XP - W7, how to dual boot?

S

stman

Member
Hello,

I installed W7 on a new PC. I do not like it so I installed XP on a different HD. Before installing I disconnected the SATA cable from the W7 drive. I have now a PC which boots XP or W7 depending on which drive I connect (SATA connection). If I SATA-connect both of them the PC boots XP and I can see the W7 drive with all the files on it. If I SATA-disconnect the XP drive the PC will boot W7.

Willing to automatize the boot process I installed the last easyBCD on the XP. I can run it but it doesn't see the W7 system and I don't know how can I "convince" it to install the dual boot.

Thanks for your help,
Stephan.
 
Change the BIOS to boot from the W7 drive first.
Install EasyBCD on W7
Add an XP entry to the BCD.
Let it auto-configure.
When you boot XP run this registry hack
Without it XP will destroy the W7 restore points and backups.
XP must not be able to access any drive with Vista/7 OS or apps.
 
Last edited:
Works

Thanks Terry60!

I followed your advice and works fine. Nice tool!
More questions, please:
1. Why should I worry for the W7 restore points?
2. I have a free partition on one of the two disks. Can I install linux on it? Will it destroy the
easyBCD configuration? I guess grub will take over. Can I restore easyBCD after?

Thanks,
Stephan.
 
Hi Stephan,

1. XP is an older version of Windows. If it sees Windows 7's partition it'll delete any restore points the Windows 7 system has created. System restore can be a life saver in emergencies, so its best to keep Windows 7's restore points protected.
2. Of course you can install Linux. Dpending on distribution you can tell grub where to install during setup. Otherwise, you can always get back the Windows bootloader after the fact.
 
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