Win7 and XP dual boot questions

[Fermion]

Hi everyone.

This is my first time to do a build from ground up. I did skim through the installation threads but I cant seem to find ones that reflect my situation. I hope I can seek help here Im going for Home Premium 64 and XP pro SP1.

Which is better to install first, Win7 or XP? Will there be any benefit/consequences for installing which one first?

I have a 1TB HDD but I'm not sure how to allocate it. As of now heres how I intend to do: 100gb for Win7, 100gb for XP, 400gb Win7 apps, 400gb XP apps. I'm doing this in the assumption that one of the OS will 'hide' the others partition so I thought if I did the above, both OS can be happy or something. But should I bother this at all?

When to do the partitioning? During XP or Win7 install?

I cant foresee all the problems as of now, but Im taking steps so I can minimize my chances of botching up the installation. I might ask some more later on.

Thanks everyone... or anyone

 

[electrotune1200]

I have been dual booting for the past few weeks. I'm not sure if there are any benefits to installing any particular OS first. I guess it just depends on what you would rather have run your boot controller from.

I had 7 installed first, then Windows XP added to a second partition. The only hiccup i encountered was having to run a repair install from the 7 disc to repair the boot loader. It only took about 10 minutes to fix, and all has been well since.

I'm not quite sure if I understood your question about each OS hiding the other OS's system partitions. I'm pretty sure they will all be visible in both 7 and XP.

 

[electrotune1200]

Here's a useful tutorial to guide you along the way if you were unsure how to set up the dual boot.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html?filter[2]=General Tips

 

[Fermion]

Thanks Electrotune,

I read somewhere recently when one guy installed dual OS's, his Win7 (or was it his XP?) folder was accessible but empty when viewed in XP(or vice-versa). After reading that my paranoid switch went off. I can't find the thread anymore and nobody seems to be complaining about XP and win7 sharing folders together. Does that mean I can allocate the 1TB HDD this way?:

c:\Win7 = 100gb
d:\XP = 100gb
e:\data or storage = 800gb

I've checked your link above and it shows the installation prompts for manipulating partitions. Supposing I create 2 partitions for both OS's during Win7 install, will XP recognize this partition made by Win7?

Oh, by the way Electrotune, did you have problems with the AHCP/SATA when installing the XP? I'm already intending to slipstream the drivers, SP3 and others inside my XP SP1 just for that. Would you advice otherwise?

Thanks!

 

[theog]

Have a read of those tutorials:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html?ltr=D
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/66010-sata-drivers-load-windows-xp-setup-dual-boot.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/72185-sata-drivers-slipstream-into-windows-xp-cd.html

Use EasyBCD 2.0 in Win 7 & Win XP.
EasyBCD 2.0 Beta Builds - The NeoSmart Forums

A bit more reading.
BCDEDIT - How to Use - Page 7 - Windows 7 Forums
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/58188-added-xp-7-but-now-wont-boot.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/58680-solve-dual-boot-problem-windows-7-a.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/57634-dual-boot.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/58680-solve-dual-boot-problem-windows-7-a.html

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to SF! Fermion Originally seen with Vista prior to 7 any dual boot between XP and Vista would cause a problem when booting into XP resulting in Vista's system restore points being canceled out or best put deleted unless the new version's primary was hidden from XP.

That problem was seen mainly with the previous version for the most part. With 7 installed after XP the XP primary may be seen as "boot sector" in the 7 Disk Management tool where you simply initialize the XP volume there by right clicking on it to use the "change drive letter" option. Once assigned a new drive letter the XP primary is then seen as a logical drive and viewable in 7.

Note this is seen when installing XP on the first primary partition first followed by installing 7 on the second on the same drive.

 

[Fermion]

Thanks Theog and Night Hawk!

I started another thread just now and it hit me. My ODD is SATA. So does that mean I cant even install XP in the first place?! I only read problems installing XP on SATA HDD, but not ODDs used to read the installer itself. No floppy drives btw... Yikes?

 

[theog]

Thanks Theog and Night Hawk!

I started another thread just now and it hit me. My ODD is SATA. So does that mean I cant even install XP in the first place?! I only read problems installing XP on SATA HDD, but not ODDs used to read the installer itself. No floppy drives btw... Yikes?

Best done with a floppy, but you do this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/72185-sata-drivers-slipstream-into-windows-xp-cd.html

 

[theog]

http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/90778-dualboot-win7-xp-slipstream-checklist.html
I would only slipstream the Sata Drivers.
SP1
SP2
All the drivers for hardware, Win XP & Win7