Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

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

   Information

This will show you how to install Windows 7 and XP to dual boot with when you already have either Windows 7 or XP installed first.

   Note

With a dual boot installaton, you will have two operating systems (OS) installed. When you start the computer, you will have the choice to choose which OS you would like to start up to. This method is the easiest way of doing a dual boot with these two operating systems.

   Tip

When dual booting with another OS (ex: Vista or XP), you may not always have that OS partition show up in Computer with a driver letter in Windows 7. If this happens, then you will just need to add a drive letter to the OS (ex: Vista or XP) partition in Windows 7 Disk Management for it to show up in Computer with a driver letter.

   Warning

To stop XP from deleting your Windows 7 System Restore Points everytime XP is started, then see System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete to hide Windows 7 from XP.

Windows 7 Minimum Hardware Requirements


NOTE: For more information on this, see: Windows 7 system requirements

• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 GB RAM for 32-bit Windows 7 OR 2 GB RAM for 64-bit Windows 7
• 16 GB available disk space 32-bit Windows 7 OR 20 GB for 64-bit Windows 7
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme)
• DVD-R/W Drive
• Internet or phone access to activate Windows 7.

Windows XP Minimum Hardware Requirements

NOTE: For more information on this, see: System requirements for Windows XP operating systems

• PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended
• 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features)
• 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.*
• Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor
• CD-ROM or DVD drive
• Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

EXAMPLE: Windows Boot Manager
NOTE: This is the boot screen where you select what operating system that you would like to start. By default, you have 30 seconds to choose another operating system before the default operating system will start automatically.

OPTION ONE

When XP is Installed First

NOTE: If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the Windows 7 RAID drivers on a USB flash drive available to select and load while installing Windows 7.
1. Do step 2 or 3 below for where you wanted to install Windows 7 at.

2. To Create a New Partition from the XP Hard Disk Drive
A) With your Windows 7 installation disc boot into the Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options screen.
NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.

B) In the command prompt, select and shrink the XP volume by how many MB (1024 MB = 1 GB) you want to have for this Windows 7 partition. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You would do steps 2 to 9 in METHOD TWO at that link. Windows 7 will need a minimum of 16 GB (16384 MB).

C) Click on the X at the top right corner to close the command prompt. (See screenshot above)

D) Click on the X at the top right corner to close System Recovery Options. (See screenshot below)

E) Go to step 4.
3. To Use a Separate Hard Disk Drive than the XP Drive
A) Boot from your Windows 7 installation disc.
NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.
4. Click on the Install now button. (See screenshot below)

5. When you get to this point, select the partition (step 2) or hard drive to install Windows 7 on. (See screenshot below)

6. Finish installing Windows 7.
NOTE: You would start at step 9 in that link to finish installing Windows 7.

7. When finished, restart the computer to have the option to boot from XP (Earlier Verision of Windows) or Windows 7. (See screenshot below)

   Note

If you are only booting into Windows 7 and do not have XP listed in the Windows Boot Manager, then you can install only EasyBCD (step 8 Option Two below) to add XP (or Windows 7) while started in Windows 7 the same way to the boot list.

OPTION TWO

When Windows 7 is Installed First

   Warning

• If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for your specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at the F6 prompt while installing XP.
• If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these options to load the SATA drivers for XP for your specific motherboard.
  • How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista
  • How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers from a Floppy disc at the F6 prompt while installing XP.

1. To Create a New Partition from the Windows 7 Hard Disk Drive
NOTE: If you want to install XP on a separate internal hard drive instead, then skip this step and go to step 2.
A) In Windows 7, select and shrink the Windows 7 volume in Disk Management by how many MB (1024 MB = 1 GB) you want to have for this XP partition. (See screenshots below)
NOTE: You would do all of Method One at that link.





2. Insert your XP installation disc, then restart the computer and press any key to boot from it when prompted. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.

3. From XP Setup, Press Enter. (See screenshot below)

   Warning

• If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for your specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at the F6 prompt while installing XP.
• If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these options to load the SATA drivers for XP for your specific motherboard.
  • How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista
  • How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers from a Floppy disc at the F6 prompt while installing XP.

4. Press F8. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: On some multimedia keyboards, you may need to press the F-Lock or Function key before pressing F8.

