Dual boot problem Windows 7 and XP

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pdr

Member
Can someone please help me with detailed instructions on how to dual boot Windows 7 and XP, both installed on separate hard drives. I have EasyBCD.
Kind regards!
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
Hello, pdr. Welcome to NST.
You need to copy over your 3 boot files, boot.ini, ntldr, and NTDETECT.COM, from your XP root to your "system" one. To figure out which partition is your "system" drive, open up Disk Management, and check to see which one has the "system" notation by it. :wink:

GL and let us know how it goes.

-Coolname007
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
kairozamorro said:
Install XP ---> Install Win 7 ---> Add entry for XP with EasyBCD if it wasn't added. All done.
Click to expand...

Aren't you forgetting something?... :wink: He will need to copy over his 3 XP boot files into his "system" root, before he sees the entry for XP he creates with EasyBCD (or added automatically by the Win 7 setup) work...unless of course the process is different for Win 7 than Vista, which last time I checked, they are the same. :smile:

-Coolname007
 
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pdr

Member
Thank you so much for your quick reply Coolname007! (The stupid newbie I am!) Can you please tell me where to find those 3 files, and then exactly where to copy them to? (To which folder, file?)
Thanks so much for your patience!
 
JustinW

JustinW

Super Moderator
Staff member
Vista will write boot-code and if he doesn't changed his boot device and the installer picks up as it should he won't have that problem.
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
Thank you so much for your quick reply Coolname007! (The stupid newbie I am!) Can you please tell me where to find those 3 files, and then exactly where to copy them to? (To which folder, file?)
Thanks so much for your patience!
Click to expand...

You will need to copy over your 3 XP boot files from C:/ (or whatever drive letter your XP drive is), instead of from C:/Program Files for example. :wink: Copy them over to whatever drive your "system" drive is...and put them in the "root" as well. That is simply what the "root" of a partition means.

GL and if you have any more questions, then don't hesitate to ask ! :smile:

-Coolname007

EDIT: And you will need to unhide the system files first by going to Control Panel>View>Folder Options>and unselecting "Hide system files" and selecting "Show Hidden Files and Folders".
Addendum:

kairozamorro said:
Vista will write boot-code and if he doesn't changed his boot device and the installer picks up as it should he won't have that problem.
Click to expand...

He is using Win 7, not Vista, though, Justin...:wink:

And I still think he will need to have the XP boot files on the "system" root before the entry created in the Win 7 bootloader for XP will work...

-Coolname007
 
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C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr...here is a list of steps you need to do, in order to get an entry for XP created in the Win 7 bootloader by EasyBCD work:

Go to Start>right click on "Computer">select "Manage">select "Disk Management" in the left panel>Look at your drives listed in there, and figure out which drive letter is XP and which is your "system" partition>Unhide the system files, and show the hidden files and folder in the Folder Options in the Control Panel (located at: Start>Control Panel>Folder Options)>Go to "Computer" (Start>Computer)>Copy over from your XP partition (whatever drive letter it is) into that "system" partition...making sure to put it in the "root" (first location you get to, when clicking on a particular drive in "Computer").

And then we can work from there. :wink:

-Coolname007
 
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pdr

Member
I know that Xp's drive letter is D, and my 'system' is C. But I don' get what to copy and copy it where to! Sorry!
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
I know that Xp's drive letter is D, and my 'system' is C. But I don' get what to copy and copy it where to! Sorry!
Click to expand...

pdr: copy "boot.ini" (in Win 7, it would probably be seen simply as "Boot"), "ntldr", and "NTDETECT.COM" from D (just D, and not D:/Program Files, or whatever...) into C (and not C:/Program Files...etc.). Get the picture?

But in order to see those files, you will need to first go to Start>Control Panel>Folder Options>View and select the "Show hidden files and folders" option, and uncheck the "Hide the system files" option. :wink: And then you should be able to see the 3 boot files I mentioned, and you can simply copy them over into your "system" root: (C)

I hope you get it now. :smile:

-Coolname007
 
P

pdr

Member
When I double click on the drive (D) in Computer, this is what I see: AH CACHE Config Msi Documents and Settings Program files, Windows, etc. I don't know where those 3 files are!
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
When I double click on the drive (D) in Computer, this is what I see: AH CACHE Config Msi Documents and Settings Program files, Windows, etc. I don't know where those 3 files are!
Click to expand...

Did you unhide them first, using the instructions I gave in my last post? :wink: You may also need to scroll down in that window, before you see the files...

-Coolname007
 
P

pdr

Member
Wow, sorry, I am such an idiot, forgot to uncheck the ' hide operating system files' option. OK, I now copied those 3 files over to my 'system' root file. Now?
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
Wow, sorry, I am such an idiot, forgot to uncheck the ' hide operating system files' option. OK, I now copied those 3 files over to my 'system' root file. Now?
Click to expand...

Ok...so now open up EasyBCD, go to the Add/Remove Entries section, and under the Windows tab, select the "Windows Nt/2K/XP/2k3" (or something like that) option in the drop-down menu, and then click on the Add Entry button...done! :grinning: Next, go to the View Settings section in EasyBCD, and post what you see there, so we can tell if the entry you created is pointed at C:/ instead of at D:/ and so forth. :wink:

-Coolname007
 
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Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
Just one more thing, I am currently working in Windows 7, so should I not select the Windows Nt/2K/XP/2k3 option?
Click to expand...

Oh, sorry. :shame: My fault. Yes, the one you mentioned is the one you need to select, not the Vista one! :lol:

-Coolname007
 
P

pdr

Member
Just one more thing quickly, I am currently working in Windows 7, which is my default OS, so should I not point at the 'Windows XP......' option? Not the 'Longhorn' option?
 
C

Coolname007

Distinguished Member
pdr said:
Just one more thing quickly, I am currently working in Windows 7, which is my default OS, so should I not point at the 'Windows XP......' option? Not the 'Longhorn' option?
Click to expand...

I just answered that question in my last post! :lol: Yes, I'm sorry, you will need to select the XP option, not the Longhorn one. :wink:

-Coolname007
 
P

pdr

Member
Sorry for the delay! Tried to boot quickly. I get the option to choose between XP or WIndows 7, but when I choose XP, the screen just goes black, and just hangs there.
Thank you so much for your help so far!!!
 
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