Solved xp install option greyed out using new partition on hdd windows 7

[jstnk]

i've tried a virtual machine and formatted a 40gig partition on the pc hdd running win 7 then tried to load my copy of xp and in all cases the option to install xp is greyed out on the welcome screen. i even used administrator privileges.

 

[Kari]

Please could you be a bit more specific. You are trying to install XP on a virtual machine? What virtualization software you are using? VirtualBox, VMWare, Virtual PC?

Please try to be exact, tell us what you have done and what is your goal.

Kari

 

[jstnk]

i'm using oracle virtualbox. i made a 40gig partition on the hdd if i have to dual boot. running windows 7 home premium 64 on the host drive 1T so i can't use xp mode. i have two empty formatted ntfs wd ide hard drives i can use with a usb2.0 hook up if needed. i made the new partition on the host drive at 40 gig. no matter how i try to install the xp software either on the new partition or new machine or even on the host drive just to see if i could boot and the welcome screen on the xp software has the option to install xp greyed out. i opened the i386 folder on the xp disk and clicked on the WINNT.EXE and it said that a newer version of windows is installed.

 

[Kari]

You don't need to create a partition for a virtual machine, the virtual hard disk will be created as a file to any available HDD you select.

Run the VirtualBox program, click New and follow the logical setup process to create a Windows XP virtual machine.

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[jstnk]

thanks kari,
but i can't install the xp os on the vm it won't let me or on the new 40gig partition on the hard drive when i tried a dual boot. the option to install xp on welcome window is GREYED out. can't click on it. i even tried changing the boot sequence in bios and windows 7 over rides and starts normally. i tried off the boot sequence flash screen as well. i put the i386 folder on a usb flash drive and clicked on the winnt.exe app and it told me that a newer version is already installed. is there a path or do i have to go thru dos?? do i need some kind of boot/install software to help direct the i386 files?

 

[Kari]

You are obviously doing it wrong. Nothing personal, just a fact.

You cannot first boot to Windows 7 desktop, then from there launch XP installation. As the message you get tells you, the reason is that your PC already has newer operating system. When booted to any version of Windows, you can only start an upgrade installation to a newer Windows, not a clean install of an older one.

To install XP for dual boot with Windows 7 you need to boot your PC from the XP install media. Here's a tutorial for you: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html. Option Two tells how to proceed when Windows 7 is installed first as in your case.

Kari

 

[jstnk]

ok kari,
here's the problem, when i try to boot off the cd the windows7 recovery screen comes up even though i changed the bios to boot off cd/dvd 1st and also from the boot to screen option. do i need RAID? my device manager tells me that i have IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

 

[Kari]

You need to ask our dual boot experts. Post your dual boot installation questions at the end of this tutorial thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html

 

[jstnk]

thanks kari, will do