5. Select the partition (step 1) or hard drive that you want to install XP on using the arrow keys and press Enter.

6. Finish installing XP.

   Tip

If you get Error loading Operating System after XP restarts:

• Using your Windows 7 installation disc, boot to the command prompt at startup.
• Type in these comands below, and press enter after each one.
  • bootrec /FixMbr
  • bootrec /FixBoot
  • bootrec /RebuildBcd
• Exit the command prompt and restart the computer.
• At this point, Windows 7 should boot up the same way before trying to install XP.
• Continue to step 8 below and run EasyBCD from Windows 7 instead.

7. In XP, download and install .Net Framework 2.0 (32-bit) version or .Net Framework 2.0 (64-bit) version first, and EasyBCD (free version) for your 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86) XP.
NOTE: In XP, Net Framework is required to be installed to run EasyBCD. After you click on Register (at bottom of link) for the free EasyBCD, registration is not required to download it.

8. Run EasyBCD (free version).
NOTE: This is required to repair the Windows 7 boot file and add XP to the Windows Boot Manager list.

9. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the Add New Entry button. (See screenshot below)
A) In the top section under Operating Systems, click on the Windows tab. (See screenshot below)
B) To the right of Type, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 from the drop down menu. (See screenshot below)
:warn:WARNING: Be sure to leave the Automatically detect correct drive box checked.

C) To the right of Name, you can leave the default Microsoft Windows XP as the name to be displayed in the Windows Boot Manager, or you can type whatever name you would like to have instead. (See screenshot below)
D) Click on the Add Entry button. (See screenshot below)

10. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the BCD Deployment button, select (dot) the Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR option, and click on the Write MBR button. (See screenshot below)

11. Close EasyBCD.

12. Restart the computer to have the option to boot from Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 7. (See screenshot below)

   Tip

If Windows 7 will not start up when selected, then use your Windows 7 installation DVD to do a Startup Repair.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows Vista and XP
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Dual Boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu
• How to Correctly Setup a Dual Boot with Windows 7 and LinuxMint13
• How to Change Time to Display Operating Systems at Boot in Windows 7
• How to Change the Listed OS Arrangement Order in Windows Boot Manager Screen
• How to Change the Default Operating System to Start in Windows 7
• How to Delete an Operating System Listed in Windows Boot Manager
• How to Change the OS Name in Windows Boot Manager
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB Device
• Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device
• How to Setup Windows 7 to Boot from a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk)
• How to Create a Windows 7 VHD at Boot to Start with from Boot
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7
• How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7
• How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Load SATA Driver Using Shift+F10 to Open Command Prompt
• How to Recover a Partition Used by an Older OS in a Dual Boot
• How to Properly Delete a OS in a Dual Boot
• How to Stop System Restore Points from being Deleted in Vista and Windows 7 when Dual Booting with XP

 

[gregrocker]

I would plug in by wire to have the greatest chance of getting online outright, then run all rounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3).

Then see what drivers are still missing in Device Manager.

 

[disaksen]

I have Win7 Ultimate x64 installed on the primary partition (C - 200.42GB) of a 500GB HDD, and want to install Windows XP Pro x86 on the same HDD's secondary partition (D - 233.34GB), so they can be dual-booted. The HDD originally had Win7 Home Premium x86 on installed "C", with WinXP Pro x86 installed on "D", and the dual-booting of the OS's worked just fine. WinXP became so corrupted, it had to be reinstalled. Since my brother-in-law (his computer) wanted to upgrade Win7 HP x86 to Win7 Ult x64 so he would use more RAM, I backed up all his data from both partitions, then formatted the "D" partition to prepare it for the install of WinXP Pro x86 again. I then performed a clean install of Win7 Ultimate x64, performed all updates, and transferred his Win7 data into the new OS. Now, when I try to install WinXP onto the "D" partition, I get the following error message:
"This program is blocked due to compatibility issues" "Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD." Warning: If you decide to delete the newer version of Windows on your computer, the files and settings cannot be recovered."

When trying to boot to the Windows XP install CD (bios settings set CD as first boot drive), hitting any key has no effect. The system simply boots straight into Win7.

