Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

We know from the picture that D is booting the entire System since it is the only one labeled "System."

To make Windows 7 HD and C independently bootable you would have kept all others unplugged during install. When other HD's are plugged in then it will place the boot files on the existing OS partition, or if you run Repairs it will only confirm that they are there, or repair them there.

In addition if no other OS is present then install or repair may still place the boot files on a preceding Primary partition, so if at all possible I would have the WIn7 HD plugged into DISK0 with no preceding Primary partitions to avoid this.

You may accomplish this now by powering down to swap the data cable from XP to Win7 HD (if possible for the SSD), unplug all other HD's, set Win7 HD first to boot in BIOS setup. The run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts and holds the System flag.

When you plug the other HD's back in, keep Win7 HD set first to boot, boot XP using one-time BIOS Boot menu key. You can remove the Win7 boot listing from XP in msconfig>Boot by highlighting its listing to Delete, or in EasyBCD on Edit OS Menu tab. Or you can keep a Windows Boot menu from either OS yet each will still be independently bootable via the BIOS.

Mark any other than the OS's partitions Inactive as only the partition booting the OS should be marked Active: Partition - Mark as Inactive - Windows 7 Forums

Hello,
Thank you for your answer..i will apply the manipulation soon....
But i fear one thing ...in my partition E) there is a busy space of 100MO...it seems me its the ssystem partition that has been created at the installation of windows7. I remember also that in the repair sequence the Windows7 OS is located on partition E) . I saw the same thing when i executed the command diskpart .
What will be the conséquences if i program as inactive this partition????
Thank you for your help..i hope i will succeed the manipulation.
I hope your advice.
Jean Luc Ferré

Hello,
I have applied your method and manipulation and now it works fine..the system boots on the SSD and windows7.
My HDD drives were IDE and my SSD is SATA, so i can't swap the data cables...but repairing without the other hard disks plugged has made the system working.
I have not yet delete the E) partition and suppress XP.
Thank you for your help...i hope the system will work long like this.
Thank You

I have XP Pro loaded on a 650 gig hard drive and Windows 7 loaded on a 1T hard drive, how to I do a dual boot? Both drives are SATA's

No I didn't have both drives set up I just switched the cable from the XP drive to the 7 drive. Which was probably a mistake. I also have a separate drive that I use for back up, I have 3 hard drives. What I have done is just switch the cables between the 2 drives.

Plug Win7 into the cable set to boot first, or adjust it in BIOS setup.

Plug the XP hard drive into another cable, boot it using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

If this is not to your liking, install EasyBCD (click Download - no Name or Email required) to Win7 to add XP to a Windows Boot menu. The drives will remain indepently bootable to come and go as you please.

gregrocker, I want to thank you for the help with the dual boot it is working perfectly. Glad I found this forum.

Thank you for great tutorial, but... just quick question: If I install Windows 7 while keeping XP, will it still delete files on the disk where it's being installed to? As I know, if i wouldn't keep XP it would just delete files on the disk where I would install it. Thanks.