Windows 7: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Brink · 28 Apr 2009

How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

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Click here to read the entire tutorial

Last edited by Brink; 30 Mar 2013 at 11:34 AM..

hux · 02 Oct 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by pragnesh89

Would it be better if I just install Windows XP using VMware player and use it with Ubuntu which is already installed? This is much faster and I have had good experience with using VMWare player so far.

It depends what you want to do with that XP installation. If you want to browse the web, work with text documents, and generally do fairly low power stuff then it'll work fine running in a VM. 3D games? Not so much.

theog · 02 Oct 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by hux

Hi - short-time reader, first-time poster.

I ran into a problem during method 2 of this great guide that I was able to fix, but it isn't mentioned in the guide so I thought I'd post it here and then hopefully someone can add it.

The problem relates to the, "Error loading operating system", message that may appear after the first restart during the XP installation. I followed the advice in the guide to fix this but nothing worked. Eventually I figured it out myself: my motherboard (Gigabyte EP45-UD3P) has the following BIOS setting:

- SATA RAID/AHCI Mode

I had this set to "AHCI". After changing it to "IDE", XP was able to install just fine. After that, I was able to fix the Windows 7 bootloader per the advice in the guide and all was well.

However, changing this setting in this way means that you obviously lose the benefits of AHCI in Windows 7 (including TRIM support if you have an SSD, for example). Also, if later on you change this setting back to "AHCI", your XP installation will fail to boot, so be aware of that. If, however, you don't have an SSD and don't really care about AHCI then this fix will work fine for you.

Quote: Originally Posted by hux

Gomer: It looks like Dell doesn't provide a WinXP SATA driver for that particular computer. Typically, this means you're simply out of luck and you won't be able to install XP. However, it might be possible to find another driver that will work. I'm not sure how you'd go about finding one though.

Quote:

My HD is listed as ATA, not SATA

Just FYI, your drive (Samsung HD103SJ) is a SATA drive. Listing it as "ATA" is somewhat confusing but not wrong - all SATA drives are ATA drives. "SATA" means "Serial ATA".

Did you not read the Warning in Methed two before Step one.

Dominic Warden · 02 Oct 2011

Hi everyone

I hope someone can help. Ive got Windows 7 on my C Drive and want to install XP on my formatted S drive. I have a copy of Windows XP, however when i try to install XP the S drive is not shown on the list. Also do i need SATA drivers installed on this HDD to be able to run XP?

I'm only 13 and im only just beginning to learn about computers so im sorry if these are dumb questions!

Brink · 02 Oct 2011

Hello Dominic, and welcome to Seven Forums.

What type of HDD is your S: drive, and how do you have it formatted?

If it's external and not connected via eSATA, then you will not be able to install to it.

The SATA drivers will have to be slipstreamed with the XP installation disc to be able to install XP on a SATA HDD. The links in the red warning box under METHOD TWO in the tutorial can help show you more details on how to do this.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

Dominic Warden · 02 Oct 2011

thanks for the reply

My S: drive is an internal drive and is formatted to NTFS (Default).
where would i find the SATA drivers? i have looked on the Packard Bell website but no drivers. could you send me the link please.

thanks

gregrocker · 02 Oct 2011

They are a component of the chipset, so load the chipset in to see if it separates out SATA to choose from, or just load or slipstream the entire chipset.

Dominic Warden · 02 Oct 2011

Hi

I cant find any chipset drivers, do you know where to get them?

thanks

Brink · 02 Oct 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Dominic Warden

thanks for the reply

My S: drive is an internal drive and is formatted to NTFS (Default).
where would i find the SATA drivers? i have looked on the Packard Bell website but no drivers. could you send me the link please.

thanks

Dominic,

I do not see a XP SATA driver available for your computer model either. If this is the right model at Packarb Bell below, your model shows as not supporting XP or Vista drivers.

http://www.packardbell.co.uk/pb/en/GB/content/download

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP-ixtreme.jpg

Depending on what you need to use XP for, you could create a virtual machine of XP using something like the free Windows Virtual PC instead.

Windows Virtual PC - Create Virtual Machine

Dominic Warden · 02 Oct 2011

oh, that is the model i have, so is there any other way of dual booting with XP?

thanks

Brink · 02 Oct 2011

Would the virtual machine option posted above work as an alternative?

Windows 7: Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP problems?