Dual boot on 2 HD's Xp and Win7 using "grub"

[J Tinsby]

Hello,

I was thinking of 'trying" Win 7 on a separate HD on my machine
already running XP Pro SP3.

It was suggested that I use a program called "grub" which they say
allows me to choose which OS I want to run. I was told that it goes on
the XP drive.

My concern is that if this goes wrong somehow can I remove the grub
program which I understand modifies the MBR?

A friend sent me a copy of Easy BCD that seems like it does the same
thing as grub,

Can someone advise me how to remove grub if I install it? I haven't
pulled the trigger on it yet!

Thanks,

J T

 

[Paul]

Hello,

I was thinking of 'trying" Win 7 on a separate HD on my machine
already running XP Pro SP3.

It was suggested that I use a program called "grub" which they say
allows me to choose which OS I want to run. I was told that it goes on
the XP drive.

My concern is that if this goes wrong somehow can I remove the grub
program which I understand modifies the MBR?

A friend sent me a copy of Easy BCD that seems like it does the same
thing as grub,

Can someone advise me how to remove grub if I install it? I haven't
pulled the trigger on it yet!

Thanks,

J T

You have a number of options as to how this can be arranged.

1) Unplug the WinXP disk. Using the Win 7 DVD you burned, install Win 7
on the second (remaining) disk. Control the boot process, using the
popup boot menu in the BIOS, or just change the hard drive selection
in the boot priority in the BIOS. Neither boot menu (one hosted by
Win 7 or hosted by WinXP), needs to know about the other OS. You can
simply select the OS using the BIOS capabilities.

2) Leave both disks connected. Install Windows 7 on the second drive.
(Set the BIOS in advance, to "prefer" the second drive in terms of
which hard drive is selected of the two.) When Windows 7 installs,
the BCD will be set up with two entries, one for Windows 7 and one
for WinXP. So Windows should automatically recognize the second
Windows OS and make a menu for it. If not, you can use EasyBCD to
add a second line to the Windows 7 boot menu.

When the day comes, to delete the Windows 7 trial, simply set the BIOS
boot menu to prefer the original disk, and it should again be booting
under the control of the WinXP disk. There is nothing to "remove", as
in that case, erasing the Windows 7 drive will remove both the OS and
what it was using to manage the booting of both systems (the bcd stuff).

3) You could install both OSes on the same disk, but that's just asking for
trouble. That would require repairing the MBR, when it comes time to
remove Windows 7.

Introducing grub is unnecessary, as Windows 7 plus bcdedit or EasyBcd should
be sufficient for what you want to do. Just more learning to do in that case.
Grub uses the MBR, but it may also use some number of sectors in the
sector 1-62 area (before the first partition). And I don't think Windows
uses that area. Grub would make sense if you had at least one Linux
OS installed, and had the convenience of running "update-grub" to
rebuild the boot menu when needed.

Paul

 

[dadiOH]

Hello,

I was thinking of 'trying" Win 7 on a separate HD on my machine
already running XP Pro SP3.

It was suggested that I use a program called "grub" which they say
allows me to choose which OS I want to run. I was told that it goes on
the XP drive.

My concern is that if this goes wrong somehow can I remove the grub
program which I understand modifies the MBR?

A friend sent me a copy of Easy BCD that seems like it does the same
thing as grub,

Can someone advise me how to remove grub if I install it?

With difficulty.

I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet!

Dump it, it is a PITA and you don't need it. See Paul's reply.

As he said, with Linux too there is some justification but even then it is a
pain...gives a boot menu for Linus and whatever Window's flavors you have.
If you choose Windows and you have more than one you then get a Windows boot
menu. Who would want *TWO* boot menus? Not me.



--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

 

[J Tinsby]

You have a number of options as to how this can be arranged.

1) Unplug the WinXP disk. Using the Win 7 DVD you burned, install Win 7
on the second (remaining) disk. Control the boot process, using the
popup boot menu in the BIOS, or just change the hard drive selection
in the boot priority in the BIOS. Neither boot menu (one hosted by
Win 7 or hosted by WinXP), needs to know about the other OS. You can
simply select the OS using the BIOS capabilities.

