Dual Operating Systems

RogRogRog

RogRogRog

RogRogRog

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Joined
29 Dec 2013
Posts
8
Location
Sussex, UK
System details:
Cooler Master Cosmos Pure Case (with 5 Noctua fans), GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 M/Board, i5-2400, Cooler Master Hyper 103, EVGA GeForce GTX 560, 2x4GB GeIL Enhance DDR3 1333MHz, 1TB WD RE3 Enterprise SATA2 HDD

Currently running Windows XP!

I want to add Windows 7. I still need to be able to use Window XP.

How!? :confused:

Happy to buy another HDD if I must
 
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I tried EasyBCD, it failed...

"The boot configuration data store could not be opened
The system cannot find the file specified

Would you like to manually load a BCD registry for EasyBCD to manage?
Please not that EasyBCD requires the Windows Vista/7 bootloader, and will not work in XP-only environments."
 
I don't know what you've been doing, but you don't seem to have a clue.

therefore do your research and backup your data BEFORE attempting anything.
 
I don't have a clue, that's why I'm here asking for advice! Which is most appreciated.

But I did say in my original post that I was currently running XP & it seems that EasyBCD can't be run in an XP Only environment.

Are you suggesting that I should instal Windows 7 'on top' of XP, then use EasyBCD?
 
IIRC you can just install Windows 7 on a separate partition. Because 7 is newer than XP it will automatically recognise that you have XP already and it will create an option to pick what operating system you want to boot into.

Note the "Seperate partition" bit. You need to make sure you don't accidentally screw with your existing XP install.


You don't need EasyBCD if you're installing 7 onto a system with XP already on it. Windows 7's installer will automatically recognise the previous XP install and create the boot entry.
 
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Easybcd does work well. If you are having issues you can just install the 2nd OS on another drive, set bios to boot to 1st OS as default, then hit the appropriate F at boot key to invoke the boot menu and select the 2nd disk to boot the second OS. Can't get easier than that.
 
RogRogRog said:
Won't I have issues doing that, as XP currently has my entire drive as one partition?
Click to expand...

You should have enough space to shrink the partition. Go into Disk Management and shrink the current partition, leaving enough space for 7 (I recommend about 50gb minimum, in 7 you can redirect your documents, music, etc to the XP ones). Then place in the 7 disk, and reboot to the disk. During the installation process be sure to pick the blank space you created by shrinking the XP partition, otherwise you may accidently wipe the XP drive. Then 7 will install as normal. Once both OSes are installed, during boot you should have the option to pick which OS to boot from. You can change which OS is the primary OS in msconfig (start -> run -> type "msconfig") as well.

Why do you still need XP? Is it for a certain software? Have you considered running a VM of XP within 7 instead, or getting 7 Pro for XP mode?
 
Martyn, indeed I considered doing exactly that, & thought I might get an SSD to speed things up too. But I was ideally looking for a method that didn't involving spending more ££s.

Orcvader, this is the information that I was seeking :D
Unfortunately you cannot shrink partitions in Disk Management with XP :/
However, I'm guessing it may be possible using diskpart off the Window7 boot disc. Or a third party disc management tool (although that's one route I wont take, been there, lost data, never again!)

I'm a little unconvinced running a VM would 100% work. I have certain very expensive software which won't work with Windows 7 and also devices which I'm unsure will be supported, I therefore need to be 100% sure I will retain all the abilities I have now. It is Windows 7 Pro I will be installing, so I guess I'll find out :)

OK, off to try diskpart!
 
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Glad to see you managed to split the partition into two.

As for XP mode, it runs a virtual 32-bit version of XP, so I would be very suprised if it doesn't work with XP only software. I only used it once for a program I used back in my BSc degree where it refused to be installed on a 64-bit OS (the program was 16-bit! :rolleyes: No idea why it was still being used for the course), and it worked very well. I can't remember what the program was though... I uninstalled it when I completed the module :p.

Link to the XP mode download as it's not part of the OS installation: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode
 
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