Windows 7 - Lenovo laptop dual boot problem

I am trying to install a windows 7 / XP dual boot on a Lenovo 550P I recently purchased. I have had no problems setting up a new partition and formatting it, but whenever I try and install XP on it, I get partway through the installation process and always get a blue screen of death. It tells me that there is a hard drive error.

To test this, I installed a copy of Vista 64 on the partition with no problems. I wiped the drive and started again with XP and had the same problem.

I am now wondering if there is an incompatability between XP and the hardware in my system. The system specs are:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU: Intel Core i7 720QM(1.6GHz)
Chipset: Intel PM55
HDD: 500 GB
Memory: 4 GB

I am wanting the XP OS so I can use my old 32 bit compilers. I have considered reformating the entire drive and making it an XP machine, but do not know if there is an intrensic incompatibility between XP and the hardware.
thanks.

welcome to sevenforums!
Where did you get your windows xp cd? If you downloaded that cd from utorrent, there is a small chance that the cd isn't bootable or corrupted.
Also, I have had similar experience on my HP g70. It wouldn't install windows xp no matter what I try. I cannot run the installer from windows of course (application hard block) and whenever it boots up, it would have a disk warning.
I think that some manufacturers include something in their bios to make sure the system is stuck with vista or beyond, or that perhaps, the new hardware available in the nine years since xp made its entrance, made the xp incompatible. I mean, can your xp recognize your cpu or chipset?
Perhaps the only possible method would be to run xpfrom a virtual machine.
Judging from your system configuration, virtualization wouldn't be that bad, it would run pretty well
Thus, my suggestion would be to install windows 7 and simply run it from XP Mode. For that, you will need a copy of windows 7 professional or ultimate (tad bit more expensive than home premium). Or you can buy a home premium and install something like virtualbox.
Seriously xp, is more trouble than its worth. Even if you manage to install it, you will need a TON of times getting all the drivers for it. Xp doesn't have generic or native drivers so you will need a flash drive to store the drivers lol. Windows 7, however, has generic drivers for almost all modern hardware, so you will ahve a better "out of box" experience.
I hope I helped~!

You can Verify your XP CD using ImgBurn. load the ISO using File icon, make sure it says Bootable in text at left. Then put in CD and verify against ISO. If necessary, re-Burn at 4x speed with Verify.

Try also installing using a bootable flash stick: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31541-windows-7-usb-dvd-download-tool.html?filter[2]=General%20Tips

After eliminating the ISO and CD, the way you troubleshoot these errors is to Google the exact error message.

Often times the hard drive error with XP install on a newer computer is that the installer doesn't have the modern SATA controller driver. It needs to be slipstreamed in at the F6 prompt during driver loading. Since you can only use a floppy drive to do this (XP is really ancient now) you may have to slipstream the driver in to the installer using Nlite: How To Slipstream SATA Drivers Into XP CD

hmm, my computer never even gets to the loading page......I cannot use f6 lol
Don't know about maomatt...

Does your system have the 100 mb Reserved System Partition?

who are you asking?

Your problem is that windows XP doesn't have native support for SATA II hard drives. You have to either install SATA drivers during the XP install or disable the native SATA mode in bios in order to get it to work. Unfortunately, if you choose the 2nd option, your HDD will be about running at about 40% of it's capability.

How do I intall the SATA II drivers for XP? Is this something I have to do during boot or install, or can I update the BIOS to include them?

My XP disk is pristine and a legit copy from MS. It is not currently installed on any other machine.

It's not a bios problem. The XP kernel was written before SATA drives were invented. I'm sure someone here with more experience than I have would know an alternate method, but so far as I know, the only way to install SATA drivers is with a floppy drive during the install. I'm pretty sure that in the BIOS there is a way to disable the native SATA mode, as there was with my Compaq.

or using a bootable usb pendrive, then add the sata files to the pendrive and insert when asked to load drivers