2) Leave both disks connected. Install Windows 7 on the second drive.
(Set the BIOS in advance, to "prefer" the second drive in terms of
which hard drive is selected of the two.) When Windows 7 installs,
the BCD will be set up with two entries, one for Windows 7 and one
for WinXP. So Windows should automatically recognize the second
Windows OS and make a menu for it. If not, you can use EasyBCD to
add a second line to the Windows 7 boot menu.

When the day comes, to delete the Windows 7 trial, simply set the BIOS
boot menu to prefer the original disk, and it should again be booting
under the control of the WinXP disk. There is nothing to "remove", as
in that case, erasing the Windows 7 drive will remove both the OS and
what it was using to manage the booting of both systems (the bcd stuff).

3) You could install both OSes on the same disk, but that's just asking for
trouble. That would require repairing the MBR, when it comes time to
remove Windows 7.

Introducing grub is unnecessary, as Windows 7 plus bcdedit or EasyBcd should
be sufficient for what you want to do. Just more learning to do in that case.
Grub uses the MBR, but it may also use some number of sectors in the
sector 1-62 area (before the first partition). And I don't think Windows
uses that area. Grub would make sense if you had at least one Linux
OS installed, and had the convenience of running "update-grub" to
rebuild the boot menu when needed.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the speedy and informative reply to the question!
Interesting not to use Grub at all but EasyBCD instead, you might have
saved me from a mess!

I have always thought of trying a Linux based OS but I am afraid of
all the arcane commands that I would have to learn to make it
functional. Plus I don't know how I would get along without all the
programs I use under Win XP. Unless a program like Wine would make
them run under Linux, again I have no experience there except on a
recovery CD that I got from PC World called BootMed. I know that Wine
can be used on a Mac but dunno about Linux.

Then again most of the programs I have on the 32 bit version of XP
won't run on Win 7 anyway.... <sigh>

And I read today on CNET that Win 8 won't allow any other boot loader
programs to be installed effectively stopping you from running another
competing OS. That is until a smart programmer writes a program to
bypass that new "feature".

Regards,

J T

 

[Mayayana]

I use BootIt. It's a lot more convenient than
doing your own tinkering, and it's easy for
me to boot several OSs from multiple disks.
I have an extra copy of my basic XP install
that I've put on NTFS just for testing restriction
issues. I've had 1 or more Linux versions loaded
in the past.... But BootIt, or any dependable,
full-service boot loader is not free.

Most Linux installs will come with a bootloader, but
then you're at the mercy of Linux remaining stable.
If Linux is not your main system that might not be so
appealing.

You can run pretty much any combination from one
disk, and Linux easily installs to a logical partition, but
Microsoft has a parochial attitude. Every system since
XP will take over the MBR without asking, so that you
then have to reconfigure your boot-loader.

Wine: It's been around for about 15 years. A new
version comes out about every 10 days. The Wine
people are having a lot of fun, but like a lot of OSS,
it never quite gets finished. I haven't tried it for
awhile. Last time I did a lot of things ran sort of OK,
but few things ran without problems. If you look
at their list of supported software it quickly becomes
clear that a lot of the motivation for working on Wine
comes from young Linux geeks addicted to Windows
games. A lot of games have pretty good support.
Wine could be useful if you have a specific XP program
you need to use and you have no other options.

Another option is "hot swapping" hard disks in
a hardware system that allows you to quickly
pop one out and another in. That seems like a lot
of trouble to me...and a waste of hard disks... but
some people find it easier than multi-booting.


--
--
| Hello,
|
| I was thinking of 'trying" Win 7 on a separate HD on my machine
| already running XP Pro SP3.
|
| It was suggested that I use a program called "grub" which they say
| allows me to choose which OS I want to run. I was told that it goes on
| the XP drive.
|
| My concern is that if this goes wrong somehow can I remove the grub
| program which I understand modifies the MBR?
|
| A friend sent me a copy of Easy BCD that seems like it does the same
| thing as grub,
|
| Can someone advise me how to remove grub if I install it? I haven't
| pulled the trigger on it yet!
|
| Thanks,
|
| J T