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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

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Windows 7 - Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP Published by Brink 04-28-2009

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Published by

How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

Information This will show you how to install Windows 7 and XP to dual boot with when you already have either Windows 7 or XP installed first. Note With a dual boot installaton, you will have two operating systems (OS) installed. When you start the computer, you will have the choice to choose which OS you would like to start up to. This method is the easiest way of doing a dual boot with these two operating systems.
Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 37,364

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Brink

Tip When dual booting with another OS (ex: Vista or XP), you may not always have that OS partition show up in Computer with a driver letter in Windows 7. If this happens, then you will just need to add a drive letter to the OS (ex: Vista or XP) partition in Windows 7 Disk Management for it to show up in Computer with a driver letter. Warning To stop XP from deleting your Windows 7 System Restore Points everytime XP is started, then see System Restore Points - Stop XP Dual Boot Delete to hide Windows 7 from XP.

Tutorial Tools Printable Version

Windows 7 Minimum Hardware Requirements

NOTE: For more information on this, see: Windows 7 system requirements 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor 1 GB RAM for 32-bit Windows 7 OR 2 GB RAM for 64-bit Windows 7 16 GB available disk space 32-bit Windows 7 OR 20 GB for 64-bit Windows 7 Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (in order to enable Aero theme) DVD-R/W Drive Internet or phone access to activate Windows 7.

Windows XP Minimum Hardware Requirements

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NOTE: For more information on this, see: System requirements for Windows XP operating systems

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

NOTE: For more information on this, see: System requirements for Windows XP operating systems PC with 300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed recommended; 233-MHz minimum required;* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor recommended 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum supported; may limit performance and some features) 1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.* Super VGA (800 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor CD-ROM or DVD drive Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

EXAMPLE: Windows Boot Manager

NOTE: This is the boot screen where you select what operating system that you would like to start. By default, you have 30 seconds to choose another operating system before the default operating system will start automatically.

OPTION ONE When XP is Installed First

NOTE: If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the Windows 7 RAID drivers on a USB flash drive available to select and load while installing Windows 7.

1. Do step 2 or 3 below for where you wanted to install Windows 7 at. 2. To Create a New Partition from the XP Hard Disk Drive
A) With your Windows 7 installation disc boot into the Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options screen. NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS. B) In the command prompt, select and shrink the XP volume by how many MB (1024 MB = 1 GB) you want to have for this Windows 7 partition. (See screenshot below) NOTE: You would do steps 2 to 9 in METHOD TWO at that link. Windows 7 will need a minimum of 16 GB (16384 MB).

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

C) Click on the X at the top right corner to close the command prompt. (See screenshot above) D) Click on the X at the top right corner to close System Recovery Options. (See screenshot below)

E) Go to step 4.

3. To Use a Separate Hard Disk Drive than the XP Drive

A) Boot from your Windows 7 installation disc. NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.

4. Click on the Install now button. (See screenshot below)

5. When you get to this point, select the partition (step 2) or hard drive to install Windows 7 on.
(See screenshot below)

6. Finish installing Windows 7.

NOTE: You would start at step 9 in that link to finish installing Windows 7.

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

7. When finished, restart the computer to have the option to boot from XP (Earlier Verision of
Windows) or Windows 7. (See screenshot below) Note If you are only booting into Windows 7 and do not have XP listed in the Windows Boot Manager, then you can install only EasyBCD (step 8 Option Two below) to add XP (or Windows 7) while started in Windows 7 the same way to the boot list.

OPTION TWO When Windows 7 is Installed First

Warning If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for your specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at the F6 prompt while installing XP. If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these options to load the SATA drivers for XP for your specific motherboard. How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers from a Floppy disc at the F6 prompt while installing XP.

1. To Create a New Partition from the Windows 7 Hard Disk Drive

NOTE: If you want to install XP on a separate internal hard drive instead, then skip this step and go to step 2. A) In Windows 7, select and shrink the Windows 7 volume in Disk Management by how many MB (1024 MB = 1 GB) you want to have for this XP partition. (See screenshots below) NOTE: You would do all of Method One at that link.

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

2. Insert your XP installation disc, then restart the computer and press any key to boot from it
when prompted. (See screenshot below) NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first in the boot order in the BIOS.

3. From XP Setup, Press Enter. (See screenshot below)

Warning If you have a RAID setup, you will need to have the XP RAID drivers for your specific motherboard on a Floppy disc available to select and load at the F6 prompt while installing XP. If you have a SATA drive, then you will need to do either one of these options to load the SATA drivers for XP for your specific motherboard. How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 for how to load your SATA drivers from a Floppy disc at the F6 prompt while installing XP.

4. Press F8. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: On some multimedia keyboards, you may need to press the F-Lock or Function key before pressing F8.

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Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

5. Select the partition (step 1) or hard drive that you want to install XP on using the arrow keys
and press Enter.

6. Finish installing XP.

Tip If you get Error loading Operating System after XP restarts: Using your Windows 7 installation disc, boot to the command prompt at startup. Type in these comands below, and press enter after each one. bootrec /FixMbr bootrec /FixBoot bootrec /RebuildBcd Exit the command prompt and restart the computer. At this point, Windows 7 should boot up the same way before trying to install XP. Continue to step 8 below and run EasyBCD from Windows 7 instead.

