BleepingComputer.com: Dual Booting XP with Windows 7

Hi all - so very sorry for the lengthy post but I feel giving necessary information ahead of time can help a lot...........

I spent the better part of yesterday running around the Net and even here for instructions on how to set up a dual boot setup. While what I found was great the instructions weren't very helpful to my specific situation. I've never set up a dual boot system so every part of this is new to me and while I'm not a novice with computers when it gets into "installers" and the inner workings of Windows I get lost.

I have a 7-1/2 year old super Gateway desktop that came with XP Pro, changed it to XP Pro Retail, but only have gone as far as SP2 because SP3 always gave me problems. The system has royally passed the Windows 7 Advisor test except for a couple of printers I have connected to it but the hardware is just fine. At the time of purchase in July 2002 the system cost me $6,000 - half of that was for the 22" LCD digital/analog display alone. I've gutted it out as much as I could over the years and while I'd love to upgrade the board, processor and memory, it being a Gateway is pretty much impossible given the proprietary way they make their systems.

The system is a 700XL desktop, was considered their top-shelf machine at purchase, and now has 2 Gigs of Rambus memory (came with one gig), I swiped out the OEM video card for an nVidia GeForce 6800, 128 Meg AGP 8x/4x, changed the OEM sound to the Creatives Live Drive Blaster X-Fi Platinum XTreme (part #: 70SB046000001), added a 250Gig slave HD to the OEM 120GIG that came with the system, changed the OEM power supply to a 500W with very "pretty lights" that I cannot see ( ) , added an extra fan facing the processor (also lights up!) that is screwed into the screened area on the back of the tower. The system has the 1 AGP slot, 5 PCI slots (all filled), the front Firewire port is disconnected because it once connected to the onboard sound and is now tied off. The PCI slots are filled with a controller for the 250G HD (the mobo only "sees" 137G so I added the controller to fix that); it has a 4-port USB card and a 4-port Firewire card in the slots as well; the Creative setup also has a PCI card as well as the Live Drive taking up a 5-1/4" bay. There is one of two OEM DVD/CD burners still in it along with a Memorex 16-function DL burner I added as well as the floppy drive. The burner I pulled out can write DL DVDs in cartridges. There currently is an Epson scanner and one of two HP printers attached to it with the Microsoft Elite KB/mouse wireless combo setup attached to it. The processor is a 2.53G Pentium 4 (single core) that I'd love to upgrade, but can't.

This system has low "mileage" on it because I have other desktops and a laptop (all are Gateways), plus it not having SP3 on it and hasn't been cleaned off since September 2006 has made it so I haven't used it very much. Every time I put SP3 on it would crash so I left it off all this time. I knew once I formatted the system I could and would install it then. It does get online perfectly and I'm running Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 on it with 4 other systems (5 PC license).

What I want to do is format both drives and run XP Pro (Retail) and Windows 7 (Retail) on the system, it would have to be 32 bit of course. I know it can run both OSs but my problem is that all instructions I found were about making a partition for "7" from within an existing install of XP and going on from there. I cannot find any instance where XP and Seven were set up as a dual boot on two *separate* HDs after a format of both HDs and I have no idea where to start. I also found many sites that gave instructions for running virtual operating systems which isn't necessary given the two HDs I have.

I own Ontrack's Data Eraser software (and their recovery application) and do plan on running the Eraser on both drives given the junk that was on that system and data removed just yesterday and backed up. The system is ready for formatting, I have both operating systems ready, both HDs are backed up of important data, and am confused as to where to start after the zero-write is complete.

I want to end up with an operating system on each HD with the ability to choose the OS at boot-up. I also saw a lot about a boot disc being needed but am not sure that applies to my situation given these OSs will be installed on freshly formatted HDs. I have all drivers for XP that came with the system as well as what little Gateway still has to offer and from what the Windows 7 Advisor gave me it can install pretty much all the drivers for 'seven' except for the video card which I can get off the nVidia site. I just recently did a clean Seven Retail Ultimate 64Bit install on my Gateway P-173XL FX laptop and had a hard time with the video card drivers off the nVidia site. I emailed nVidia and they referred me to another website that carries their drivers. While this one is working I still am having problems with the laptop that I will post about if nVidia can't help me with the booting problem the drivers are causing on the laptop.

