A little help needed going back to XP

I know this isn't an XP forum but I've always found the help level here to be very good - so here goes....

My employer just bought me a new PC for use in doing home-based support for our products. I need the PC to be able to boot into 3 x OS's:- Windows 7, Vista and XP. Vista and Win7 aren't a problem but when I tried to install XP, my (relatively old) copy failed when installing the PCI driver. I suspect that because my XP installation disk is quite old, it probably only supports standard PCI and not the PCIe bus that's found in my new PC.

Does anyone know if a newer copy of XP would support PCIe ?

Possibly but I'd prefer to partition my drive and install normally if possible. I've just been reading about PCIe and it turns out that my version (2.0) wasn't introduced until 2007. My copy of XP is definitely older than that, so I'm pretty sure that's the problem.

Are you using XP w/SP3? If not find a XP w/SP3 installer for your exact version - remember it is OEM- or retail-specific unlike Vista/7.

The problem is almost also frequently the SATA controller being too new for XP without SP3:
SATA Drivers - Load in Windows XP Setup on Dual Boot
SATA Drivers - Slipstream into Windows XP CD

Once XP is installed on its partition, mark Win7 Active and boot DVD Repair console or Repair CD to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times to start Win7, then install EasyBCD 2.02 to add XP to the Multi-boot menu.

If you can use a separate HD, then unplug the other HD during XP install. After install plug back in the Vista/Win7 HD, set preferred HD first to boot in BIOS, boot other OS HD using one-time BIOS boot menu key. This saves a lot of trouble removing one later.

XP SP2 does support PCIe. My old computer had a PCIe slot, and I was using it long before I installed SP3.

Edit: It also had SATA ports on the mobo back when it was running SP1. I didn't use them, though. I also have no idea how they compared to "state of the art" SATA ports in today's computers.

gregrocker said:

Are you using XP w/SP3? If not find a XP w/SP3 installer for your exact version - remember it is OEM- or retail-specific.

Thanks for the tip. I already looked on ebay for XP but they do all seem to be OEM versions now. Has Microsoft stopped selling XP now?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what an OEM disk is. Is it a fully installable copy or is it essentially just the recovery disk from some (now defunct) PC? The only experience I've got with OEM disks is from about 8 years ago when I once bought a Toshiba laptop with XP pre-installed. It came with a Toshiba branded DVD for re-installing the OS. However, on the one occasion when I needed to use the DVD, it looked more like it was transferring a disk image rather than a proper re-installation. Obviously, something like that wouldn't be much use to me...

johne53 said:

Thanks for the tip. I already looked on ebay for XP but they do all seem to be OEM versions now. Has Microsoft stopped selling XP now?

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what an OEM disk is. Is it a fully installable copy or is it essentially just the recovery disk from some (now defunct) PC?

My understanding of an "OEM installation disc" for a copy of Windows is a fully usable true from-scratch installation DVD, but one for whose license product key is only good for ONE machine. It cannot be used for a second machine.

So if you do use it, you can only use it to reinstall Windows on the same physical machine (or one without very much significant hardware upgrade from its original structure). You absolutely could NOT use it to install Windows on a second physical machine. Activation of Windows from that second machine would fail, as the license key is already used by the first machine.

In contrast, "retail" license keys can be used on one machine at a time, but since you are the "owner" you can de-activate it (with Microsoft) from the first machine and then use that same key again to install Windows on a second machine. Activation on the second machine using that same "retail" key would work fine.

So these "OEM" copies of Windows installation disc are fine for you to use and install on exactly one machine, if they are still sealed and never-used. They just can't be used for a second machine once you use them on your first machine.

There is only one difference between OEM and Retail version of Microsoft operating systems: The Retail version comes with technical support from MS (I forget how long - something like 30 days?), while the OEM version comes without any MS support. If you read the license on the package, the purchaser of the OEM version promises to provide all customer support.

The limitation on number of machines is the same, regardless of the version: Only one machine at a time. You CAN delete the OS from one machine and install it on your replacement machine as many times as you wish.

And yes, MS stopped selling the Retail version of XP about two and a half years ago.

Professional also has XP mode - that's why I paid extra for it. Unfortunately, I have YET to have it actually accomplish anything. If I'd known how inept XP mode was, I wouldn't have bought Pro.