can some1 help me ive got 2 hdd in my tower. 1 as windows 7 on it but the 2nd 1 i want to put windows xp on it i dont want to put a partion on because i want to use windows 7 but some of my programmes will not work with 7 so im thinking putting xp on spare hdd thanks
Hello kennyboy, welcome to Seven Forums!
The easiest way to do away with boot issues between separate Operating Systems (OS) is to use the BIOS one time boot menu to select which OS to boot at system startup, each motherboard has an individual hot-key to tap during system start-up to access this menu.
If you have 2 separate Hard Disk Drives (HDD) and have one OS installed to one HDD and you want to install another OS to the second HDD, disconnect the HDD with the first OS installed on it and leave only the HDD you want to install the second OS to connected.
Install the second OS to the connected HDD and when complete and the system is booting good, power down and reconnect the first HDD with the first OS on it.
This way the OSs will boot independently of each other and there will be no boot conflicts between the 2 separate OSs to have to sort later.
Then set the BIOS to boot the HDD / OS you want as default and if you want to start the other (new) OS you use the BIOS one-time boot menu to select that HDD / OS to start when the PC is started.
- Asus - F8
- HP/Compaq - Esc
- Sony - F2
- Acer – F12
- Gateway - F10
- eMachnes - F10
- Gigabyte – F12
- Toshiba - F12
- Dell - F12
- IBM/Lenovo - the blue Thinkvantage button
thank you you have been a great help when i go into the bios it only shows 1 hdd is that right im going to set about what you have told me to do.
Hello again.
If you use 2 separate HDDs the BIOS will list both at PC startup so you can select which to boot.
is there a hot key to change from 1 os to anther got windows xp on spare drive and done up dates not been into bios yet but before this it only showed 1 hdd thanks
got into bios set hdd 1 hdd 2 cdrom 3 now how to get them to start on os windows7 need to know how to change now thanks.
First check for all the Win XP drivers for your hardware on the manufacturer's web site.
If your Win XP CD, does not support your Sata Controller, you will need to load drivers to uses at F6.
Load Sata Controller drivers with a floppy disk is the best way.
SATA Drivers - Load in Windows XP Setup on Dual Boot
OR
SATA Drivers - Slipstream into Windows XP CD
Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP
System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete - Vista Forums
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