I thank you in advance for any input you can give as well as links you can provide that I possibly missed (although I think I hit them all yesterday!). I also apologize for the lengthy post.

Hello LadyKeys,

I'm by no means the authority on this subject, but I have been success in completing this very task of dual booting XP & 7. I currently dual boot Win. XP 32bit & Win 7 64bit.

Solution: The trick, as with all basic Windows dual boot setups (without using special boot manager software), is that the older OS must be installed first, in this case Windows XP. Also, I believe Windows XP must be installed on the primary drive (I have all SATA drives and I did not get the dual boot menu when XP was installed on the drive assigned to port 1 vs port 0. I had to specify in the BIOS which drive to boot from in order to get to the specific OS). After you have Windows XP installed then install Windows 7 on the secondary/slave drive and that should be it. At boot up you should get a boot menu with an option to boot to an "Earlier Version of Windows" or Windows 7.

Note: Both drives should be connected when you install Windows 7 so that Windows 7 will detect the Windows XP partition and setup the boot manager accordingly. Finally, take care not to install Windows 7 on the same drive/partition as Windows XP during the Windows 7 installation.

Good luck,


Technine22

This post has been edited by Technine22: 03 February 2010 - 02:05 PM

Hey, this may be helpful....OSL2000 - An Advanced Multi Boot Manager

http://www.osloader.com/

clipped from this site:

New! Version 9.23 Platinum Edition (fully supports Windows 7).

# Lets you have up to 100 independent operating systems.
# Lets you have completely independent copies of Windows.
# Lets you even have multiple copies of the same Windows.
# Lets you boot Windows (all versions) from logical partitions.
# Lets you boot Windows (all versions) from the second hard disk.

I'm not an expert, but I remember using a much earlier version of O S Loader in days of old. I can't remember if I installed it from within windows or ? It did involve a little 'head scratching' to get the set-up installed to my liking. Good luck.

I'd rather you have a very lengthy post, as opposed to: "mi puter's broked how to fix". (I've seen this before)

So to summarize, your situation is this:

You have two empty hdd's on a computer, and you want to dual-boot XP and 7. Correct?

It's really just a simple matter of booting off the install disk, choosing where to install it (which drive), going through all the setup processes, then repeating for the other OS. There's really nothing more to it than that. You don't have to do any special configuring, complicated installs, or use special software. Install one, then install the other. Nothing else to it.

Any questions?

Hi All -

A lot has happened since my OP and I'll try to keep this short but I doubt that's going to happen.

I decided against the dual boot setup and opted for RAID0 Stripped on the 700XL. I went to TigerDirect and bought a StarTech 4-port RAID controller and two WD 500G SATA HDs. Also picked up the SATA cables as neither the card nor HDs came with them. Installed everything and immediately ran into problems. It's been at least a week that I, with the help of a friend I met online and who builds computers, have been working on the system to get it up and running and we are out of ideas.

I immediately ran into an error message that there was a "cable not connected" and also a "Boot Error". I can't remember all the things I tried and then started emailing StarTech's tech support who said their accompanying CD wasn't needed - for me to just install the card and HDs and follow the prompts. That was what I was trying to do because at that point I hadn't tried their CD - they said the card had Built-In BIOS and the drivers or flashing wasn't necessary. After days of this, emailing my friend and also StarTech because the system was beeping once at bootup but it was bypassing the *system* BIOS trying to go direct to the card/HDs. StarTech said the system BIOS needed updating and that started a week-long search. Gateway is of zero help with this system - even their Live Chat was ridiculous. I found a discussion forum with the latest BIOS update mentioned by a poster and searched for that, finally found it 2 days ago, put it on a floppy and am now getting the NTDLR error. The BIOS showing now: MV85010A.15A.0049.P07 and the only one that seems to be available ends in .P15 with a date of 2003.

