step by step Dual Boot Vista/Win7 and XP installed separately

H

hehee

Member
sorry for the 1st post and picture not in order and also bad english

Dual Boot Vista/Win7 and XP installed separately
this is the simplest way that I found to make my life easier.
*Win7 = Vista
1.install Win7 only with one HDD plug in.
2.install XP only with one HDD plug in.
3.plug in both HDD into motherboard
4. make sure the Win7 HDD is in the 1st SATA from the motherboard ( disk = 0)
do not do this by selecting boot priority in BIOS ,leave it like the default setting ,so the (disk = 0 ) will be the disk that always boot 1st.this might be BIOS dependent accordding to Terry60
5. make sure XP plug in to the next SATA connector (disk = 1)
6.boot into Win7 ,install EasyBCD2.
7.then Add entries "Windows NT/2K/XP/2K3"
8.leave the Drive C: setting alone
9. " Add Entry"
10."SAVE"
11. copy the NTLDR , NTDETECT.COM and boot.ini from XP's partition to win7's C:
12. open the boot.ini from win7 c: change the rdisk accordingly (show in the picture)
13.re boot ...you'll be able to boot from Win7 to XP selection screen by now...
*Additional*
i actually relized the boot.ini in drive c: doesn't do the job.
the boot.ini in the hidden drive that win7 can't see make the different.(boot from XP to make changes)
*if Using EasyBCD 2.0,after say "yes" when EasyBCD offers to auto-configure HANG HALFWAY(thkz Terry60 reminds me bout this)
change the setting in boot.ini in the hidden drive manually will complete the job
 

Attachments

  • 001.jpg
    001.jpg
    64.8 KB · Views: 18
  • 002.jpg
    002.jpg
    63.3 KB · Views: 13
  • 003.jpg
    003.jpg
    66.9 KB · Views: 16
  • 004.jpg
    004.jpg
    88.7 KB · Views: 16
Last edited:
HI Hehe, welcome to NST.
Thankyou for your input, but a few notes ....

Your point 4

This might be BIOS dependent. My ASUS mobo will make disk 0 the last disk you booted from, whichever SATA port it's connected to, and no matter which other disks you connect and whatever the order.

You should always check that the disk you want to boot from is 1st in the BIOS boot sequence if you've been disconnecting or reconnecting HDDs

Points 6,11,12

Using EasyBCD 1.7, points 11 and 12 were necessary.
Using EasyBCD 2.0, just say "yes" when EasyBCD offers to auto-configure, and it does 11 and 12 for you.



 
My biggest concern is that it is only for using separate hard drives. What about those that use separate partitions on the same hard drive? These instructions would hold no support for that method.

Using this method you could also use the F12 BIOS option to boot between them and not have to modify the BCD at all.
 
Makaveli213 said:
My biggest concern is that it is only for using separate hard drives. What about those that use separate partitions on the same hard drive? These instructions would hold no support for that method.

Using this method you could also use the F12 BIOS option to boot between them and not have to modify the BCD at all.
Click to expand...

ya,the method in same drive different partition can be easily found in this forum, cause myself got a problem with the win7 HDD 0 and winXp HDD 1.
finally i solve it, so i try to share it.
i know the F12 way, just too lazy to wait the BIOS screen especially with a RAID controller.:smile:
 
Back
Top