Is it possible to run Windows XP 32-bit and Windows 7 64-bit on the same computer?

[1criticthatmatters]

I was wondering if I could run Windows 7(64-bit) and Windows XP(32-bit) on the same computer, sharing a hard drive and motherboard?

 

[ichigokunbaka]

yes install in order of old to new or old on virtualbox if motherboard or components lack support

 

[1criticthatmatters]

sorry what exactly do you mean. Thanks in advanced!!

 

[1criticthatmatters]

I think I kind of understand what you mean, do you think that a motherboard will run these two OS's without vitualbox?

 

[Outlander_04]

There are several ways to do this .

One is to install on the same drive , and use a bootloader to select the OS you want to boot to

The second option is better , and hardware based . Some BIOSes let you select a drive to boot from as you start . In this scenario you have the OSes on seprate hard drives

But mostly this is totally unnecessary because any program that needs win xp 32 bit to run will also run on 7 64 bit

 

[1criticthatmatters]

Thanks for the help, going out and getting Windows 7 and keeping Windows XP. If anyone has any more thoughts, like compatibility issues, please comment, thanks a bunch!!!

 

[soupstoned]

Although 32-bit programs will run in a 64-bit environment, 32-bit DRIVERS will not! This has caused endless problems for those of us with devices, such as camcorders, using firewire to connect to the pc - the IEEE 1364 driver was updated to 64-bit but many of the camera manufacturers did not provide 64-bit device drivers for their (legacy) hardware.

So, one reason to create a dual boot to 32-bit XP would be to access such hardware. If all you want to do is run old 32-bit programs then it is probably not worth it - unless those programs, such as some games, directly access some hardware (often the monitor) through drivers rather than through windows.

 

[sculptingman]

I have run both 32 and 64 bit versions of XP… on a Mac Pro… for over 7 years.
The only trick is that I installed each on its own hard drive, and just select the boot drive on startup.

It means restarting to switch over… but it works just fine.

you should also be able to do this on a single drive in two partitions.