I went to the Intel website to try to find newer BIOS update and of course had severe problems identifying my motherboard before I went there. I finally found that it's a Lexington 2, 533MHz board and by using the current BIOS I found an upgrade on the Intel website that they said would work. I tried Live Chat with Intel and that was worse than what I got with Gateway (surprisingly so). I also was in email contact with Intel who first told me to go to the computer manufacturer for help (Gateway doesn't want to hear it) and then when I told "Sergio" that he then said NOT to use Intel's BIOS files - that I could seriously damage the system. Through all this my system builder friend has been emailing me ideas and trying to help in every way - none of his, Intel's, StarTech or Gateway's ideas are working.

2 days ago I made a DOS boot disc using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and it did boot to that. I also pulled out the controller card and disconnected the HDs before I did this in order to hopefully flash the BIOS so the system would "see" the controller card. I got to the A-Prompt but there was nothing there to help with this situation. The last idea my friend has come up with is to use the DOS boot disc to get to the A-Prompt and then put in the BIOS flash I got off the Gatetway website (the one ending in .P15). I am about to try that but also have requested an RMA from TigerDirect to send these parts back - they are not compatible with this system.

Once in the BIOS there is no way for me to set the system to boot to a RAID or SCSI setup - it's looking for IDE HDs which I don't have because both that were in there died when I started this thread. I do have a new 80G in an older system that currently has W2K on it that I could use but I'm not sure if I could flash the BIOS from within Windows 2000. Also, the Gateway BIOS flash file said not to make a boot disc using W2K or XP, that the floppy would not boot the system and that's a true statement. Before I read that in a Readme file the 700XL wanted no part of the 1st floppy I made.

I cannot get the system to recognize a floppy containing the newer BIOS which I'm not even sure are new enough for the controller and new HDs. If someone has an idea as to how I can get this system to update the BIOS I will know for sure if the parts I've bought are not compatible at all with the system and I'll just give up and go back to a couple of large IDEs on a controller card I had in there before the RAID controller.

Thanks for any input and I am "on the clock" to return the parts if they don't work.

This post has been edited by LadyKeys: 08 March 2010 - 11:44 AM

On a machine that old, You will be essentially buying a new computer. All the components inside are no longer supported, and finding CPU's would be expensive as well as RAM.

Hi cryptodan -

I've basically given up - well, I gave up yesterday and called for an RA from TigerDirect to send the HDs and controller back. I tried one more thing this afternoon - I managed to flash the BIOS to the last one Gateway has to offer and that made no difference. Only thing it did, and I don't know if this will make any difference once I get a new IDE HD, is during the boot-up now I don't see the word "Gateway" anywhere. It posts just fine but can't go anywhere without a HD in it.

It started that with my last attempt at installing Windows 7. Popped in the DVD, when it asked for a controller file I put in the floppy I made from the CD that came with the controller card, Windows didn't like it and gave me a very weird error message - "what kind of computer do you want to install Windows on?". I've never seen that and think that by flashing the BIOS I somehow don't have a "Gateway" anymore! Strange but for me "strange" is normal.

Parts are on their way back to Tiger for a credit and in the meantime I'll get a large IDE and put it on the controller I had already working in the system. It's really a special system to me and I can't say I didn't try. My friend was so patient but he did say, right from the beginning, that a RAID setup wouldn't work in my system. While it's 7 years old it does have some decent parts to it and I know I'll use it for a while yet but to keep up with 3 of my newer systems, especially my P-173XL FX laptop, is impossible.

I'm all done buying PCs and once these all run into the ground is when I go to one Mac. Either that or something so non-propriatary that I would be able to put anything in it. Gateway was my vendor for over 15 years and I'm done with them. This is the 4th try on 3 different systems I own (all Gateways) and none of the upgrades would work.

Thanks for the post and hopefully I haven't created a non-Gateway system with this BIOS flash. I don't know where the Gateway name went! LOL!