Would sure appreciate any help that would allow me to install XP onto partition "D", and get the system set up to dual boot.resolve my problem


Can you tell me

 

[Brink]

Hello Disaksen, and welcome to Seven Forums.

It sounds like you were trying to upgrade to XP from within your Windows 7.

Double check to make sure that you created a bootable XP installation CD/DVD from you XP ISO using one of the free programs below.

Microsoft Store

OR

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[Gomer]

OEM version of WinXP is not good enough

Brink, I think you should warn people that they cannot use an OEM version of WinXP in this dual boot process. Some time ago, I followed all of these instructions, and then used the installation disk from a dead computer. It refused to accept my key. I still have the dual boot setup on this computer, but have never gotten around to buy a new WinXP disk.

 

[disaksen]

Tried a clean install (from boot), but if won't allow me to start the install process by hitting any key before Windows 7 boots up itself. Trying to install while Win7 was running got me the previous messages, and no ability to install the new XP OS onto the D partition. Think I might try to build a bootable Win XP Pro x64 installation disk to see if that has any effect on things.

Will also trying your suggestion, to see if it helps. May just have to go with installing Windows XP onto a second HDD and be done with it.

 

[Brink]

Brink, I think you should warn people that they cannot use an OEM version of WinXP in this dual boot process. Some time ago, I followed all of these instructions, and then used the installation disk from a dead computer. It refused to accept my key. I still have the dual boot setup on this computer, but have never gotten around to buy a new WinXP disk.

Hello Gomer,

You are able to use an OEM XP, but it's product key will only activate on the original computer and no other. OEM product keys are permanently tied to the motherboard of the computer it was first activated on.

 

[gregrocker]

Disaksen-

If it prompts to press any key then it detects the XP CD but it must not be readable to load. Check that its clean and unscratched. Otherwise you are correct to try a fresh XP w/SP3 ISO burn for your licensed version.

It's always best to Dual Boot on separate HD's if possible. Be sure to unplug all other HD's when installing, then afterwards set preferred OS HD to boot first, trigger the other using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

If this arrangement doesn't work like you want, install EasyBCD to Win7 to add XP - they still should remain independent for HD's to come and go as you please.

 

[disaksen]

The OEM disk I used was not manufacturer specific. It's a retail disk I bought at the same time I purchased a Motherboard, CPU, and memory some time ago. I used nlite to apply hotfixes, drivers, and a couple necessary applications and utilities, when creating the new ISO, then burned it to disk.

Tried to do a clean install from the new disk, and it went fine as far as letting me select the old XP partiton (D) to do the installation on, then formatting the partition. It copied the initial setup files, but when the system rebooted to continue with the installation, the boot process now only goes to a blinking cursor immediately after the message "Boot from CD", but before the "Press any key" and 5 second countdown displays. Now Windows 7 will not boot either. The new nlited disk may be bad, but I burned the nlited ISO to disk with the newest version of Imgburn, at 4X speed (I have a lot of faith in Imgburn). The Imgburn verification process indicated the burn was good.

Now I'm even more at a loss. Any more suggestions? What a headache!!

 

[gregrocker]

It is to be expected that the Win7 boot will be lost if you install XP on the same HD, which is why I suggested you install to another HD with all HD's unplugged.

To fix this you'd Mark Partition Active the Win7 or it's 100mb SysReserved partition (preferred if you have it) from the booted installer, run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts, then add XP using EasyBCD.

But first try reinstalling with the original XP CD. If that fails do you have access to one with SP3? Have you used the slipstreamed CD before so you know it works? Try install to the separate HD with all others unplugged.

 

[alexholden1]

I have just tried to complete a dual boot with Windows 7 installed first and installing Windows XP on a separate Hard Drive. I followed the steps listed here (I found them on another site, but they listed doing the BCD Deployment first, then the Add New Entry) Windows 7 is installed on my Drive 0 and I installed Windows XP on Drive 1. Both of these drives are Samsung 256 GB SSDs. I have an additional Seagate 1 TB drive 2. After installing the XP on the second drive, I ran EasyBCD and restored the MBR for Windows 7. When I ran the "Add New Entry", I received an error saying there was insufficient room to complete the process. I think maybe this had to do with the fact that XP saw the System Reserved partition as logical drive c:\ and what shows up as C:\ in the Win 7 install is listed as D:\ in XP. Regardless, I received the error.

