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

 

[chuckr]

There may be some potential problems with installing sw:

Say, in XP,
you install something with a Batch/Command file that references the Ext drive, which is H:

If the sw is executable under w7, it won't work right (missing files),
because now the Ext drive is G:

The reverse situation (install under w7, run from XP) would produce the same kind of results,
due to the "drive renaming".

There could be undesirable results here, if w7 "writes" to E: Virtual drive, and
the same pgm executed under XP, writes to E:, which is now E: for Windows XP SP3 x86....

Just gotta 'keep an eye out'...
(The old: "Hey, where did it go?", or: "It never did that before!!!")

 

[Arknx]

well as i said they all work pretty well and i dont want to mess things up thanks all for your help

 

[jimmyj]

Hello and thanks in advance for your help.
I got this situation with Dual Booting Windows 7 and Windows XP.
Scenario:
A Laptop with a 320GB HDD, partitioned like in the screenshot (taken from Win7, let me know if it's need one taken from WinXP).


In the second partition I installed WinXP and then (mean after, like in Method Two of this "How To") in the third one I installed Win7. No problems with the installation of Win7.
I've made a backup of my BCD store, and here is the actual output of bcdedit.exe:


Well my problem is like this: If after a reboot I select WinXP in the menu, the next time the system reboot (right after I finish working within WinXP), it presents the next screen:


The "\Boot\BCD", should be in the second partition i.e. the WinXP partition (drive letter "C:"), but it is missing. What I do is, to recover the Win7 through the Recovery Environment from the Win7 DVD Installation. Then manually insert the WinXP ({ntldr}) object to the BCD store, but as I already explained after a WinXP reboot I get this screen, if I reboot and work with Win7 everything goes normal.
So the big question is, how do I fix this...

 

[SIW2]

You should be able to get the dual boot working like this:

Copy and paste ntldr, boot.ini and ntdtect.com from Xp partition onto 7 partition.

In Disk Management , mark 7 partition Active.

Boot 7 dvd and run startup repair 3 times.

7 will now be the System partition.

Add XP entry to bcd .

It doesn't solve the mystery of your physically disappearing Boot folder - but it shouldn't also happen on the 7 partition.

 

[chuckr]

... Then manually insert the WinXP ({ntldr}) object to the BCD store ...

Exactly which 'bcdedit' command do you use for this?

And, what was in that 'First' tiny partition, forcing you to install XP to the 'Second' partition?
Seems the folder: \boot\bcd almost has to be in there.

Can you post the info? Just curious...

 

[jimmyj]

You should be able to get the dual boot working like this:

Copy and paste ntldr, boot.ini and ntdtect.com from Xp partition onto 7 partition.

In Disk Management , mark 7 partition Active.

Boot 7 dvd and run startup repair 3 times.

7 will now be the System partition.

Add XP entry to bcd .

It doesn't solve the mystery of your physically disappearing Boot folder - but it shouldn't also happen on the 7 partition.

Thank you so much, your solution worked like a charm!. I would like clarify that the Boot folder doesn't disappear physically, just the BCD file (which is the Boot Configuration Data store).

 

[jimmyj]

Exactly which 'bcdedit' command do you use for this?

Well, you can see the commands on the next screenshot:

And, what was in that 'First' tiny partition, forcing you to install XP to the 'Second' partition?

My laptop is a Toshiba A205-S6812 system, and Toshiba like many others OEMs pre-installed a Windows Vista Home Premium in the second partition that later I change it to Windows XP Professional, as for your question, according to this post the 'First' tiny partition (Hidden) should be a Vista Recovery Environment. I will probably delete it.

Seems the folder: \boot\bcd almost has to be in there.

I already (in my previous reply) explained this. And for you curiosity I will provide this two screenshots, the first one is the directory listing for the WinXP \Boot directory and the second one is for the Win7 \Boot directory recreated after applying what SIW2 suggest me to do.



Additionally this is how my BCD store looks now:

Can you post the info? Just curious...

Sure...hope it will be useful for others...

 

[dbasia]

Hi All,
i download window 7 make two partiton i m trying to install window Pro use the METHOD TWO on drive D but cant after press any key i didnt see any message.

if i delete partiton D there have unallocated space then i use method two start download then i create space to install after format start install window then 1st time restart window after continuing then again restat pc after i dont see anything.....
Pls help me out.Thx very much
DB

 

[SIW2]

Hi jimmyj,

Thanks for the update - glad it's working for you.

 

[time sheep]

When i try booting the XP CD(doing METHOD TWO) it gives me an error that there is already a newer version of Windows installed, can i overcome that check?
I do already know how to dual boot with several systems, since its just about partitioning it
I already got Ubuntu, but i didnt when i first tried installing Windows Server 2003...

While thinking of it, do you think Windows server 2007 would work then?

 

[loadingtext]

Good guide.

