Dual booting Win7 & WinXP

S

Synt4xError

New member
Hello, I had windows XP installed for my main OS. I have 2 HDs on my computer, I use one per OS. I installed Windows 7 on the other HD, now making Windows 7 my default OS to load. I do not have the option to get into XP anymore. I know Windows 7 doesn't use boot.ini anymore, so I was hoping someone could help me out and point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
Rutger
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Airbot 2.0
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Core i7 920 (D0) @ 4Ghz, *26c idle *65c full load on air
Motherboard
Asus P6X58D Premium - Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0
Memory
12GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator -CMD12GX3M6A1600C8 at 1600MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac Geforce GTX 770
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar D2X
Monitor(s) Displays
1 LG 24" Flatron W2453V-PF 1 Samsung 24" P2450H both 2ms RT
Screen Resolution
1920x1080@60hz
Hard Drives
1 Samsung 250GB 840 Evo SSD
1 OCZ Vertex2 180GB SSD
1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB cache
2 500GB WD Caviar Blacks 7200RPM 32MB cache (WD5001AALS)

Pioneer DVD Burner DVR-S18M
PSU
Corsair HX1000W
Case
Cooler Master HAF 932
Cooling
Case Fans *3 230mm, *1 140mm/CPU - *Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless MK700
Mouse
Logitech Wireless MK700
Internet Speed
DL 15 Mbps UL 0.98 Mbps
Antivirus
None
Browser
Firefox Nightly
Other Info
Processor-7.7 *RAM- 7.9 *Graphics-7.9 *Gaming Graphics- 7.9 *SSD- 7.8 W.E.I final score= 7.7
*Phone- LG Nexus 5
Hello, and thank you very much for replying so quick. I really like that guide and thank you for that. But what I get from reading everything on there is how to do it from scratch.

What if I have already installed both on two seperate HDs? I know Win 7 doesn't use boot.ini, what does it use? Can I just reconfigure it in windows 7 to add the XP partition?

Thanks
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
Synt4xError said:
I know Win 7 doesn't use boot.ini, what does it use?
Click to expand...

It's called BCD. Boot Configuration Data. It's stored within the boot folder of the system partition.

Synt4xError said:
Can I just reconfigure it in windows 7 to add the XP partition?
Click to expand...

Yes I think everything you need is in the guide that Airbot posted, if you only look through it. You don't need to follow the part about installing Windows.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Try the steps from method 2-step 8 and below, from the tutorial within 7.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Airbot 2.0
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Core i7 920 (D0) @ 4Ghz, *26c idle *65c full load on air
Motherboard
Asus P6X58D Premium - Sata 6Gb/s - USB 3.0
Memory
12GB DDR3 Corsair Dominator -CMD12GX3M6A1600C8 at 1600MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac Geforce GTX 770
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar D2X
Monitor(s) Displays
1 LG 24" Flatron W2453V-PF 1 Samsung 24" P2450H both 2ms RT
Screen Resolution
1920x1080@60hz
Hard Drives
1 Samsung 250GB 840 Evo SSD
1 OCZ Vertex2 180GB SSD
1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 7200RPM 32MB cache
2 500GB WD Caviar Blacks 7200RPM 32MB cache (WD5001AALS)

Pioneer DVD Burner DVR-S18M
PSU
Corsair HX1000W
Case
Cooler Master HAF 932
Cooling
Case Fans *3 230mm, *1 140mm/CPU - *Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme
Keyboard
Logitech Wireless MK700
Mouse
Logitech Wireless MK700
Internet Speed
DL 15 Mbps UL 0.98 Mbps
Antivirus
None
Browser
Firefox Nightly
Other Info
Processor-7.7 *RAM- 7.9 *Graphics-7.9 *Gaming Graphics- 7.9 *SSD- 7.8 W.E.I final score= 7.7
*Phone- LG Nexus 5
Hey, that is a step closer! But I get an error when using EasyBCD. When I add the XP entry it gives me the error saying:

EasyBCD could not locate a copy of NTLDR on your hard drive.
Click to expand...

I have changed the drive letter to where Windows 7 is installed on and to the XP, I tried it twice and restarted. Nothing happens, tells me to put the installtion cd in.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
does your computer have ntldr anywhere? It should be on the system partition as a hidden file.

If you don't have ntldr on your hard drive I don't think you'll be able to boot XP.

ntldr can be copied off of the Windows XP installation media if needed.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
in particular you will need these three files to boot XP

ntdetect.com
ntldr
boot.ini

they need to exist on the system partition. Copy those files to the system partition and then fire up EasyBCD. Then maybe it will detect it.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Here is what I am doing.

Using Windows 7 right now. Am not able to get into my XP partition which is located on a different HD. I used EasyBCD to add windows XP entry to the boot. It did that but now says NTLDR is missing. I have selected the drive which xp is installed on and still gives me that error. I know for sure XP is installed on that drive and verified it. I know there is the boot.ini because I just looked at it.

I know those files are needed inorder for XP to boot but how come it is not recognizing them?

Thanks
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
Synt4xError said:
I know those files are needed inorder for XP to boot but how come it is not recognizing them?

Thanks
Click to expand...

probably because they're not on the system partition
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Yeah but in EasyCD, it asks for a drive letter. I choose the drive that XP is installed on. So shouldn't it be able to find it?

So let's say I add the NTLDR to my win7 system, will that solve my problem?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
are you using an old version of EasyBCD or somethin' ?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
The newest one I found.

Edit: 1.7.2
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
well many things have been updated and fixed since then. I'm using version 2.0.64
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Ok so I installed EasyBCD 2.0.0.64. I did the same steps as I did in the older version. It asked me if I wanted it to copy the NTLDR over and reconfigure the booting so I can use dual boot. I said yes. Then when I restarted to try and boot into XP it gave me the error saying file missing or corrupt (NTLDR).
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
DiskMGNT.jpg

Disk0 - Win7
Disk1 - XP
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
You really need the XP bootfiles to be on the 100mb partition . Give it a drive letter.

Let Easybcd add the XP entry again and autoconfigure.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7 X64
    CPU
    i5 8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Hard Drives
    various
    PSU
    pure power 11 400w cm
    Case
    Coolermaster
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7x64
    CPU
    g5400
    Motherboard
    ga b365m ds3h
    Memory
    8gb ddr4 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450w
SIW2 that worked perfectly, thank you very much.

Also thank you sup3rsprt
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS
OS
Windows 10 x64 Enterprise
CPU
N/A
Motherboard
N/A
Memory
5GBs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 8600
Sound Card
Creative
Monitor(s) Displays
Dual monitors
Hard Drives
2 500GB HDs
You are welcome - Happy dual booting.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7 X64
    CPU
    i5 8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    2x8gb 3200mhz
    Hard Drives
    various
    PSU
    pure power 11 400w cm
    Case
    Coolermaster
    Cooling
    cryorig m9i
  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    OS
    7x64
    CPU
    g5400
    Motherboard
    ga b365m ds3h
    Memory
    8gb ddr4 2400
    PSU
    xfx pro 450w
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