Dual boot Windows XP and Windows 7 problem.

B

Bogus

Member
Here is my problem:

I have Windows XP on a 320GB HDD.

I wanted to move over to Windows 7 without touching my Windows XP install, so I bought a new 1TB HDD and put it on a second SATA port.

I then booted into the Windows 7 install disk, and installed Windows 7 on the 1TB HDD.

Now at this step I did some research, and everything said that Windows 7 will find the XP install on the other drive and after Windows 7 is done installing it will give me a Dual Boot Screen.

Well, after installed Windows 7 on the 1TB HDD a Dual Boot Screen does not show up.

If I leave the Windows 7 install disk in the DVD Drive it boots into Windows 7 perfectly. If I take out the Windows 7 install disk it boots into XP just fine.

What I want to do is have it show a Dual Boot Screen so that I can select which OS to boot into without having to mess with the Windows 7 DVD. Is it possible to do this without having to re-install Windows 7?

I found another guide that told me to install your program EasyBCD on Windows 7. So I downloaded 1.7.2 (I think) and checked the options without changing anything. It only had Windows 7 with no option to add the Windows XP drive and I don't really know what I am doing other than that. I really don't want to mess anything up because I have very important files on the Windows XP install.

Also, I checked the FAQ but some of the links don't work and I would like to make sure before I do anything.

What would be the proper course of action in order to get a Dual Boot screen?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!
 
Firstly, ditch 1.7.2
It predates W7, grub2 and loads of software developments, and it contains none of the automation features built into Version 2.
Get EasyBCD 2.0 latest build
Post a Disk Management screenshot and EasyBCD "view settings" (detailed) information (instructions in the sticky), so we can see where your W7 install has hidden things.
 
Okay, I hope this is what you need.

Thank you again for taking your time to help me!
 

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Is your XP disk IDE not SATA ?
W7 always puts IDE drives last in Disk Management, even when they're first in the BIOS.
I suspect, from your description that you have the XP HDD before the new HDD in your BIOS HDD boot sequence. That would explain why W7 boots from the DVD, but XP with no DVD.

Put W7 before XP in the BIOS boot sequence and try again.
You should boot straight into W7 with no DVD.
Then Install EasyBCD 2.0
"add new entry"
Windows tab - XP dropdown
add entry
accept the offer to auto-configure XP when EasyBCD offers.

Your XP HDD will remain unaltered, but W7 will offer you the option of a dual-boot in future.
If you ever remove the W7 HDD (or it breaks) XP will boot as it did formerly.
 
You're a genius Terry60! That is exactly what I wanted! Thank you so much! I did exactly as you said and it works perfectly.

EasyBCD is so awesome! Imagine having to do all that stuff from a command line.

Keep up the good work!

Also, my Windows XP Disk is SATA. Same as my new 1TB Disk.

Wow, thanks so much again!
 
Disk Management gets even more mysterious (or buggy) !
Don't know why it displayed in the wrong order if both disks are SATA, but the symptoms suggested so.
Glad you're sorted now.
 
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