Dual Boot Pure Win7 Pro & Pure Xp Pro

[BeeJ]

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.

 

[GlowingBlueMist]

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/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html

 

[Allen Drake]

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.

 

[R. C. White]

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


"BeeJ" wrote in message
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.

 

[John Morrison]

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.

 

[BeeJ]

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?

 

[BeeJ]

That seems more complex or am I missing something?

 

[BeeJ]

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.

 

[BeeJ]

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

 

[John Williamson]

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.

 

[Jan Alter]

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

I have a question here about tieing in both OS's to a Win 7 boot menu. If
the OP installs XP first and then Win7 both OS's will use a Win 7 boot menu
on the MBR. If in the future one of the OS's becomes corrupt will the boot
menu still allow the other OS to start?

 

[Allen Drake]

That seems more complex or am I missing something?

I thought it was rather the simplest solution. I didn't go into
detail about how to install windows but the application is easy to use
and boots to a window that offers a choice of what OS you care to go
to first. Then you can install iReboot to get to another OS after you
have launched.

 

[Allen Drake]

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.

That's exactly what I use. I installed Win7 on a system that had been
running WinXP and kept them both. I use that setup on three systems
now all two 256Gig SSDs and 1 TB SATA III as backup and data. I also
have a 3 TB USB 3 that I move between systems. I installed two apps
and didn't have to do anything else.

 

[Allen Drake]

I have a question here about tieing in both OS's to a Win 7 boot menu. If
the OP installs XP first and then Win7 both OS's will use a Win 7 boot menu
on the MBR. If in the future one of the OS's becomes corrupt will the boot
menu still allow the other OS to start?

In my thread I suggested the use of third party SW that requires
nothing special and if you simply remove one drive it boots right to
the other. It doesn't matter what OS is installed first. You can use
as many OSes as you like on one drive or several.

Al.

 

[Ed Cryer]

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


in message
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.

You're an excellent teacher, R C. This is first rate. It's the sort of
clear, well laid out type of exposition I aim at but don't often reach.
And yes, I did used to be a teacher.

Ed

 

[Stewart]

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

It's not as complex as it seems. Once you install one, there will be
an OS installed and then you can install the other. You get to take
your pick as to the order of the installs. I don't think it gets much
easier than that......

 

[Paul]

It's not as complex as it seems. Once you install one, there will be
an OS installed and then you can install the other. You get to take
your pick as to the order of the installs. I don't think it gets much
easier than that......

You can take your pick...

as long as you install the more modern Windows OS second.

That allows the Boot Manager of the more modern OS, to detect
the previously installed, older OS. WinXP won't know what Win7 is,
while Win7 knows what WinXP is. So installing Win7 second is a bit
easier.

If you screw it up, there are tools and methods for fixing whatever
is the current boot manager. You could even use something like
Grub (or even, a commercial boot manager), to take the place of
the Win7 boot manager. There are many choices.

But the simplest recipe, is install WinXP first, Win7 second, and
hope the installer and Boot Manager of Win7 does everything it is
supposed to do, without intervention.

If it still doesn't work, there is always EasyBCD from Neosmart,
to make edits. Assuming you can get Win7 to boot, but still
can't see the WinXP option, this is how you can add it to the
Win7 Boot Manager.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyBCD

http://neosmart.net/download.php?id=1

Since this is an installation of two OSes on a single disk, there
is no ambiguity as to how the BIOS boot order should be set. Just
point it at the disk with the two OSes installed on it.

When you want to separate the OSes, or uninstall one of them, there
are tools like fixmbr, fixboot, bootsect and the like, and both
the WinXP installer CD and the Win7 installer DVD, will have
command prompt options available.

Since WinXP interferes with Win7 with respect to things like
System Restore, you'd probably want to disable WinXP System
Restore. One web site, recommends making Win7 "invisible" from
the WinXP partition (by doing something to the registry entry
for MountedDevices or the like), but I don't think that's what
most users will want. You'd want to access both partitions,
whether either OS is booted, so it's just easier to install WinXP,
disable WinXP System Restore, then install Windows 7, and hope they play
nice together. I've broken my Win 7 install a couple times,
screwing around with it, and having System Restore disabled
in WinXP (when I slave up the Win7 disk), is just that
much safer.