I have Windows 7 installed. I want to dual boot with Windows XP. I already have the separate partition in place for Windows XP. Here is my problem.

Everytime I restart Windows and put in the Windows XP CD. It goes to the standard blue setup screen, then checks the files. But then it does not load to the Windows XP menu to install Windows XP, but rather, it goes to the blue screen.

Any help on this issue would be good.

 

[chuckr]

Good guide.

I have Windows 7 installed. I want to dual boot with Windows XP. I already have the separate partition in place for Windows XP. Here is my problem.

Everytime I restart Windows and put in the Windows XP CD. It goes to the standard blue setup screen, then checks the files. But then it does not load to the Windows XP menu to install Windows XP, but rather, it goes to the blue screen.

Any help on this issue would be good.

Pretty sure that you have to boot from the XP CD, and install from there.

See if that does the trick for you...

Be aware that when you finish XP installation,

you'll probably lose your w7 Bootmgr screen...

 

[Lordofminor]

I have a problem. I instaled WinXP Pro x64 and it already overwrited Windows 7 boot loader. And now, I know, I dont know how to fix this. I tried with Windows 7 DVD Startup repair, but it only finds Windows 7. I also tried EasyBCD in Windows 7, but I dont know what to add there.
Any help?

 

[Brink]

I have a problem. I instaled WinXP Pro x64 and it already overwrited Windows 7 boot loader. And now, I know, I dont know how to fix this. I tried with Windows 7 DVD Startup repair, but it only finds Windows 7. I also tried EasyBCD in Windows 7, but I dont know what to add there.
Any help?

Hello John,

You should be able to pick up at step 7 in METHOD TWO from within XP to have Windows 7 and XP in the boot file to select either one at startup.

 

[Lordofminor]

Hello John,

You should be able to pick up at step 7 in METHOD TWO from within XP to restore Windows 7 to the boot file.

Well, I tried that, but when I choose Windows XP, it sad that it doesnt exist..
But nevermind, I somehow managed to get back to XP, now I will install EasyBCD here and and Windows 7 option..

 

[Brentwood]

Tried the above dual boot instructions with two hard drives. Worked on the instructions and played with different scenarios this weekend. Wife had to work all weekend. Yes i have a life! Simply, the instructions above need a little help. My system is a HP Pavilion a1430n a dual core basic system. Two SATA drives and one Ultra ATA IDE drive.

One SATA has the original XP Pro, the second SATA is a slave and the Ultra ATA IDE drive where i installed windows 7 Ultimate (64bit).

Changed boot priority in bios to Ultra ATA drive with 7 installed.

EasyBCD version 1.7 does not work on Ultimate 7. It will not create a Ultimate 7 choice in the XP boot screen.

To get a dual boot screen on your system you need to work within Ultimate 7 not XP. Download EasyBCD 2.0 Beta which is designed for Vista/Ultimate 7. Follow the instructions in the above section 10 to create a XP line in the boot screen. Please note that its very important to know which drive in Ultimate 7 computer screen that registers the hard drive that has the XP program installed. I recommend that you rename the drives so you know which includes the XP programs.

This will create a boot screen in Ultimate 7 and will have Windows XP as the second boot when you turn on your system.

 

[SIW2]

Thanks for sharing your experiences Brentwood.

Easybcd 1.7.2 works fine.

When working with bcdedit (or Easybcd) the entry needs to reference the correct partition. Slightly more complicated if you have several drives.

An entry for XP needs to point at the location of the XP o/s loader. That will be ntldr - usually found on the first Active partition in the Bios boot order at the time XP was installed. Not necessarily the same partition the XP o/s files are installed on.

To add an entry for an nt6 o/s , it is the other way round. The o/s loader is located on the partition the o/s is installed on - not necessarily the Active partition.

I have been testing Easybcd 2.0 for some time. It is not in the tutorial presumably because it is still beta.

It attempts to autoselect the correct partition when adding an XP entry - usually ( but not always) that will make it easier. It also allows bcd entries to be added for 7 vhd's.

You are right that many will find it simpler to edit bcd from within 7.

Hope you had a fun weekend.

 

[davidjohn610]

I have the same issue, i had 7 on my one pc, just added XP and all i get is error loading operating system. did a fixmbr on the xp drive but still the same thing? any help please?

 

[Dad]

hey guys 1st post & great forum you all have built. Right, now some more problems for ya's lol, Just finished the duel boot install & all went well (spot on tutorial), small trouble is my drive letters, got a 250g drive partitioned, win7 on first part & xp on 2nd, when i look in both OS windows explorers i get Win7=C: & XP=D: pain in the butt when installing on xp (gotta change the install letter), anyway to have it so both OS see themselves as C: ?

 

[Tews]

Hi Dad and welcome to the forums!!

The system will always show separate partitions as individual ( virtual ) drives.. The reason for this is that programs/registry files need to be seperate as the operating systems are totally different and need to be installed on separate drives...