Dual boot - XP won't install

Hi,

I've searched the forums and haven't found a solution to my particular issue so I'm hoping someone might be able to help.

Currently I'm using Windows 7 as my only OS and I want to set up a dual boot with XP, but it's having trouble getting through the install process. I have some unpartitioned space on my main hard drive and have tried using the XP disk to create a partition and proceed with the install. It works fine up until the first reboot, and then hangs just before returning to the install process (have to use startup repair to get back into Windows 7). I've tried it using two different XP Pro discs that have always worked fine in the past.

I've considered disconnecting the Windows 7 drive and installing XP onto a separate drive but I will then want to migrate it back to the first drive and I'm not sure how to get that working properly.

Any ideas?

pastafish said:

Hi,

I've searched the forums and haven't found a solution to my particular issue so I'm hoping someone might be able to help.

Currently I'm using Windows 7 as my only OS and I want to set up a dual boot with XP, but it's having trouble getting through the install process. I have some unpartitioned space on my main hard drive and have tried using the XP disk to create a partition and proceed with the install. It works fine up until the first reboot, and then hangs just before returning to the install process (have to use startup repair to get back into Windows 7). I've tried it using two different XP Pro discs that have always worked fine in the past.

I've considered disconnecting the Windows 7 drive and installing XP onto a separate drive but I will then want to migrate it back to the first drive and I'm not sure how to get that working properly.

Any ideas?

Hi PF and welcome

ideally you are supposed to install th older OS first then win 7. If you do disconnect the win 7 drive you will be able to install and boot from XP but without some modifications (using bcdedit to modify the boot loader) dual boot wont work. Maybe you should check out the instructions for that. they are BCDEDIT - How to Use here

Let us know if you need help with that

Ken J+

Are you booting from the XP installer to create and format the partition where you are attempting to install it? There is a slightly different partition table in Win7 so it will need XP formatting.

Use the second method in this tutorial to make sure you are following the steps correctly to install, then configure XP boot when installed after Win7: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

It is always best to do these dual boot installs on separate drives if you have that option. Then to remove an OS all you have to do is unplug the drive, set the other one active and to boot first in BIOS, and possibly run Startup Repair 3 times to rewrite the MBR.

You can run either OS without any boot dependency on the other by keeping Win7 unplugged while you install XP on another drive. Then when you plug the Win7 back in after XP install you decide which OS to boot by using the BIOS BootMenu F-key (given on first screen) to set which drive to boot first.

Thanks for the help guys, I'll try things out and let you know if I get stuck.