LadyKeys, on Mar 9 2010, 03:35 AM, said:

I am sure there are plenty of Technoguys and Gals here at BC that will be more then happy to help you piece together a computer. That is of course if you want to go that route. I have been building systems since 1999, and has become a hobby of mine. I have now 3 Desktops, 1 Lap Top, and a Dell 2600 Server. I just love computers.

Just for informational sake, how did you create the driver floppy for the SATA Controller? I can possibly help you with finding an already made floppy version for ya if ya provide your model number or service tag number.

Hi cryptodan -

I wasn't even supposed to have to make a driver floppy for the controller according to StarTech but I wound up trying that option too. I read the Readme file and found the drivers for XP (I wanted 7 on there but at that point was willing to try anything just to get these parts to work). The Readme said which folder held the drivers I needed and I put them on a floppy. I'm lucky this system was old enough to still have a floppy drive (if that's LUCKY). I had the drivers on one floppy, I made a DOS boot disk with my laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit because the manual with the controller said not to use W2K or XP to make a boot floppy - I had no other option but do have 98SE on disc but not in a system. I also made a disc to flash the BIOS which was made on a Gateway 450XL (that one's about 10 years old and still kicking). 3 floppies and all I managed to do was flash the BIOS which seems to have "erased" my Gateway logo from the system and even Windows had no idea why "kind" of computer it was installing to.

I used the DOS boot disc to get to the A-Prompt - something I was unable to do for days. My friend said to do that and then run the BIOS flash once I got to the A-Prompt and that's the only way I managed to update the BIOS - popping out one floppy and popping in the other. I thought for sure this would work once the BIOS flashing was done but that didn't work. I reconnected the controller and HDs, I've checked the SATA cables more times than I care to mention, and booted the system only to get errors about a cable not connected and a boot failure.

Tried the XP OEM disc and got to where I had to hit F6 - did that and got the BSOD. Tried Windows 7 and that one asked for a disc too but said it didn't recognize the files on the controller disc I had made. It also is where it said to name what "type" computer I was using...........very strange message that was!!

I really don't need a new build and to be honest with you I've tried it in the past and it caused more problems than it was worth. Plus the case was junk, if the aluminum was any thinner you could put it on a roll! I fought with that for about a week and sent the whole barebones back. I've also tried upgrading the 450XL twice - can't do it. When I put the Creative Labs Live Drive in the 700XL (the one I've been working on) I removed the OEM soundcard and found I lost my front Firewire port - that cable plugged into the souncard. I had to buy a Firewire PCI card to have that capability again.

Changing the motherboard is impossible because of the front harness on these Gateway systems and as it is I've lost the HD activity light on the 450XL from changing that board years ago. Gateway USED to make a great, sturdy system but they are no more as is their tech support (non-existent) and their website help/drivers. I put in the serial # of my computers and get thrown to another website or if I call and enter the serial # the robot hangs up on me! I am ohhhhhhhhh so done with Gateway computers.

It's too late for this project - the parts went back yesterday and I just got a confirm email on the RMA too. I'll get an IDE HD from Tiger probably so I can use my credit but now I'm getting "EIDE" for 500GB drives and I'm not sure that even that HD is going to work in that system. I've got to check the two bad drives I pulled out at what seems like an eternity ago and check to make sure I am compatible with an IDE. How bad is this??

Thanks for the post and offer to help but even if I posted the serial # of the system you'd get nothing on it from Gateway. This system is mine to fix or destroy now, I guess!

Oh, meant to ask: is there a way to post images here? If so I can post some digital pics I've taken along this journey to nowhere!

Open an account with Photobucket, upload your pictures then paste the
[url="http://photobucket.com/"]http://photobucket.com/

LadyKeys, on Mar 9 2010, 04:00 PM, said:

If its out there on the net, I am sure I can find it. I am a great dataminer.

EIDE will work in your machine.

LadyKeys, on Mar 9 2010, 11:02 AM, said:

I'm just curious where you are at now. You're right. Most of the guides for multi-boot are for 2 or more OS on one physical HD. With more physical drives it gets hairier because there may be issues with jumper, bios settings, drive controller etc..

