Introduction: Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows XP

 

Step 1: Create a New Partition

step1: The first thing we need to do is create a new partition on the Windows 7 machine. Luckily we can do it without any 3rd party software. (1st picture)
To begin, click on Start and type either partition or disk management into the search box and at the top of the menu click on Create and format hard disk partitions.

step 2:
The Disk Management window opens, and from here we need to free up space on the (C:) drive Windows 7 is installed on. Right-click on the drive and select Shrink Volume. ( 2nd picture)
then a window pops up showing the drive is being queried for available space.  ( 3rd picture)

step 3
: Now enter the amount of space you want to shrink the volume. You’re shown the total size of the disk and the amount of size that is available to shrink. In this example we’re freeing up 40GB of space. (4th picture)

step 4:
after the process completes you’ll see the new Unallocated space. Right-click that and select New Simple Volume. (5th picture)

step 5:
The New Simple Volume Wizard luanches which is a straight forwardprocess. When you get to the Format Partition section, NTFS is selected by default as the file system and you can leave that as is. You might want to rename the Volume label something else like “XP Partition” so it’s easier to identify when installingXP. Also you’ll probably want to make sure to check Perform a Quick Format.

almost
: After the format is complete you will see the new volume as a healthy partition listed.
(6th picture)
Now when you go into My Computer you’ll see the the new disk and notice that space has been taken away from the (C:) drive Windows 7 is installed on

Step 2: Install XP on the New Partition

*Note*: you will need a xp install disk.
*Hint*: isoplanet.com has 7 different windows xp versions so yea *Hint*
step 1:
Now that you know how to create a new partition on your Windows 7 machine, it’s time to installXP on it. Here we’re installing XP Professional on the new partition. Boot from the XP installation disk and start the install process. (1st picture)
step 2: When it comes to choosing a partition, make sure you select the one you created using the steps above. In this example we made a 10GB partition for the XP install. (2nd picture)
step 3:If the partition you created was already formatted as NTFS you can leave it, or you can choose the FAT file system if you want.Basically you continue through as if you were doing a clean install on any hard drive. (3rd picture)


Step 3: Create Boot Loader

step 1: once installation of XP is successful you can now go through and install the latest Microsoft Updates and drivers. You will undoubtedly notice that the machine is booting directly into XP at this time. This is due to XP writing it’s bootloader over Windows 7’s. To get both XP and Windows 7 as an option at the boot screen you can use the free utility EasyBCD 1.72 or their new 2.0 Beta found here http://www.megaupload.com/?d=71M20O0R (1st picture)

step 2:
After getting the bootloader back you should see both XP and Windows 7 as options in the Windows Boot Manager.( 2nd picture)

Step 4: Enjoy

Now you have two operating systems congrats.
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