7. In XP, download and install .Net Framework 2.0 (32-bit) version or .Net Framework 2.0
(64-bit) version first, and EasyBCD (free version) for your 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86) XP. NOTE: In XP, Net Framework is required to be installed to run EasyBCD. Only the "Download free for limited, non-commercial use" at the bottom or "Older Versions" at the right are free for EasyBCD. Registration is not required to download EasyBCD.

8. Run EasyBCD (free version).

NOTE: This is required to repair the Windows 7 boot file and add XP to the Windows Boot Manager list.

9. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the Add New Entry button. (See screenshot below)
A) In the top section under Operating Systems, click on the Windows tab. (See screenshot below) B) To the right of Type, select Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3 from the drop down menu. (See screenshot below) WARNING: Be sure to leave the Automatically detect correct drive box checked. C) To the right of Name, you can leave the default Microsoft Windows XP as the name to be displayed in the Windows Boot Manager, or you can type whatever name you would like to have instead. (See screenshot below) D) Click on the Add Entry button. (See screenshot below)

10. On the left side of EasyBCD, click on the BCD Deployment button, select (dot) the Install
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the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR option, and click on the Write MBR button. (See

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the Windows Vista/7 bootloader to the MBR option, and click on the Write MBR button. (See screenshot below)

Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP - Windows 7 Forums

11. Close EasyBCD. 12. Restart the computer to have the option to boot from Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 7.
(See screenshot below)

Tip If Windows 7 will not start up when selected, then use your Windows 7 installation DVD to do a Startup Repair.

That's it, Shawn

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How to Delete a Listed Operating System at Boot in Windows 7 How to Change the OS Name in Windows Boot Manager How to Do a Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista How to Do a Clean Install of Vista with a Upgrade Version How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7 How to Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB Device Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device How to Setup Windows 7 to Boot from a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) How to Create a Windows 7 VHD at Boot to Start with from Boot How to Fix Missing Vista Hard Disk Partition Letter in Windows 7 How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7 How to Load SATA Drivers in Windows XP Setup on your Dual Boot PC with Vista or Windows 7 How to Slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD with Dual Boot of Windows 7 or Vista How to Load SATA Driver Using Shift+F10 to Open Command Prompt How to Recover a Partition Used by an Older OS in a Dual Boot How to Properly Delete a OS in a Dual Boot

04-28-2009

#1

Nikolay
Great guide. Just wish this was made sooner, the one that I used wasn't as clear as yours.
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 | Windows XP Pro x86 | Windows Vista Ultimate x86 385 posts Massachusetts

My System Specs 04-28-2009 #2

Brink
You're welcome Nikolay, and thank you.
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 37,364 posts Texas

Yeah, I wish I had it sooner also, but I just now manged to get my hands on a copy of XP to work with.

My System Specs 05-03-2009 #3

stinkstink
windows 7 2 posts

i am currently running windows 7 as the main OS and want to install XP as a dual boot. i've followed all the steps above but after loading the win xp files and trying to boot into xp i get a msg that says "error loading operating system" . any ideas?

My System Specs 05-03-2009 #4

Brink
Hello Stinkstink, and welcome to Seven Forums.
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 37,364 posts Texas

You may have a bad installation of XP. You might see if reinstalling using METHOD TWO may allow it to work afterwards.

My System Specs 05-04-2009 #5

Kingism
Win 7 7100 7 posts

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Good Morning everyone, I have installed Win 7 first on my laptop and I installed xp secondly. I rebooted and it only boots to xp. I noticed that Win 7 is on C and XP is on E drive . But when I was on Win 7 ,XP was on drive D . I followed the above tutorial and downloaded BCD and followed it and only got to boot to Win 7 . No options were given to choose an OS at boot up. Im now in XP and cant get back to Win 7. I went ahead and put in my Windows 7 disk and it repaired itself but when I did the tutorial it booted back to XP . Any help will be greatly

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Windows 7 disk and it repaired itself but when I did the tutorial it booted back to XP . Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks ..
My System Specs 05-04-2009 #6

Brink
Hello Kingism,
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 37,364 posts Texas

I have updated the tutorial to help with this. In METHOD TWO step 10, check to make sure that you select the drive letter that Windows 7 was installed on. Normally this would be C: Hope this helps, Shawn

My System Specs 05-06-2009 #7

stinkstink
windows 7 2 posts

i reinstalled windows xp again and followed all the steps above. but now when i choose to boot into win xp from the boot manager i get this error message "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt. <Root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe Please reinstall a copy of the above file." i have reinstalled this file from the winxp cd but still no fix. any ideas?

My System Specs 05-06-2009 #8

Brink
Stinkstink,
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 37,364 posts Texas

Since you can only boot into Windows 7, do steps 8 on in METHOD TWO to add XP back to the boot file. It sounds like you may have missed step 12 & 13 before.

My System Specs 05-07-2009 #9

Luciak
Here's a riddle (at least for me):
W7 RC 7100 x86 10 posts

I've installed Windows 7 to be the second system with Windows XP using baarod's method with a little modification using tips from this tutorial. What I've done is described in this baarod's tutorial. And the riddle: Everything is working properly but here is what I see when I am on XP:
C lick this bar to vie w the full im age .

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And here is what I see when I am on Windows 7:

C lick this bar to vie w the full im age .

Why is it like this?

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