I'm curious too because one of these days I'm going to insist every PC I get has 2 physical internal drives. I have a quad core and it's silly to sit waiting for 30 seconds for a program to load because the HD is busy doing something disk intensive. It would be nice to run that stuff on the non-system drive.

Notice to anyone reading this thread. The osloader.com mentioned above costs $26.50 and if you decide you don't want it it will prevent you from booting into Windows 7. Thats what happened to my computer anyway. I just want to warn anyone against using this unless you want to pay for it.

Hi guys -

Gary, thanks for the heads-up on that download. That's all I would need right about now to have my 7 installs messed with. I just completed my 2nd one on a desktop and that and the Gateway laptop I have are running great. I've learned, over the last couple of weeks, that if it's working - don't TOUCH IT!!

Miles, I haven't been back here because I had some serious problems with the computer I wanted to dual boot on (see my other RAID thread) and right now all ribbon cables are detached and there are no HDs in the system at all. That mess cost me $50 in return shipping for new parts I bought the system that aren't compatible with it - while it's a powerful system compared to some I've seen around it still is "old" in "computer years" and putting a RAID 0 array on there was totally impossible. I just booted up my laptop and found that TigerDirect has received the returned parts and are issuing a full credit for the controller card and pair of SATA HDs I bought for that system. I'm going to go with one large IDE and if I can put EIDE in it I'll go with that. Tiger's got a 500Gig that I think would be just fine in there and if I need more space I'll go external (have 4 of those laying around here).

As for the dual boot I've got to get the system back up mechanically before I start playing around with operating systems. I have two XP Pro's (retail) that aren't doing anything now and a retail of 7 that are ready to go on that system once I get it put back together and hopefully working right. As of right now the BIOS don't even recognize it's a Gateway system - I've lost the logo that used to sit up top near the BIOS version on boot-up. I don't use the splash screen on any of my systems so I can see what they are doing when they boot and after I flashed the BIOS to try to get the RAID array to work the word "Gateway" disappeared from all opening screens. When I tried to put Windows 7 on it that operating system asked me what "kind" of computer I was going to be installing the OS on! Really? What happened to Gateway?

I've also resolved myself to the fact I've got 3 fairly new computers here, one that's sorta in the middle, and 2 that are dinosaurs but work perfectly. When the system I was going to dual boot on was giving me grief one of the "oldies" was my backup down in my office! Wild stuff happening! What spoiled me with all these computers is the laptop I bought in August 2008, the Gateway P-173XL FX that they don't even make anymore. Dual core, pair of 200G HDs running in RAID 0 stripped, 4 Gigs memory - considered a "gaming machine". I bought it to do graphics work on and I got used to using it so much that the other computers here seem slow even though a couple are fairly new. I expect them all to run like the laptop and that's just not possible.

I'm waiting for a credit for a video card I bought for my media box and then I'll get the IDE/EIDE HD for the 700XL and start putting it back together. I bought the nVidia 9800 GT and the card was physically too *wide* to fit in the PCIe16 slot! It had two vertical "supports" on the end but the card went in one slot of course. When I tried to get it in the case it hit the power connector coming from the PS into the motherboard - no room for the width of the huge fan on the card. Sent that back without even installing it! Tiger must think I'm 3 years old and have no idea what I'm buying. All this shipping cost me $50 and I have no parts here! The video card that was in the medial box was an ATI HDMI card I had attached to a HDTV. I'm now using a 19" display instead of the TV until VisionTek replaces that video card. I spent two days going back and forth to the post office to send all these parts in for refund or replacement. Now the laptop's decided to act up again (this just came back from being serviced with a SUPPOSEDLY "new" DVD burner). It's starting to act like it did before it went in for repair.

Supposed to rain here for two days straight and I'm thinking about taking a ride to the mall that house's our new Apple Store! My next computer SURELY will never be another Gateway and I swore by them for years.

Thanks for the posts guys - appreciate the input and heads-up. Will let you know when I get the HD and the 700XL back together - I may still go with the dual boot on that one.