Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Richie001 · May 9, 2013

Golden said:
You can download a Windows 7 ISO here, and create your own installation DVD using this.

Thank you.

Billkwando · Jun 6, 2013

XP showing wrong letter for C drive

Hi All!

I'd like to say thanks for the great tutorial, as it worked great for me except for one thing...

(This is in reference to using a SINGLE drive for dual boot)

Has anyone come up with a solution for folks who install 7 first, and have the unfortunate side effect of XP assigning the C drive letter to the "System Reserved" 100mb partition? Everywhere I look, I read that it is impossible to change the letter of the boot drive. Assuming that this is a universal issue (I certainly found plenty of unsolved examples of it online) I think it would be a great service to readers if the post author would add this caveat into the instructions for dual booting with 7 as the initial installation.....or maybe a note encouraging users NOT to install 7 first if at all possible.

For the folks who may ask the question "why does it matter if your boot drive is F and not C?", it is because some older programs (ostensibly the reason one chooses to dual boot XP in the first place) do not offer the option of choosing which drive they install to, and default to C: Program Files.

As it stands, I'm looking at a weekend of removing 7 from my HDD (which I had gotten nicely settled into already and all set up) as well as XP, and reinstalling them in the reverse order. To be completely honest, this is a bit frustrating, considering that I feel I followed the instructions to the letter, only to receive a nasty surprise at the end.

Sorry about the venting, and I really do appreciate the help I've received so far from this forum...I'm just bummed cos this could've been avoided so easily, considering that I started with a fresh HDD and chose to install 7 first, all things being equal, because the directions looked easier. Unfortunately, all things were not equal.

gregrocker · Jun 6, 2013

This might be avoidable by marked the intended XP partition Active first, so the boot files are directed to there. Mark Partition Active It is unusual enough I can't remember it.

Billkwando · Jun 6, 2013

gregrocker said:
This might be avoidable by marked the intended XP partition Active first, so the boot files are directed to there. Mark Partition Active It is unusual enough I can't remember it.

That sounds interesting, but it says:

"There can be only one active partition per physical hard disk."

Doesn't that spell trouble for my Windows 7 installation?

Also a concern is this:

"Do not mark a partition as active if it doesn't contain the loader for an operating system. Doing so will make your computer unbootable."

Thoughts?

gregrocker · Jun 6, 2013

Yes but XP normally steals the System flag to its partition from Win7 anyway, requiring 7 to be repaired to add XP to a Dual Boot. Adding Win7 from XP has become increasingly troublesome over time - is this what you did?

Can you post back a screenshot of your Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums as viewed from both XP and Win7. For XP you'll need to Print Screen and paste to Paint: Screenshot with Paint

Billkwando · Jun 6, 2013

gregrocker said:
Yes but XP normally steals the System flag to its partition from Win7 anyway, requiring 7 to be repaired to add XP to a Dual Boot. Adding Win7 from XP has become increasingly troublesome over time - is this what you did?

Can you post back a screenshot of your Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums as viewed from both XP and Win7. For XP you'll need to Print Screen and paste to Paint: Screenshot with Paint

I can definitely post a screenshot, but it probably won't be for another 2 hours, if you're still online then. Everything looked as expected, per the tutorial, but I'll post it up soon.

As for switching the active partition, which of the 3 methods would you recommend? I'm guessing the 3rd one, but if it can be done within 7, that would save me a little time.

Edit: yes, I did add 7 from inside of XP using EasyBCD.

gregrocker · Jun 6, 2013

What letter is XP booting as? Is its partition Logical?

Billkwando · Jun 6, 2013

gregrocker said:
What letter is XP booting as? Is its partition Logical?

XP is booting as E and I can't remember the designation, but I believe it was the same as my Windows 7 partition. I'll get the specifics for you as soon as I can get to the machine

I really appreciate the help!

Billkwando · Jun 6, 2013

OK, here they go. Thanks again,

I don't see any mention of logical, alas.

gregrocker · Jun 7, 2013

I don't remember this situation from the days when we dealt with several of these Dual Boots a day here. Maybe someone else does.

What I remember is that XP is only smart enough to place its own boot files on its own partition, clumsily stealing the boot from Win7 if installed last.

But the rule of thumb when an OS can place it's boot files on another Active partition as Win7 does is to mark the target partition Active if that's where you want the boot files to go.

This is assuming it gave System Reserved the letter C because the boot files were written there.

After XP install, Mark Win7 Partition Active and run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts, install Easy BCD to add XP.

Billkwando · Jun 7, 2013

gregrocker said:
I don't remember this situation from the days when we dealt with several of these Dual Boots a day here. Maybe someone else does.

What I remember is that XP is only smart enough to place its own boot files on its own partition, clumsily stealing the boot from Win7 if installed last.

But the rule of thumb when an OS can place it's boot files on another Active partition as Win7 does is to mark the target partition Active if that's where you want the boot files to go.

This is assuming it gave System Reserved the letter C because the boot files were written there.

After XP install, Mark Win7 Partition Active and run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts, install Easy BCD to add XP.

I'm confused. How will that help XP install to the X drive (as its labelled in 7) instead of the system reserved partition?

Could you elaborate? Am I reinstalling XP but leaving my current 7 installation alone since everything is where it should be?

Edit: apparently I found the magical google search keyword sequence: dual boot xp made "system reserved" the c drive - Google Search

Investigating...

gregrocker · Jun 7, 2013

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.

Billkwando · Jun 7, 2013

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! :cry:

Edit: I fixed it using your instructions here.

Thanks a bunch for all the help!

gregrocker · Jun 7, 2013

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.

Billkwando · Jun 7, 2013

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!

gregrocker · Jun 7, 2013

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.

Billkwando · Jun 7, 2013

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.

gregrocker · Jun 7, 2013

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.

Billkwando · Jun 8, 2013

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.

Billkwando · Jun 10, 2013

Don't forget to update the tutorial!

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

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

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