Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

I would plug in by wire to have the greatest chance of getting online outright, then run all rounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates after enabling Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3).

Then see what drivers are still missing in Device Manager.

I have Win7 Ultimate x64 installed on the primary partition (C - 200.42GB) of a 500GB HDD, and want to install Windows XP Pro x86 on the same HDD's secondary partition (D - 233.34GB), so they can be dual-booted. The HDD originally had Win7 Home Premium x86 on installed "C", with WinXP Pro x86 installed on "D", and the dual-booting of the OS's worked just fine. WinXP became so corrupted, it had to be reinstalled. Since my brother-in-law (his computer) wanted to upgrade Win7 HP x86 to Win7 Ult x64 so he would use more RAM, I backed up all his data from both partitions, then formatted the "D" partition to prepare it for the install of WinXP Pro x86 again. I then performed a clean install of Win7 Ultimate x64, performed all updates, and transferred his Win7 data into the new OS. Now, when I try to install WinXP onto the "D" partition, I get the following error message:
"This program is blocked due to compatibility issues" "Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD." Warning: If you decide to delete the newer version of Windows on your computer, the files and settings cannot be recovered."

When trying to boot to the Windows XP install CD (bios settings set CD as first boot drive), hitting any key has no effect. The system simply boots straight into Win7.

Would sure appreciate any help that would allow me to install XP onto partition "D", and get the system set up to dual boot.resolve my problem


Can you tell me

Brink, I think you should warn people that they cannot use an OEM version of WinXP in this dual boot process. Some time ago, I followed all of these instructions, and then used the installation disk from a dead computer. It refused to accept my key. I still have the dual boot setup on this computer, but have never gotten around to buy a new WinXP disk.

Tried a clean install (from boot), but if won't allow me to start the install process by hitting any key before Windows 7 boots up itself. Trying to install while Win7 was running got me the previous messages, and no ability to install the new XP OS onto the D partition. Think I might try to build a bootable Win XP Pro x64 installation disk to see if that has any effect on things.

Will also trying your suggestion, to see if it helps. May just have to go with installing Windows XP onto a second HDD and be done with it.

Disaksen-

If it prompts to press any key then it detects the XP CD but it must not be readable to load. Check that its clean and unscratched. Otherwise you are correct to try a fresh XP w/SP3 ISO burn for your licensed version.

It's always best to Dual Boot on separate HD's if possible. Be sure to unplug all other HD's when installing, then afterwards set preferred OS HD to boot first, trigger the other using one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

If this arrangement doesn't work like you want, install EasyBCD to Win7 to add XP - they still should remain independent for HD's to come and go as you please.

The OEM disk I used was not manufacturer specific. It's a retail disk I bought at the same time I purchased a Motherboard, CPU, and memory some time ago. I used nlite to apply hotfixes, drivers, and a couple necessary applications and utilities, when creating the new ISO, then burned it to disk.

Tried to do a clean install from the new disk, and it went fine as far as letting me select the old XP partiton (D) to do the installation on, then formatting the partition. It copied the initial setup files, but when the system rebooted to continue with the installation, the boot process now only goes to a blinking cursor immediately after the message "Boot from CD", but before the "Press any key" and 5 second countdown displays. Now Windows 7 will not boot either. The new nlited disk may be bad, but I burned the nlited ISO to disk with the newest version of Imgburn, at 4X speed (I have a lot of faith in Imgburn). The Imgburn verification process indicated the burn was good.

Now I'm even more at a loss. Any more suggestions? What a headache!!

It is to be expected that the Win7 boot will be lost if you install XP on the same HD, which is why I suggested you install to another HD with all HD's unplugged.

To fix this you'd Mark Partition Active the Win7 or it's 100mb SysReserved partition (preferred if you have it) from the booted installer, run Startup Repair - Run up to 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts, then add XP using EasyBCD.

But first try reinstalling with the original XP CD. If that fails do you have access to one with SP3? Have you used the slipstreamed CD before so you know it works? Try install to the separate HD with all others unplugged.

I have just tried to complete a dual boot with Windows 7 installed first and installing Windows XP on a separate Hard Drive. I followed the steps listed here (I found them on another site, but they listed doing the BCD Deployment first, then the Add New Entry) Windows 7 is installed on my Drive 0 and I installed Windows XP on Drive 1. Both of these drives are Samsung 256 GB SSDs. I have an additional Seagate 1 TB drive 2. After installing the XP on the second drive, I ran EasyBCD and restored the MBR for Windows 7. When I ran the "Add New Entry", I received an error saying there was insufficient room to complete the process. I think maybe this had to do with the fact that XP saw the System Reserved partition as logical drive c:\ and what shows up as C:\ in the Win 7 install is listed as D:\ in XP. Regardless, I received the error.

I rebooted the machine and now I can only access the Windows 7 installation. The dual boot did not get set up. Is there any way that from the Windows 7 install, I can create the dual boot so I can get back into XP? Or can I boot to the Win XP CD and do a repair to get back into the XP install?

Thanks for any help,

Alex