Dual booting (well, kind of) Windows 7 and XP

[GoldenbanjoDJ]

Hi fellas! Been having some trouble with some old games in Windows 7. Have come to the conclusion that the best (and in fact only) solution to my problems is to dual boot Windows 7 with Windows XP.

I am thinking more along the lines of doing a fresh install of XP on a completely separate SATA HDD and putting this new drive physically next to my Windows 7 SSD in my Coolermaster Haf-X. Technically, then, it is not a 'dual boot' in the classical sense.

I want it so that if I ever want to do a bit of legacy gaming, which won't be all that often, I can simply tap F8 at startup and select the new SATA HDD it is installed on. I have Windows 7 on an SSD and I want the PC to boot to it every time unless I tell it otherwise via the F8 method.

(I know with dual booting, you have to actively press enter over the highlighted boot device when you turn the PC on, and if you don't select within 30 seconds the computer selects the default (first installed) system. I don't want anything like that. Part of the joy in having an SSD is that you can turn your computer on and leave it for a second or two, maybe nip to the toilet for a quick tinkle, and come back and it will be raring to go. I don't want to have to press enter every time, or to wait 30 seconds (which would wouble my boot time) for the system to load Windows 7. The Windows 7 SSD would be labelled in my motherboard BIOS as the priority boot device.)

I'm sure this is all kosher, but:

1. Will this work?

2. Is there any problem with me using a SATA HDD with windows XP? I have heard there may well be.

3. Is there ANYTHING I have overlooked or should be aware of, or is there any advice you could give me?

4. Will this mess anything up or move anything in ANY way?

Thanks for reading my essay!

Love, Dan xxx

 

[dugdiamond]

have you tried running XPsp3 in a VM?

 

[GoldenbanjoDJ]

sorry whats a VM?

 

[GoldenbanjoDJ]

I've checked it out - I don't think I like the look of it much. Can you make it fullscreen?

 

[dugdiamond]

VM is a Virtual Machine

you basically run another OS inside your prime OS

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

 

[dugdiamond]

I've checked it out - I don't think I like the look of it much. Can you make it fullscreen?

YES

 

[GoldenbanjoDJ]

i will look more into that in the morning! food for thought and money saving too

thank you very much dugdiamond! x

 

[BaMb1N0]

hi

if i were you i'd do it the follwing way:

- install windows xp on your mass storage device #1 (prioriy 1 in BIOS, should be your harddrive)

- install windows 7 on your mass storage device #2 (priority 2 in BIOS, should be your SSD as Windows XP does not support TRIM)

- use the boot menu installed by windows 7 in the master boot record of device #1

- edit the 30second value follwing this procedure:

1) boot into windows 7 after installation

2) display system properties

3) switch to tab "Advanced"

4) hit "Settings..." in section "Startup and Recovery"

5) edit the value set at "Time to display list of operating systems" as you see fit

6) you may also choose your default OS to boot in as you see fit

this is imho the cleanest and simplest way to dual boot two versions of windows. please note that "device #1 or #2" may also be different partitions on the same physical drive, such as your SSD.

to some of your questions:

2. if you're running your harddrives/SSD's in AHCI-mode (which you have to do in order to get proper TRIM support and native command queueing) you'll need the AHCI chipset driver ready on a floppy disk when installing windows xp. there is no way around the floppy drive with windows xp. with windows 7 this usually isn't a problem as drivers are included there to some point. and you'll be able to use any kind of drive there, even when plugged during setup.

3. never remove the drive where the currently active windows boot loader is installed. you will not be able to boot any of your installed OSes without fixing the boot loader (can be done with a windows 7 DVD or recovery disc). this is a quick fix but you'll need to know how to do it.

4. not if properly set up

but if you want to avoid doing so (which i would perfectly understand) you may consider using a virtual machine as mentioned before by dugdiamond. but i'd use Oracle Virtual Box because it's somewhat more versatile than M$ VirtualPC imho. but be aware: 3D support in virtual environments is experimental at best.

http://www.virtualbox.org/