Paul

 

[BeeJ]

OK, I have taken all of that in as best I can.
Now that I have put together (it boots to the BIOS, whew!) the PC and
am ready to install SW can I get a consensus.

What is best?
Best for reworking system crashes?
Best for no OS interaction.

Hardware
1) use one HD for each OS, Win7 Pro & XP Pro?
2) use one HD for both OSes?

Boot
1) Install XP Pro first and use Win7 boot manager
2) Use EasyBCD to boot.

So far I think I am hearing
install XP Pro first
use one HD for each OS
use EasyBCD to boot.

Am I confused? Maybe but I hope you all will clarify for a final
solution.

I now have two HDs, 500G each. That is all the room in my mini-pc
using a MATX motherboard with all the bells and whistles I want and
need.
8G-1600 Ram, Serial port, parallel port, 4 USB3, 4 USB, built in Video
and 7.1 sound with analog and S/PDIF+Optical output. VGA, DMI, HDMI
output and dual monitor. Blu-Ray DVD writer. All in a low profile
mini-case. I am hardware happy. MSI A75MA-G55

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, BeeJ.

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

Yes; the second partition can be created by either WinXP or Win7; both have
Disk Management, which is THE tool to use for creating and managing
partitions. And you could first install WinXP on the second partition,
reserving the first one for Win7; then, if you decide to delete WinXP some
day, you could just remove that second partition and re-use that space,
perhaps extending the first partition to include some or all of it.

Ever since Disk Management first appeared in Win2K back in the year 2000
(and has been improved in each upgrade since), Win2K/XP/Vista/7 have offered
many options for managing physical disks and their partitions (and optical
drives, memory cards, USB flash drives - just about anything that can be
assigned a "drive" letter). The only "drives" that require special handling
are the "System Partition" and the "Boot Volume". These terms are
counterintuitive (we BOOT from the SYSTEM partition and keep the operating
SYSTEM files in the BOOT volume); look at the labels in Disk Management's
Status column to see which partitions are which in whatever Windows you
happen to be running at the moment, and don't be surprised when they are on
different partitions after you reboot into the other Windows version. See
KB314470, Definitions for system volume and boot volume; it has not been
updated for Win7, but the main concepts described have not changed.

You certainly can use multiple hard disks (I have, for years), but you
mentioned "a new PC with a blank 500G hard disk" and you said you wanted to
keep it simple and straightforward, so I didn't get into all the other
possibilities. One simple method is to have a single System Partition on
the first HDD and have that point to Boot Volumes for WinXP on Disk 0 and
for Win7 on Disk 1 (or vice-versa, or on Disk 2 or 3 or...). Another
method, mentioned in this thread, is to have multiple System Partitions on
different HDDs and use features in the BIOS to choose among the HDDs at boot
time; if you have more than one HDD, you might prefer this setup. To
consider all the variations would make this message (and this thread) much
too long - and too complicated.

For a specific, focused question, just ask here. For more details, study
the Help file in Disk Management, or a good reference book like the Windows
Inside Out series by MVP Ed Bott and colleagues. An afternoon invested in
these resources can pay dividends, not just for this project, but for as
long as you keep using computers - which might be for the rest of your life.
;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"BeeJ" wrote in message
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?

 

[Char Jackson]

Yes; the second partition can be created by either WinXP or Win7; both have
Disk Management, which is THE tool to use for creating and managing
partitions.

I shudder a bit when I hear that. Disk Management is just one of the
built-in tools for creating and managing partitions, but it's the
least capable. What it does, it does well, but it's extremely limited
in what it can do and is therefore NOT "THE" tool. Diskpart is another
built-in disk management tool and is much more capable. Third party
disk management tools take it up yet another notch.

In summary, go ahead and use Disk Management if it can do what you
need to do. It has a GUI and is very easy to use. If you get
frustrated by its many shortcomings, consider using the command line
tool, diskpart. If you need even more capability and would like to
have it delivered with a GUI, keep in mind that third party tools are
available that go above and beyond what diskpart can do, and of course
leave Disk Management in the dust.

Disk Management should be fine for the OP, and I agree with the advice
to use it in this case, but I can't agree that it's THE tool for
performing disk management. It's simply way too limited to deserve
that title.