Partitioning and dual boot Win7 and XP

Hi all.

I have a question relating to partitioning that I hope someone can answer for me.

If I partition a HD, normally I would get a Primary and a Logical partition, in other words an OS partition and a Slave partition (for want of better words). I have no problems here.

Now, if I partition a HD into TWO 'primary" partitions, the original remaining as the C:\ drive with the existing OS there on and the 'second" primary partition created with the views of creating a dual boot system.

My question is:

1. Would this be the way to go for a dual boot after an the Windows 7 OS has already been installed prior to the partitioning?

2. How would the BIOS decide as to what OS to start-up? I believe that I would be presented with an option upon boot up, but is this an automatically created option put out by the BIOS or is there more involved, i.e.. do I have to make some sort of changes so the option is presented?

Regards

I made a quick check at Majorgeeks and found several programs including freeware versions to adjust drive partitions.I haven't used any of these so I cannot provide any recommendations. One product "EASEUS" indicated that it could re-establish a deleted partition and files in deleted partitions. That capability could prove vital in your desired task.

With this type software you can adjust existing partitions and create new ones.

Another solution would be to install another drive in your computer for the second OS. That is the method I used the last time I had two OS's on the same computer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Janset

2. How would the BIOS decide as to what OS to start-up? I believe that I would be presented with an option upon boot up, but is this an automatically created option put out by the BIOS or is there more involved, i.e.. do I have to make some sort of changes so the option is presented?
Regards

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Run msconfig. On the boot tab, select how you want your system to boot. The MSKB should have a bunch of info on this.

And may the SCHWARTZ be with you.

Hi Guys.

efc, for your info. EASEUS Pro is the program that I have and have used 2 or 3 times in the past but never to set up a dual boot system.

My question does not relate to my system but to a friend's laptop fitted with a 160 Gig HD. Upon purchase his laptop was fitted with Win 7 (or was it Vista)but he does not like it and is considering having XP installed upon the new partition, hence the question.

So, back to the question, if the new (second) partition was created and created as another "Primary" partition, then there should be no problem installing XP in it, is that you are saying?

piaqt, when you say 'run msconfig' I take it you mean it to run from Start > Run> msconfig, while Windows is running?

When I run msconfig from there, I only see a 'boot ini' tab and when clicked on, I do not recognize any of the titles that I should click as I have not ventured to this tab before. So which one should I click and what can I expect to happen and at what point of time?

Your MSKB link does not open, I take it you are referring the Microsoft help files.

Regards.

Have a look at an earlier thread here 'How to Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP or Vista'

BTW, I have fixed the support link in Pia's post.

Thanks guys.

Link visited and printable guide has been downloaded. :D

Regards

Unless the hardware for the laptop is not enough I don't usually recommend going back to XP. MS will drop support for XP, and most hardware now runs with no problems on either Vista or 7. I like Windows 7 better than Vista because it is snappier, but Vista can be tweaked to run as fast, or faster than Windows 7. I have Windows XP, Vista and 7 on the same machine, and I almost never booted into XP. Both Vista and Windows 7 have a much better memory management that fits today large RAM quantities.
That said, if your friend still wants to install XP on a separate partition, then you will have to partition some of the free hard disk space. You can have up to 4 primary partitions and unlimited extended partitions. The XP partition does not need to be primary however. A partition needs to be primary for the boot, but it is already configured by the installation of Windows 7/Vista that came with the laptop.
However, dual boot are usually done by installing XP first and then Vista/7. I don't know if the XP boot menu will detect Windows 7 or Vista correctly for the boot. An alternate option is to use a boot loader.
And just asking again. If the laptop new? I have a laptop with Windows 7 and it boots really quick. XP cannot boot that quick since it needs to wait. And the sleep and hibernation are hundred times better in 7 than in XP
A laptop with Dual boot is not something that I would particulary do. I don't like to partition hard drives since the advantages of partitioning have long disapeared, instead I use separate hard drives which keep the performance. Having this in mind, if your friend is dead set on XP, then I would take an image of the current install and then do a clean install of XP, keeping the current install image (like a ghost image) as a backup.
Partitioning will reduce considerably your usable hard drive, and it might hurt the performance, unless the laptop was not heavily used, but at that case it would not make sense to invest so much time to downgrade to XP.
Have in mind that XP is 3 OS behind (don't forget XP MCE, because MS considers it as a milestone for support)

BTW, after I posted I read this in our forums news
http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27306

Hi Dehcbad25.

Information noted thank you. I will past it onto my friend and let him decide as to the course of action. :)

Regards