Dual Boot Pure Win7 Pro & Pure Xp Pro

I have a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk.
I have legal copies of Win7 pro and XP Pro.
I want to create a dual boot PC, 250G and 250G on the 500G hard disk.

Can someone give me step by step procedure to create this dual boot PC
or a link that explains.

NO I do not want a Win7 with Virtual XP so do not bother with that.
NO I do not want to use Win7 compatibility so do not bother with that!
Why, I an doing direct hardware interfacing and want no additional OS
code in the way so I want pure XP Pro and pure Win7 Pro.

Thanks in advance.

On 12/17/2011 5:38 PM, BeeJ wrote:
> I have a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk.
> I have legal copies of Win7 pro and XP Pro.
> I want to create a dual boot PC, 250G and 250G on the 500G hard disk.
>
> Can someone give me step by step procedure to create this dual boot PC
> or a link that explains.
>
> NO I do not want a Win7 with Virtual XP so do not bother with that.
> NO I do not want to use Win7 compatibility so do not bother with that!
> Why, I an doing direct hardware interfacing and want no additional OS
> code in the way so I want pure XP Pro and pure Win7 Pro.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
Give the following link a viewing and see if it leads you to what you
are looking for...

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...dows-7-xp.html

On Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:38:57 -0800, BeeJ <> wrote:

>I have a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk.
>I have legal copies of Win7 pro and XP Pro.
>I want to create a dual boot PC, 250G and 250G on the 500G hard disk.
>
>Can someone give me step by step procedure to create this dual boot PC
>or a link that explains.
>
>NO I do not want a Win7 with Virtual XP so do not bother with that.
>NO I do not want to use Win7 compatibility so do not bother with that!
>Why, I an doing direct hardware interfacing and want no additional OS
>code in the way so I want pure XP Pro and pure Win7 Pro.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
If you have both OSes on two partitions you can use EasyBCD to give
you the option you want.

It's free

http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

Al.

Hi, BeeJ.

It's easiest if you do it the straightforward way. Not so easy if you take
shortcuts.

1. Put the WinXP DVD in the drive and boot from it. Have it create the
250 GB partition as Drive C: and install WinXP there.

2. Then put the Win7 DVD in the drive and reboot from it. Tell Setup to
create the second 250 GB partition and install Win7 there.

All done - with the installation of the dual-boot system. Then, of course,
you will need to update each of them and install all of your applications
twice, one on each system.

Each time you reboot in the future, after the computer POST (Power-On
Self-Test), you will see a menu from which you can choose either Win7 or an
"Earlier Version of Windows", which means WinXP, of course. If you choose
"earlier", Win7's "bootmgr" will step back out of the way and load WinXP's
NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and Boot.ini and present the familiar Boot.ini menu - or
default to loading WinXP, just as though WinXP were the only OS installed.
If you choose Win7, then bootmgr will use the BCD (Boot Configuration Data)
to find and load Win7; those WinXP files will simply be ignored.

One thing that might take some getting used to: WinXP will see that first
partition as Drive C:, just as it always has; Win7 will be on the second
partition, Drive D:. But when you reboot into Win7, the SECOND partition,
where Win7 is installed, will be seen as Drive C:, and the FIRST partition
will be seen as Drive D:. None of this will confuse either version of
Windows, but it might confuse you.

There are several other ways to create the dual-boot arrangement you want,
BeeJ. You can, if you want, insert the Win7 DVD while WinXP is running and
run Setup to install Win7. If you do that, Win7 Setup will see that you've
already assigned the letter D: to the second partition and will keep that
letter in Win7. Your Win7 Boot volume will be D:, its Boot folder will be
D:\Windows and your apps will install by default into D:\Program Files.
Again, this might confuse YOU, but both Win7 and WinXP will be happy.

You can install Win7 first and then add WinXP later, but that involves some
extra steps, because WinXP's Setup.exe does not know how to handle an
existing Win7, so you'll have to "repair" the boot process later. Quite
doable, but it takes a little more effort. What I call the Golden Rule of
Dual-Booting is to Always Install the Newest Windows LAST. Win7's Setup
does know how to handle an existing WinXP.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"BeeJ" wrote in message news:jcj96h$e5s$...

I have a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk.
I have legal copies of Win7 pro and XP Pro.
I want to create a dual boot PC, 250G and 250G on the 500G hard disk.

Can someone give me step by step procedure to create this dual boot PC
or a link that explains.

NO I do not want a Win7 with Virtual XP so do not bother with that.
NO I do not want to use Win7 compatibility so do not bother with that!
Why, I an doing direct hardware interfacing and want no additional OS
code in the way so I want pure XP Pro and pure Win7 Pro.

Thanks in advance.

On Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:38:57 -0800, BeeJ <> wrote:

>I have a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk.
>I have legal copies of Win7 pro and XP Pro.
>I want to create a dual boot PC, 250G and 250G on the 500G hard disk.
>
>Can someone give me step by step procedure to create this dual boot PC
>or a link that explains.
>
>NO I do not want a Win7 with Virtual XP so do not bother with that.

You received an excellent reply from "R. C. White" I can't add to.
--

John

That is what I was looking for ... which one to install first.

So do XP then Win7.

And I could use two hard disks or create two partitions when I first
install XP and use the second partition when I install Win7.

Correct?

That seems more complex or am I missing something?

Not sure if the BIOS will see the two and request a selection of Win7
or XP. Is that universal or just some motherboards.
My new motherboard documentation makes no mention of dual boot
capability.

I saw that before but it seems complex.
And in my case I have neither installed and need the easiest path.

BeeJ wrote:
> That is what I was looking for ... which one to install first.
>
> So do XP then Win7.
>
> And I could use two hard disks or create two partitions when I first
> install XP and use the second partition when I install Win7.
>
> Correct?
>
>
Yes. There is also the ultimate bomb proof option of using your large HD
as a data store, and using two small (Maybe 32 Gig SSD?) hard drives in
caddies as boot drives, one for 7 and one for XP, assuming you're not
using a laptop.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.