XP ON C Drive How To Dual Boot To Windows 7

[Kevsim]

My "C" drive has Windows XP installed and a separate drive "E" drive has Windows 7 installed.

How can I alter the Boot.INI file on Windows XP C drive to allow a dual boot of XP and Windows 7?

Windows 7 would be the default operating system.

I am looking for a sample Boot.ini file showing the boot sequence.

I would appreciate some advise.
kevsim

 

[flyboytim]

Boot from the Windows 7 install DVD. Repair the windows 7 installation. It should repair the Windows 7 bootloader to give a boot menu which has both the Windows 7 and XP boot options.

You cannot affect the dual booting of Windows 7 & XP by editing Boot.ini.
Boot.ini is part of the XP bootloader - it does not recognise the Windows 7 bootloader.

To edit the Windows 7 boot menu, Microsoft provides BCDedit, a command-line program. It requires a certain level of expertise, and I would not recommend it.

In the normal run of things for a dual-boot XP and Windows 7 system, Windows 7 is expected to be installed onto a machine already running XP. It automatically sets up a dual boot menu if both systems are elected to be kept.

If XP is installed over a Windows 7 installation, the XP overwrites the Windows 7 boot record, requiring the Windows 7 repair.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[linney]

Startup Repair.

Startup Repair is a Windows recovery tool that can fix certain problems, such as missing or damaged system files, that might prevent Windows from starting.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...809f-ed90-415f-a83f-89b42108b3551033.mspx#EFF

Startup Repair: frequently asked questions

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx

How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html

One known (minor) bug with dual booting XP with Vista or Windows 7, is the loss of System Restore points in the other operating systems after every XP boot.

Besides Dual Booting many people make use of Virtual PC XP Mode.

Windows Virtual PC
Download Windows XP Mode

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

Windows XP Mode (Windows 7 only, but not any of the Home versions) "You are not eligible to download Windows XP Mode. You must have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate to run Windows XP Mode".