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

 

[Wrathchild90]

No error message... I Boot with that HD and there is again only the windows 7 entry :-(

P.S. today the secondary hard disk is again off... it isn't detected... Trying to reboot.......

 

[gregrocker]

You may have a bad HD there. Try to get it to register in BIOS by replugging, swapping cables, checking all connections. When it registers, download and burn to CD the maker's diagnostics/repair CD to run a full scan: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 Then run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html on the XP HD either from Win7 or booted Win7 DVD command line.

When you tap the F11 key at bootup: do you get the BIOS Boot Screen menu and can make the choice to boot either the Win7 HD or the XP HD, but when you choose the XP HD it boots to Win7? Is this correct?

If this is the case, and you want to use the BIOS Boot menu to access your Dual Boot, then temporarily unplug the WIn7 HD, set XP first HD to boot in BIOS setup (after CD drive), then run an XP Repair Install following these steps: Repair Windows XP - How to Perform a Repair Installation of Windows XP - Part 1 of 2

Once XP starts up, plug Win7 HD back in, set the preferred HD first to boot in BIOS setup, then boot the other HD when needed by tapping the F11 key at bootup.

Feel free to ask back any questions to help you perform these troubleshooting steps.

 

[EverWin]

@ Wrathchild90

Run EasyBcd as Administrator in Windows 7
(or Turn off UAC to never notify & reboot)

Add Windows XP Entry then

GOTO: "Edit boot menu" tab

Apply save settings then reboot PC to check

Boot PC with Windows 7 Installed HDD

Regards,
EverWin

 

[Jevans]

Thanks for that tutorial. I was stuck with having to change the bootloader everytime I wanted to use XP or Windows 7 but that sorted it out.

 

[kentucky777]

hey again Brink can i do this method on External Hard Drive its USB type?

 

[Brink]

Hello Kentucky,

Only if the external drive had a eSATA connection at both ends with no adapters since Windows 7 would see it has a internal drive with this type of connection. It will not work with a USB connection.

 

[vollachr]

Hi, great tutorial, it really helped me.

Thank you.

*EDIT*

Hi Brink, I got your PM, for some reason I don't have the option to reply to it, just wanted to say thanks.

 

[stfarm]

Hi,

I used this guide to install XP SP3.
I had WIN 7 first which now I am not able to see anymore because I do NOT get that boot choice, it always boots into XP.

I have added an entry to the boot menu but it never appears. I am in a total panic because I need to access my Win7 system to continue my work.

I had an empty 30GB partition where I installed XP into. It was D: on my Win7 system and now E: in the XP system.

Please help me get back my Win7

Steve

 

[myzr7]

Welcome to SevenForums. So you say that you did Method Two of the tutorial and you did instructions 7 - 16 by adding netframework and easy bcd. Then restarted and you had no dual boot screen? Could you post a screen shot of your disk managment so we can see what your partitions look like?

 

[Brink]

Hi, great tutorial, it really helped me.

Thank you.

*EDIT*

Hi Brink, I got your PM, for some reason I don't have the option to reply to it, just wanted to say thanks.

You're most welcome Vollachr.

 

[stfarm]

Yes sure, thank you very much for your help. I noticed when I use the EasyBCD or VistaBootPro tools, none of them actually added anything to the boot menu.

When I go into the System Properties/Adavanced and modify my boot file there, I see the menu now BUT it is NOT going into WIN7.
Please someone tell me how I can edit that string to point to my Win7 again.

Here is the Boot file:

[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP on D:\" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows 7 on F:\Windows\system32\winload.exe" /fastdetect

Disk Manager pic is attached.

Thanks again for helping me out, I am about to pull out my hair...

Welcome to SevenForums. So you say that you did Method Two of the tutorial and you did instructions 7 - 16 by adding netframework and easy bcd. Then restarted and you had no dual boot screen? Could you post a screen shot of your disk managment so we can see what your partitions look like?

 

[myzr7]

Have you tried to boot from your win7 disk and do a start up repair?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[stfarm]

Yes, done that 3 times to no avail. It will only boot into Win Xp now.

Even tried this:
How to use the Bootrec.exe tool in the Windows Recovery Environment to troubleshoot and repair startup issues in Windows

Please tell me you have another way to get me back to my normal life.

