Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP


  1. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
       #1460

    Another idea that occurs to me is this: can I install the XP OS on an external caddy USB hard drive (I have a 100Gb one going spare) and then clone that to the partition I have ready for the XP installation on my Win7 HDD?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
       #1461

    Ok, scratch the above; thanks to theog I have managed to build a working XP installer disc and have successfully managed to install XP on a 10Gb partition on my drive, which partition I have originally called 'B:'

    When in WinXP, however, that partition shows up as 'E:', and the 'C:' drive (with the Win7 partition on it) shows as 'system reserved'

    Anyway that's not the issue, although it may be linked.

    I am doing it the way round of Win7 first, then WinXP. When I tried to install EasyBCD (EBCD) under WinXP, it would not install correctly, with an 'Installation Cancelled' error message.

    I therefore booted into Command Prompt/Safe Mode from the Win7 disc, and did the MBR repairs given on the first page of this thread. Although the Win7 disc kept trying to interrupt me by wanting to install Win7, I managed the repair successfully and my system booted up into a good Win7 installation.

    Drive B: still contains the WinXP files, so it's still there.

    However i have had some problems with EBCD in that I used it exactly as stated on the first page of this thread, and on startup the boot choice menu does not appear, it just boots straight into Win7.

    I noted that I had to tell EBCD where the WinXP partition was, because it didn't know by itself, and also I have tried the 'Write MBR' on all my available partitions to no avail.

    I also note that EBCD 2.1, which is the latest version and the one I am using, does not have the 'Bootloader Setup' button but instead has a 'BCD Deployment' button. However the functions are the same.

    It looks as if, at last, I'm nearly there :) I just need to get this goldarned boot menu sorted. I can send in screenshots of what I've done if you need them.

    Cheers
    Tony
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
       #1462

    Update. Just done the EBCD operation again after a prompt from theog, and this time it seems to work. Don't know what I did differently, but I performed it exactly as described and it worked.

    From frustrated to happy in a mere few hours.

    Thanks everyone for all your help :)
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #1463

    King Drax I said:
    Update. Just done the EBCD operation again after a prompt from theog, and this time it seems to work. Don't know what I did differently, but I performed it exactly as described and it worked.

    From frustrated to happy in a mere few hours.

    Thanks everyone for all your help :)
    Well Done.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 32
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
       #1464

    Thanks :)

    It appears that the drive letters under XP are all mixed up; however I will not change them because it all seems to be working fine and I don't want to rock the boat. I will just leave well alone, I think :)

    Cheers
    Tony
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1465

    would love to know how you figured it out, i am border line near to loosing my temper with this dumb computer!

    ive done this a hundred times and this once it fails to work!! stupid ebcd does not seem to save the setting at all!
      My Computer

  7.    #1466

    mr3rown said:
    would love to know how you figured it out, i am border line near to loosing my temper with this dumb computer!

    ive done this a hundred times and this once it fails to work!! stupid ebcd does not seem to save the setting at all!
    Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Mgmt drive map using Snipping Tool in Start Menu, attach using paper clip in Reply box.

    Please tell us which tutorial Method you used and exact steps that have not completed.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6
    Win7 Ultimate x64 & WinXP SP3 x86 Dual Boot
       #1467

    Greetings Dual Booting Brothers and Sisters!

    I have a particular issue with this win7/XP dual booting situation, and am hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I have been unable to read all 147 pages of replies to this tutorial see if my issue is covered (I tried though), its simply too much info and goes of into so many directions, so please forgive me for this forum faux pas

    Heres the situation. There are three OS's on my PC. Two of them are Win7 x64. One of them is WinXP, which was installed last. Right now, I keep booting into XP even though I created an EBCD boot menu and tried everything to make this boot menu appear as the default instead of booting directly into XP every time.

    Let me state I have read, comprehended and tried all the appropiate steps fom the tutorial. So, right now if I start my PC no boot menu appears, straight to XP, but if I use an advanced feaure of my BIOS which lets me choose which specific physical hard drive to boot into, and choose my drive with my original Win7 installation (the first one I installed), then I get the EBCD boot menu I created (as described in the tutorial), and can choose whichever OS I want and its all good. Problem is that to do this hard drive selection process through my BIOS is a long-winded hassle I dont want to have to do every single time I boot...

    So, all OS's have the appropriate boot files avaialbe and are ultimately accesible and working. But no matter what I try, I cant get the EBCD boot menu to appear instead of booting directly to XP as the default (without going through the BIOS every time as I described). I even tried switching drives around in the case.

    One detail that may be of importance is that I installed each OS on a physicaly seperate drive, and had only that particular one plugged in during install in order that each OS see itself as being installed onto a C: drive if you boot into it. Its a requirement of mine for technical reasons. Point is, that I dont really know how to force windows to boot from my original win7 C: Drive instead of from my new WinXP C: drive. At least thats what I think the problem is. Heres some screenshots that may help:

    Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP-bcdedit-01.jpg

    Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP-drive-set-up-01.jpg

    Any help would be appreciated, peace!
    Alex
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #1468

    Hi greekhop

    Reset the HD boot order to the Windows 7 HD first.

    Boot order
    1) CD/DVD Drive
    2) 951.51 HD drive
    3) 298.09 HD Drive
    4) 111.79 Hd Drive

    or if your second Windows 7 is E:
    1) CD/DVD Drive
    2) 951.51 HD drive
    3) 111.79 Hd Drive
    4) 298.09 HD Drive

    You may need to reset EasyBCD.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 57
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64 and Windows XP Professional SP3 x32 (Dual Boot)
       #1469

    greekhop, did you try to repair the Windows 7 boot through the Windows 7 installation disk? You should load the installation DVD, go to Repair, and fix the Startup Repair. It will (hopefully) fix the problem, and bring the Windows Boot Menu up.

    If this works, it's possible that the Windows XP boot files will be gone. You can either use EasyBCD to restore the files or directly copy the files from the XP installation CD to the root of the XP drive. You should be done after that. If you can load XP without any problems, you're don't need to do that, and you're set.
      My Computer


 

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