Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP


  1. Posts : 11
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1370

    Ok well it's not really important, what is important is that an XP installation in another partition can wreck havoc in an already existing Win7 partition.

    How about installing a second instance of Win7. Will that also mess with the first Win7 install?
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  2. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #1371

    peterpallesen said:
    Ok well it's not really important, what is important is that an XP installation in another partition can wreck havoc in an already existing Win7 partition.

    How about installing a second instance of Win7. Will that also mess with the first Win7 install?

    I've never had issues running XP from the same HDD as Windows 7.

    Yes you can dual boot two instances of Windows 7, though it is (as well as XP) always better using separate HDDs and the BIOS to manage the dual boot instead of a Windows managed dual boot, using the BIOS one-time boot menu.


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  3. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Professional X64
       #1372

    Thanks for the info guys. I was able to use it to tell the client that it would only work if XP installed first then we install Win7.

    Forgive if this seems like a stupid question - GParted didn't see the RAID config so I used an ubuntu livecd to delete the existing partitions. I left the 100MB system partition alone. I am currently installing XP on the single unallocated partition however when it gave the option of where to install to - it saw that 100MB partition as C: and the unallocaated space. I of course chose the unallocated space. It's formating that partition now, but its saying as letter drive E:.

    Did I do that right in terms of deleting the existing partitions, leaving the 100MB system alone, and installing XP in the single unallocated space? By the looks of it it will keep that 100MB as C: and install XP as E: again? The whole point is to install XP so it sees itself as C:. Should I have removed the letter drive of C: before I ran the XP install? Is it ok if I delete that 100MB partition when installing XP over everything so I can use method 1 here?

    Thanks for the information in advance.
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  4. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #1373

    distrohopper said:
    Thanks for the info guys. I was able to use it to tell the client that it would only work if XP installed first then we install Win7.

    Forgive if this seems like a stupid question - GParted didn't see the RAID config so I used an ubuntu livecd to delete the existing partitions. I left the 100MB system partition alone. I am currently installing XP on the single unallocated partition however when it gave the option of where to install to - it saw that 100MB partition as C: and the unallocaated space. I of course chose the unallocated space. It's formating that partition now, but its saying as letter drive E:.

    Did I do that right in terms of deleting the existing partitions, leaving the 100MB system alone, and installing XP in the single unallocated space? By the looks of it it will keep that 100MB as C: and install XP as E: again? The whole point is to install XP so it sees itself as C:. Should I have removed the letter drive of C: before I ran the XP install? Is it ok if I delete that 100MB partition when installing XP over everything so I can use method 1 here?

    Thanks for the information in advance.
    You need to delete all partitions & a fresh.than Make two new partitions

    SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
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  5.    #1374

    Boot the XP CD, choose Install, delete all partitions, create your XP partition and full format. Install XP there.

    After XP Install, boot Win7 DVD, choose Custom Install, use Drive Options to create Win7 partition, format and install. Clean Install Windows 7

    Installer should configure Dual Boot Menu. If not, install EasyBCD 2.02 to add XP from Win7.
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  6. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #1375

    theog said:


    You need to delete all partitions & a fresh.than Make two new partitions

    SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
    Hello again, XP MUST be installed to the first partition on a HDD to get the C: drive letter, that includes the "System Reserved" partition.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Professional X64
       #1376

    Thanks Theog, Greg, and the Bare Foot Kid for all the help and advice. Couldn't of had the assurance of to do this the right way without you guy's help, you all have been an invaluable resource with this tricky issue. Got the machine working this morning. Wiped all the old partitions, installed XP first then Win7 in a dual boot config and it now works the 'right' way. XP has C: and Win7 knows what to do and works just fine. Who knew that installing two windows OS's side by side could be such a headache. Reminded daily why I love linux...
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #1377

    distrohopper said:


    Thanks Theog, Greg, and the Bare Foot Kid for all the help and advice



    You're welcome, good to see you got it sorted and thanks for the update.
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  9. Posts : 10
    Windows 7 Ultimate (32bit) and Windows XP pro SP3
       #1378

    Hi to all

    I m a new member to this forum. I was using WindowsXP SP3 and recently I installed Windows 7 Ultmate (32bit) in a separate partition. So I have a dual boot now. Everything was fine for first few days. But a few days later when I tried to open my windows XP it didnt start. The boot manager shows the options of Previous versions of windows and Windows 7. But when I click the 'Previous version of Windows' option, it comes back to the same screen after restarting...means my windows XP is not booting..! I dont want to reinstall it. Plz help me to fix my problem...Thanks in advance.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       #1379

    Hello Riaz35, welcome to Seven Forums!


    Before we make any specific recommendations will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.

    In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a maximized snip of that.



      My Computer


 

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