Steve

Have you tried to boot from your win7 disk and do a start up repair?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[gregrocker]

In order to start Win7 you need to first mark it Active, then run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times to rewrite the MBR to Win7 partition.
Partition - Mark as Active
Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Once Win7 starts, install EasyBCD to add XP: accept boot files, autocompletes, save, restart.

If there are any further problems please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Mgmt drive map with listings using the SNipping TOol in Start Menu. You can go there now in XP to Mark Win7 Active.

 

[stfarm]

I am back in Win7 now, here is what I had to do. I still want to be able to boot into XP now. Any ideas how I could without going thru the same nightmare?

Diskpart can also be used to mark the partition as active from the Windows RE.
Diskpart
LIST DISK
SELECT DISK (followed by the number of the disk . most likely 0)
LIST PARTITION
SELECT PARTITION (followed by your partition number. most likely 0)
ACTIVE
EXIT
Windows startup recovery should now work.


Then I was able to use the Startup Repair.


Thank you so much for your help.

Have you tried to boot from your win7 disk and do a start up repair?
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[stfarm]

I just noticed your post, thank you for your help, here are my screen shots:

I copied the Boot.ini, ntldr and NTDETECT.COM to the D drive thinking that might help.

When I boot now, I see the XP entry but when I choose it, it just restarts, like a loop.

What am I missing? The XP OS is on the D drive but the ntldr files were on the G drive.

Thank you again.

Steve

In order to start Win7 you need to first mark it Active, then run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times to rewrite the MBR to Win7 partition.
Partition - Mark as Active
Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Once Win7 starts, install EasyBCD to add XP: accept boot files, autocompletes, save, restart.

If there are any further problems please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Mgmt drive map with listings using the SNipping TOol in Start Menu. You can go there now in XP to Mark Win7 Active.

 

[rilliz]

So you say that you did Method Two of the tutorial and you did instructions 7 - 16 by adding netframework and easy bcd. Then restarted and you had no dual boot screen?

I think there may be some errors in the "When Windows 7 is Installed First" section of the tutorial?

Where is "Write MBR"?

Maybe this is correct?

- run EasyBCD

- click on the "Bootloader Setup"
- "[X]Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR"
- click on the "Write MBR" button.

- click on the "Add New Entry" button.
- "Windows" tab > select "Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3"
- "[X]Automatically detect correct drive"
- click on the "Add Entry" button

- close EasyBCD

 

[stfarm]

After looking at that post I played with EasyBcd again from within Win7 and sure enough, NOW it all works.

Thank you everybody for your help, that was some interesting learning for me.

Steve

 

[gregrocker]

It looks like you had the 100mb System Reserved partition which should have been marked Active instead of Win7. It has now been cut out of the picture and can be deleted and recovered into either partition, or we can help you reconstruct it to manage the Dual Boot.

This is why we should ask to see a screenshot before advising the steps (a dozen+ times a day) to start Win7 up by marking active and Startup Repair x3.

Glad you got it sorted.

Rilliz - Are you saying the tutorial lists the Rewrite and Add steps for EasyBCD in the wrong order? Please explain further as I think you are on to something.

 

[rilliz]

Are you saying the tutorial lists the Rewrite and Add steps for EasyBCD in the wrong order? Please explain further as I think you are on to something.

(sorry for my bad english)

When Windows 7 is Installed First http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html

9.-13. This is correct section of the tutorial.

- click on the "Add New Entry" button.
- "Windows" tab > select "Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3"
- "[X]Automatically detect correct drive"
- click on the "Add Entry" button

14. "Save Settings" button is not important, if you don't change nothing ("Edit Boot Menu" page).

- click on the "Edit Boot Menu" button
- Click on the "Save Settings" button.

But where is "Write MBR" (Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR)?
After you installing Windows XP, you can't boot into the Windows 7 boot menu, if you don't write Windows 7 MBR.

Installing Windows XP after Windows 7 or Windows Vista Installing XP After Vista - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

- click on the "Bootloader Setup"
- "[X]Install the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR"
- click on the "Write MBR" button.

- click on the "Add New Entry" button.
- "Windows" tab > select "Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3"
- "[X]Automatically detect correct drive"
- click on the "Add Entry" button