Windows 7: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

The only way I know to always have the booted OS seen as C is to install XP first to C, then boot the Windows 7 installer to install to a second partition. Windows 7 will autoconfigure the Dual Boot and always see itself as C when booted, and will XP.

You should consider using MS Security Essentials or Avast 5 with the Windows 7 firewall for best performance and least intrusion. Then you could consider virtualizing XP if it is Symantec which is forcing you to Dual Boot.

Hi guys.

Just a few questions before i start the dual booting process. These might be dumb questions, so i send my apologies.

How do i know whether its a RAID setup or a SATA drive?

Ive got the asus P6X58D-E motherboard, i7 950 processor with windows 7 home premium 64bit installed. (i have the windows 7 cd and xp cd) So my question is, what drivers do i need ready to do a dual boot with xp? I have the motherboard cd, will they be on there? Or do i need to download, if so, any chance of a push in the right direction?

Sorry for this, i dont have the net on my pc till next week, so im currently using my iphone and doing research is kinda hard. I just want to get prep'd before i star.



Thanks in advance

There will be two or more HD's merged together to form a RAID. You'll be presented with a BIOS pre-screen to access the RAID controls when they're in effect. Your SATA controller in BIOS setup would be set to RAID.

If you don't currently have RAID, it would be much better to install XP to another HD with Windows 7 unplugged during install. After install you'd plug up both drives, set the preferred one to boot first in BIOS setup, then boot the other one using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

If you must install to another partition on the same HD, follow the steps in tutorial to install EasyBCD to XP after install to add Windows 7 to Dual Boot Menu. If this fails we can help you start Windows 7 to add XP using EasyBCD which sometimes works better.

If during install XP fails to see your HD then you''ll need to insert your XP SATA controller driver at the F6 prompt during initial driver-loading phase, using a floppy drive. If you don't have floppy then you'll have to slipstream driver into installer: SATA Drivers - Slipstream into Windows XP CD

Have you considered virtualizing XP from within Windows 7 to save all of this trouble? In Ultimate or Pro you can use XP Mode. Otherwise use Virtual Player or Virtual Box.

Where would i find the xp SATA driver compatible with my machine from? On the cd provided with my mother board? Or online?

If i was to install xp on another HD, would it work with an external USB hard drive? Or does it have to be built in? As i only have one 2TB hard drive on my computer.

I dont have a floppy, so i would have to slipstream the xp sata driver onto my xp disc. Will it then install automatically when installing xp?

If i use the xp mode with windows 7, will it act 'exactly' the same as a fresh copy of xp. Meaning, will the old games i play which dont work on 7, work with xp mode? Im not 100% sure how xp mode would work. Is it easy to switch between 7 and xp mode with this method?

Sorry to hassel you as much as this, im trying to weigh up my best option before i go ahead with it. I only really need xp so i can play some of my older games what dont work well with 7.

Hello Leighton, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Answers inline.

Yes to both. You will be able to get the lastest version of the driver from your motherboard manufacturer's website though.

Windows XP will have to be installed on an internal HDD. You could create a new partition on your internal 2TB HD large enough to install XP to though.

Yes, you would need to slipstream the XP SATA driver, and it will install with the XP installation automatically afterwards.

It would be worth a try using XP Compatibility Mode with the games to see if that may allow them to run properly in Windows 7 or not.

You would not be able to use Windows XP Mode since it can only be installed in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate editions. Instead, you could use something like VMWare and create a XP virtual machine with it. Using a virtual machine for gaming may not be a good solution since it will only use generic drivers in the VM.

It's no bother.

Hope this helps some,
Shawn

Thanks so much, that has cleared up a lot. I think im going to go with a seperate partition for xp, around 50GB, to cover a few old games im wanting to play on.

When i get my monitor back from repair monday, ill give it a go and ill let you guys know how it went. I'd expect a few more replies come monday, unless i get it right first time!

You're most welcome. I'm glad that we could help.

Just let us know if you have any other questions or troubles with this.

I was following the guide but I think I'm in trouble.

I have a HP G62 laptop that come with Win 7 Home premium 64 bit. After I followed the directions to create the new partition and boot from WinXP CD I was getting the 7B STOP so I created a new CD slipstreamed with the intel drivers.

Now the WinXP CD booted and installed. Once it got to the point where it needed to reboot to complete the install it went straight to the WinXP startup screen but then quit and rebooted.

Now it goes to winXP startup asking to start in safe mode or normal (menu). It appears that there is a boot loader problem so I was going to try this tip

If you get Error loading Operating System after XP restarts:

• Using your Windows 7 installation disc, boot to the command prompt at startup.
• Type in these comands below, and press enter after each one.
  • bootrec /FixMbr
  • bootrec /FixBoot
  • bootrec /RebuildBcd
• Exit the command prompt and restart the computer.
• At this point, Windows 7 should boot up the same way before trying to install XP.
• Continue to step 8 below and run EasyBCD from Windows 7 instead.

BUT...... It will not boot from CD

I have tried the the internal CD, and external USB CD, I have adjusted BIOS for boot order, I have tried F9 (select boot order on startup) I select the CD (or USB CD) and it stilol goes to the XP safe mode startup menu. I have tried F11 for recovery and It goes to the XP safe mode startup menu.

What can I try next?

Will it boot into Safe Mode? If so check Device manager for drivers in error, update problem drivers.

See if the DVD drive shows up in BIOS setup. If so, burn another XP CD at 4x using ImgBurn, test CD to see if it boots on another machine.

Once you boot the CD, try the commands given. Next see if it detects the installation and offers a Repair Install: Repair Install

The G62 has limited BIOS settings and does not display connected devices like the old Phoneix or award. I was able to grab a screen shot with the video camera on my crackberry and it looks like I am still getting a BSOD 7B between XP boot attempts. I did slipstream the Intel drivers as described in other posts to get past the 7B error.

The BIOS is InsydeH20 rev 3.5

Still stuck