Windows XP second. Everytime I try I receive an stop error message. I read the thread about dual booting. How do I know if Windows XP has a raid or sata drivers. Can someone please explain this to me or, at least, point me in the right direction. I am trying to install Windows XP on another partition that I created. Any help will be appreciated. deanie44


Inspiron 560MT
Windows 7 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E7500 (2.93GHz,3M,1066MHz,FSB)
Piano Black
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Thermal Module Heatsink,65W
4 GB DDR3 NON-ECC SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)

Thank you Orbital Shark for answering my post. I did read the tutorial on dual booting. How can I tell if I have a SATA drive or a RAID drive in Windows XP? Why am I receiving a stop error message after the files load in Windows XP. deanie44

Do you have two HD's installed? You can't have RAID unless you do.

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk management drive map, using Snipping tool in Start Menu. Tell us what is located where and where you want to put XP.

Thank you fellows for trying to help me. The Windows XP system--Dimension E310-- I have two HDs installed, but the system with Windows 7 there is only one harddrive.Below is a picture of my disk management drive. Thanks again. deanie44:)

The problem is that you are trying to install XPired within an Extended Logical partition. An OS can only be installed on a Logical partition if its boot files are placed on a Primary partition.

If this was Win7 you are installing there it would work because it would place its boot files onto the System partition which is primary. But XP is not sophisticated enough to do this and needs to place its boot files on its own partition until you move them manually using EasyBCD 2.0 to configure the Dual Boot.

Use free Partition Wizard CD to delete the XP subpartition, shrink the Extended Logical partition from the left to create a fourth primary partition in the preferred lower HD address: Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

You may also need SATA drivers slipstreamed into the XP installer since it is so old it doesn't have most modern SATA drivers in its driver store: SATA Drivers - Slipstream into Windows XP CD. If you have floppy you can insert them at F6 prompt during driver-loading phase at beginning of install.

Thanks again for your help, gregrocker. I do not have a floppy drive installed on the Inspiron 560 to slipstream the sata drivers into the windows xp cd. Can I use a cd or can I do use the Dimension E310--Windows xp--which has a floppy drive to slipstream the sata drives. Can I install the floppy drive into the Inspiron 560?
Thank you for your help. deanie 44

Hi deanie -

You'll only need the SATA driver if you are prompted for it because XP installer cannot detect a SATA HD you plan to install upon. Try the XP install first to see.

No need to slipstream the SATA controller driver into the installer if you have a floppy drive installed on the target Dell because you can unzip the chipset/SATA driver onto floppy, then at the F6 prompt after XP CD boots while drivers are loading browse to driver on floppy as instructed until it loads and SATA driver appears after refresh.

Since you have a floppy drive, you'll probably not have to do the slipstream but you have the tutorial there just in case.

How is the partitioning going.

Hi Gregrocker. I am having a hard time. I do not have a floppy disk drive on the Windows 7 PC only on the Dimension E310. I have tried to slipstream the drivers into the Windows Xp cd and I burned it. In is asking of the .inf files. Is the SATA drivers the chipset? I really do not understand. Any help will be appreciated. deanie44