I rebooted the machine and now I can only access the Windows 7 installation. The dual boot did not get set up. Is there any way that from the Windows 7 install, I can create the dual boot so I can get back into XP? Or can I boot to the Win XP CD and do a repair to get back into the XP install?

Thanks for any help,

Alex

 

[gregrocker]

Hi Alex -

Did you try booting XP using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key? It keeps them independent so they can come and go as you please.

If this isn't satisfactory post back a screenshot of Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums as well as the EasyBCD error screen after deleting the current XP listing and trying to add it again.

 

[alexholden1]

Thanks for the reply. I can get a screenshot of the drive management in Win 7, but at this point, I cannot get back into Win XP to duplicate the Error Message. Basically what I have, looking at the disk management in Win 7 is Drive 0 has the System Reserved and the C:\ partition (Healthy (Boot page file, Crash Dump, Primary Partition); Drive 1 shows D:\, Healthy (primary Partition) and this is where the XP install is. I am unfamiliar with the "one-time BIOS Boot Menu key", do you mean f8???. I tried that but see only the Win 7 choice. I tried switching the XP drive in BIOS to be the boot drive, but it will not boot, asking for a choice of a boot disk.

 

[gregrocker]

Where is the requested screenshot?

If the XP HD is not listed in F8 BIOS Boot Menu its probably because it doesn't have its boot files.

I'd unplug XP HD and make sure Win7 can boot on its own. If not mark Active and run 3 Startup Repairs from links I gave earlier.

Then I'd unplug Win7, plug in XP HD and reinstall XP. Delete its partition and full format a new one.

After install set preferred first to boot in BIOS setup, boot other one when needed using F8 key.

 

[President Kush]

Can both 7 and XP use the "C:\" drive?

I followed this guide to the letter. Other than one confusing part with the steps, it went perfectly. I got both 7 and XP installed and working on my laptop. The thing is, and it really annoys me, is in Windows XP, the drive letters are all mixed up. Here's how the drives are labeled in 7:

This is how I'd also like them to appear in XP only with "7" & "XP" switched around, so in XP, "XP" would be C:, and "7" would be D: and EFGHI would all be the same in both 7 & XP. However, here is how they currently appear in XP:

Keep in mind, I've already used Acronis Disk Director to make some changes. First of all, the memory stick drives are not showing and I'm not worried about that, I just haven't loaded the drivers yet. As far as the HDD's are concerned, before I made the changes, that ~100MB "system reserved" partition was labeled as C: (I removed the letter), "working" was labeled as D:, "storage" as E:, and "7" as F:. I tried to change XP to C:, but Acronis gave me a warning that doing so might cause Windows to not boot.

When setting up a dual boot by the instructions listed in this TUT, is it normal for this to happen, or should both 7 and XP be labeled as the C: drive when booting into each respective OS? How can I fix it?

Oh, and BTW, I followed method 2 because Windows 7 was installed first. Then, to install XP, I put in the XP disk and restarted to Boot from the CD. Appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[SIW2]

You would need to reinstall XP, by booting the install cd.

 

[gregrocker]

You ran the XP CD from Win7 and didn't boot it. This blocks the installer from being able to use the C letter since it's running from it.

 

[President Kush]

You would need to reinstall XP, by booting the install cd.

You ran the XP CD from Win7 and didn't boot it. This blocks the installer from being able to use the C letter since it's running from it.

You must have not read the end of my post. I did NOT run the XP CD from Windows 7

Oh, and BTW, I followed method 2 because Windows 7 was installed first. Then, to install XP, I put in the XP disk and restarted to Boot from the CD. Appreciate any help. Thanks.

I got the black screen that said something like "press any key to boot from cd". I pressed a key and it went into the windows install without ever starting windows 7

 

[gregrocker]

If the installer was booted it should have installed Win7 to C. But my memory is fading with XPired so maybe that would only be if you install it first. It may not have the smarts to know how to address C already taken by Win7.

If that's the case then the only solution may be to install XP first, or to another HD with WIn7 HD unplugged during XP install.

 

[abdumka]

does this option two work with windows 8 ??

 

[Brink]

Hello Abdumka, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Yes, you could use Option Two for Windows 8 as well.