Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Marking XP partition Active in advance of install may tell the XP installer where to place the boot files so that it becomes self contained and views itself as C.

You can do this in Win7 Disk Mgmt, delete XP partition, create it again NTFS Primary and mark Active. Partition or Volume - Create New
Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two)

Install XP. After install boot Win7 DVD to change Active flag to System Reserved, run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 boots.

Install EasyBCD, add XP from Win7.

gregrocker said:

Marking XP partition Active in advance of install may tell the XP installer where to place the boot files so that it becomes self contained and views itself as C.

You can do this in Win7 Disk Mgmt, delete XP partition, create it again NTFS Primary and mark Active. Partition or Volume - Create New
Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two)

Install XP. After install boot Win7 DVD to change Active flag to System Reserved, run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 boots.

Install EasyBCD, add XP from Win7.

It worked! C is what it should be. :) Thanks! Would it be possible to update the tutorial to include those steps as a precaution?

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for me to break it. You see, when it booted, there were 2 entries for XP.

I decided to try and delete the extra entry with EasyBCD's Edit function (after checking to make sure both XP entries booted) and...oopsies! Now I'm getting an "NST/ntldr" error on XP startup, and when I try to repair it, as the error suggests, the XP disc just tries to reinstall. I can't get into recovery mode (this disturbs me and I can't solve it). Researching it now...

I suck!

Edit: I fixed it using your instructions here.

Thanks a bunch for all the help!

Really glad to hear you got it fixed, and to bring us up to date on the fix for XP installing boot files to SysReserved and assigning it C at the same time. The other thread you linked here that refers to that ends without being resolved. I'll try to find it again to update it or you can do it if you want.

Marking XP target partition Active tells it to keep it's boot files and C letter on its partition, where Win7 can find it after repairs and add it to a Dual Boot.

You can also always delete the other entries on EasyBCD to Add them again, which often resolves issues.

gregrocker said:

You can also always delete the other entries on EasyBCD to Add them again, which often resolves issues.

That's exactly what I did, per your suggestion in that thread.

A new and interesting problem I'm having that (according to my google results) only seems to happen to Linux users, oddly enough....every time I switch OSes, the system clock gets changed. LOL

I'm glad I found this thread, and hopefully my stumbles can help somebody else avoid the same problems.

I really appreciate your help. You're a super dude!

Yeah I don't recognize that as a Windows issue. Do you have Linux on there now, or did you at one time?

Start in BIOS setup to set clock there if given. Then boot into each OS and from the System tray click on clock to sync the time on the internet.

The CMOS battery also holds the time when unplugged but mainly for BIOS, so I don't think it should affect OS time which comes from the internet. However I don't know what sets OS time if there is no internet connection.

gregrocker said:

Yeah I don't recognize that as a Windows issue. Do you have Linux on there now, or did you at one time?

Start in BIOS setup to set clock there if given. Then boot into each OS and from the System tray click on clock to sync the time on the internet.

The CMOS battery also holds the time when unplugged but mainly for BIOS, so I don't think it should affect OS time which comes from the internet. However I don't know what sets OS time if there is no internet connection.

It's a brand new machine I built myself. The HDD had never had anything on it til I installed 7, following the tutorial. The time was fine until I installed XP. Really weird!

Maybe it's something weird with the ASRock BIOS. I'll check into it and post back.

Once you identify the pattern of how the time changes start a new thead in General as someone may recognize the issue. I haven't heard that one before.

gregrocker said:

Once you identify the pattern of how the time changes start a new thead in General as someone may recognize the issue. I haven't heard that one before.

It seems to be fine now. I wonder if I was just noticing it after doing XP reinstalls. That might have been changing the time somehow perhaps. I still can't get to the recovery console, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon. :)

Don't forget to update the tutorial! :)

Nobody should have to make the mistakes I did, now that we know better.