how to get win xp win 7 and win 10 to run on easybcd

Terry Scott

New Member
hi i have managed to install win 7 on one hdd and win 10 on another hdd and easycbd works great with that so far i tried add a 3rd hdd with win xp and tried to connect that too and when i tried to boot it it screwed up the other two systems .
is there a way i can use win xp win 7 and win 10 and load them successfully with out any issues?
as i would like to still play my games on xp and use the other two system for other uses?
i also have to reinstall win 7 and win 10 back on the hdds so they can correspond again.
can any one please help and tell me where i am going wrong too.
 
f you install XP on a working PC which contains Vista/7/8/8.1/10 and XP is allowed to "see" the newer OS, then XP will regress the boot to a NTLDR/boot.ini version which is incapable of booting the newer OS(s). They'll still be there, untouched and unharmed (except for the boot), and you don't need to reinstall them, just fix the boot.
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+from+the+DVD
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/Recovering+the+Vista+Bootloader+with+EasyBCD.
The secret is in the behaviour of the Setup routine during installation of any version of Windows.
It will always put the boot files in the "active" partition, regardless of where the main OS is going.
This behaviour ensures that a chronological installation of Windows (i.e. a newer OS following an older OS) will always successfully dual-boot the newer with the older by replacing the old boot manager with a newer version which is fully backwards compatible.
It also means, that if you install OSs the "wrong" way round (older after newer), the latest system will be the only one bootable until you take action to fix the regression of the boot which you've just caused.
You can successfully install an older OS after a newer without damaging the latter if you take steps to protect the newer boot.
Note the red line above.
Before installing XP, if you set the XP target partition "active" (or if it's on a separate HDD, you can simply disconnect the other OS(s)), then XP will put its boot files in its own partition and ignore the other OS. Once it's successfully booting (alone), you can then simply reset the "active" flag back to where it was previously and the old OS(s) will then resume booting as before. (or reconnect the disconnected HDD and reset the BIOS to boot from it).
You can then add an XP entry to the BCD and pick up the new XP installation as part of a multi-boot.
 
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