Dual Boot Win7/ XP

[DavidMiles]

Hello,I am replacing my old computer "A" (Win XP) with a new one "B"with preinstalled Win7/ 64bit. I intend to transfer the boot drive from A to B as an extra drive. How can I create a dual boot arrangement so that I have access to XP for running old programmes? The instructions I have read all assume a fresh installation of XP, but in my case the files are aready present on the A boot drive that I am transferring intact.

 

[Emerald]

you will be most likely not be able to boot of the drive from computer A in the new system since it uses completely different drivers for you motherboard and video card.

the difference in drivers will likely cause to many problems resulting in BSODs that why you only find references to fresh installed XP.

 

[mcnumpty23]

most pcs have a key you can press to change boot device without going into the bios--ie on mine i press f12 and pick which hard drive to boot from--the xp one or the windows 7 or linux one--so i have 3 hard drives with 3 different operating systems and can boot from any of them

might not be f12 on yours but usually it shows at the start of turning on the pc press fxx for boot menu

 

[howardp6]

The correct way to do the install is to have the oldest OS installed first and then the newest last. If you install XP on the your new machine, the MBR and other files will be overwritten. If you have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate you can run XP mode as a virtual machine.

 

[mcnumpty23]

The correct way to do the install is to have the oldest OS installed first and then the newest last. If you install XP on the your new machine, the MBR and other files will be overwritten. If you have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate you can run XP mode as a virtual machine.

thats not relevant in his case as he has 2 hard drives with 2 operating systems already on them--hes not installing to 2 partitions so the mbr wont get overwritten


though as emerald said driver blue screening may happen--the 1st time you boot the xp drive i would do it in safe mode and remove the chipset and graphics drivers then use windows update or the pc/motherboard manufacturers website to get the correct drivers

 

[kichu9193]

while installing multiple os the first thing to b noticed is lower version of the os should b installed first...thn the higher version...we can install higher version first and lower version second also with the help of softwares but after somedays the os will show diff pblms....

 

[mcnumpty23]

while installing multiple os the first thing to b noticed is lower version of the os should b installed first...thn the higher version...we can install higher version first and lower version second also with the help of softwares but after somedays the os will show diff pblms....

hes not going to install anything--he has 2 seperate hard drives with operating systems already on them--theres no mbr issue here all he has to do is plug them both in and choose which one to boot from

 

[cadder]

most pcs have a key you can press to change boot device without going into the bios--ie on mine i press f12 and pick which hard drive to boot from--the xp one or the windows 7 or linux one--so i have 3 hard drives with 3 different operating systems and can boot from any of them

might not be f12 on yours but usually it shows at the start of turning on the pc press fxx for boot menu

If this works on the OP's computer then it is the easiest, otherwise he would have to go into the bios and tell it which hard drive to boot from.

I'm not sure why he would want to boot to XP, maybe eventually he would find that he runs everything through 7 and he doesn't need to boot XP anymore.

 

[mcnumpty23]

all depends on what you want to do--i only keep xp on the 3rd drive as when people phone me asking how to do stuff on xp i find it easier to see what they are seeing to help them--also my windows 7 is 64bit but my xp is 32bit as it looks like his is--say he cant get a 64bit driver for a scanner for example--its something he might not use very often--he would be able to boot the xp drive to use his scanner

 

[jamesdean1]

The solution for this for me is to transfer all the data to your B computer...and install a fresh copy of windows XP in your B computer put the data in that....and use anyway you want to....

 

[DavidMiles]

Thanks for the comments. For most work I intend to use Win 7. But I have a couple of very old, but very valuable programmes that will only run on XP. So occasionally I will want to boot from XP. From what mcnumpty says it ought to work if I find the right starter keyFXX.