Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

gregrocker said:

I dont' know why the HD would be the problem, it's the SATA controller driver which is not in the XP CD typically.

But since the CD sees your HD and formats a partition on it, then it must be something else. Are you using an SP3 XP CD? Are you sure it's only completed copying the files when it reboots and hangs? If so, try pulling out the CD as it reboots.

yes, i'm sure. i watched 4 times, i'll pull the CD next time

gregrocker said:

Have you also tried setting HD first to boot, then triggering the CD to boot using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key given on first boot screen?

yes, as instructed before

Hello, I have two 1 TB SATA drives in my system. In Win 7 they appear as C, D, and E on the first drive and F, G, and H on the second drive. There is also a small 100 MB Boot on the first drive that I labelled as B: in Disk Manager. Tried installing XP to D: (XP thinks it's E, which is okay) and it loaded fine until it wanted to restart and then wouldn't. So I used the Win 7 disk to repair the MBR and used Easy BCD to make the dual boot selection work, which it does. But whenever I try to boot to XP I get the BSOD and the 0x0000_0078 error.

I then noticed that the partition I installed XP to was labelled as a "Healthy logical drive" and not a Primary Boot Partition. So I repeated the process only this time installing XP to the "G: drive" on the second 1 TB drive which is labelled as a "Healthy Primary Partition". Reran EasyBCD and all and pointed to XP in the partition on the second drive, but still the BSOD and 0x0000_0078 whenever I try to boot to XP.

Since I could successfully write to partitions on both hard drives, I can't believe that there is a problem with the way I slipstreamed the drivers onto the XP disk.

Sure would appreciate any help that anyone might be able to give. By the way, the first parameter in parentheses following the error is 0xF789_E524 which is different than what most people report in the middle two digits.

Since XP is installing successfully (correct?) it appears there is a problem with creating a Windows Dual Boot so use the best method for dual booting via the BIOS when there are separate HD's.

If you have a second HD, then unplug all others when installing XP to a Primary partition. After install, set preferred OS HD to boot first in BIOS setup, boot the other OS HD when needed using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

Hi am not sure if this will help? In your bios did you put the drive with XP as the 1st boot drive?

The Boot Menu key should be given on the first boot screen - on most Asus mobos the key is F8.

It sounds like the XP installation is not completing although there are several restarts so we'd need to know which one to know how far it's progressing. Are you using a SP3 installer, and does the installer see the HD partitions correctly?

Hi Greg Rocker. I'm trying to install Win XP Pro SP2, a 32 bit version. The CD is labelled version 2002 but carries a copyright daate of 2004. It hangs after the first restart. That's why I use the Win 7 disk to repair the MBR and then run EasyBcd so I can try to boot off of it. Yes, the installer sees all the partitions on the hard drive. I've attached a .jpg from Win 7's disk manager. But the installer sees all of the partitions. I've tried installing on partition D and G which XP sees as E and H.

Well if it's hangs after first restart there is likely no installation to use EasyBCD to set up. Does it show up in the Easy Add OS tab?

Try deleting D in Disk Management, then boot the XP CD to create a new partition there and full format before install. This should be a Primary partition since four are allowed. If not use free Partition Wizard to create a Primary partition there.

If that fails try unplugging all other HD's.

I would next try to find a XP Pro SP3 disk, either OEM- or Retail-specific. If you download from the web be sure to read the comments to make sure no cracks or anything else are added - you want a pristine copy.

Hey, first time trying to dual boot, I've followed instructions as best I can and have gotten as far as trying to install XP on the partition I made, after it restarts for the 1st time when installing it gives me a ntoskrnl.exe file missing or corrupt black screen.

Was wondering if anyone has any clues as to what i could do to get it installed?

Trying to install XP Professional SP3 32 bit dual boot with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on an Acer 5750G laptop.

this brilliant tutorial when followed to the letter was the reason i just lost windows 7......and everything on my hard drive. thanks for not only nothing but anti progress .....you $T%@#^# idiot