Windows 7 Dual Boot with XP

Hi, I hope someone can help me with loading Windows 7 and keep my Windows XP. I have Widows XP installed on my C drive and recently installed another 2TB drive which I wanted to load Windows 7 on. I formatted and partitioned the new drive in XP and have them as D and E and want to install the Win 7 on partition D. When I boot from the Win 7 CD and start the install it gets partially through the install and on one of the reboots it doesn't reboot, it just has a blank screen. I tried it several times and it does the same thing. I tried to start it in safe mode but it says that it has not finished installing and to reboot but ends the same way. I hope you can help!

rcblythe said:

Hi, I hope someone can help me with loading Windows 7 and keep my Windows XP. I have Widows XP installed on my C drive and recently installed another 2TB drive which I wanted to load Windows 7 on. I formatted and partitioned the new drive in XP and have them as D and E and want to install the Win 7 on partition D. When I boot from the Win 7 CD and start the install it gets partially through the install and on one of the reboots it doesn't reboot, it just has a blank screen. I tried it several times and it does the same thing. I tried to start it in safe mode but it says that it has not finished installing and to reboot but ends the same way. I hope you can help!

Hello rcblythe, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

One suggestion for you, when you are installing a second OS on a separate hard drive, some of us find it easier to only have that hard drive connected during the install. Then when the install is successful and setup the way you like it, you can use the BIOS boot menu to choose which OS to boot to and also setup a dual boot menu at your leisure.

There is some additional reading material in the links at the bottom of my post. Please have a look to see if they provide you with any answers.

Cheers!
Robert

When you give drive letters, it concerns me that you might be assigning those yourself. Hopefully you are just installing to partitions and not drive letters. After you install, the boot partition normally tries to be C: so they may be different depending on what OS you boot to.

There are some instances where it may take longer than you might think in some areas, perhaps give it more time. Also, having more precise information about when it stalls might help someone see where it might be having problems. What messages are shown prior to the reboot and what does it say after?

Using just the one drive to load Win 7 is a good idea, it keeps other problems from cropping up later. After you have Win 7 installed, post back or check some of the threads or tutorials.

Is this an upgrade version of Win 7?

Thanks to all who replied, Saltgrass I did give it a lot of time through the install but it just stalled and I am not sure on which reboot it did it on but I can try it again to get more info. I did rename my partitions on the new hard drive after formatting and partitioning but would that make a difference? I know for sure the partition that I was installing it on. Iseeuu, when you say to have only the one drive hooked up when installing the new Win 7 OS wouldn't it automatically name that partition C and then when I hook up both drives it would have two C drives? If that would work I will try it for sure? Please let me know your thoughts.

rcblythe said:

Iseeuu, when you say to have only the one drive hooked up when installing the new Win 7 OS wouldn't it automatically name that partition C and then when I hook up both drives it would have two C drives? If that would work I will try it for sure? Please let me know your thoughts.

For me personally, that is an ideal situation. Windows assigns drive letters when it boots, so when XP boots it will be C and Windows 7 will be another letter. When Windows 7 boots it will be C and XP will be another letter. Perfect.

Check out this link: https://www.sevenforums.com/installat...-7-ubuntu.html

Cheers!
Robert

Thanks again iseeuu, if I can ask you one more thing before I begin. Could you explain how to change the "BIOS boot menu to choose which OS to boot to" and also how to "setup a dual boot menu". I appreciate all your help, Rob

rcblythe said:

Thanks again iseeuu, if I can ask you one more thing before I begin. Could you explain how to change the "BIOS boot menu to choose which OS to boot to" and also how to "setup a dual boot menu". I appreciate all your help, Rob

Sure Rob, no problem. If I knew what model computer / motherboard you had I could be more specific. Most newer motherboards have a key (F12 or F10 or ?) that will open a boot menu while you are booting the computer, and let you choose which hard drive to boot to. So if XP is on drive A and 7 is on drive B, if you choose to boot to drive A, XP will start and if you choose drive B. 7 will start.

To have a dual boot menu, you will need to use the Windows 7 boot manager and add a menu entry for XP. Then when you reboot, before you start Windows, you will see a menu so you can choose.



We can do that when the time comes, no problem.

Cheers!
Robert