which OS to install first

[david]

hey everyone, i have a question, i have a HD with genuine XP SP 3 on it, and
i would like to install WIN 7 and maybe dual boot, i have read in other
places that if i am going to dual boot i should install WIN 7 first, and
others have said that, that installing WIN 7 after XP is installed is not
recomended, my question is does it matter which OS is installed first ?

 

[JS]

hey everyone, i have a question, i have a HD with genuine XP SP 3 on it,
and i would like to install WIN 7 and maybe dual boot, i have read in
other places that if i am going to dual boot i should install WIN 7 first,
and others have said that, that installing WIN 7 after XP is installed is
not recomended, my question is does it matter which OS is installed first
?

It does matter to a point, both methods will work
but installing XP and then XP is the preferred sequence.

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

EasyBCD:
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

 

[BillW50]

In david typed on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:10:27 -0400:

hey everyone, i have a question, i have a HD with genuine XP SP 3 on
it, and i would like to install WIN 7 and maybe dual boot, i have
read in other places that if i am going to dual boot i should install
WIN 7 first, and others have said that, that installing WIN 7 after
XP is installed is not recomended, my question is does it matter
which OS is installed first ?

Whoa! Older versions first and then later versions later. So XP first
and then Windows 7 later. That works the best. If you do the latter,
Windows XP will break Windows 7 from booting. You will need a spare free
partition for Windows 7, at least 16GB in size. Need a partition manager
to make a free partition? There are free ones too.

 

[bobster]

At the current price of Hard drives ($50 for a 320G), you might want to
consider installing WIN 7 on a new, separate drive. You can set your BIOS
to boot to WIN 7, e.g., then press F-12 during the startup sequence for the
option to boot to XP if desired. A nice, simple setup that provides lots of
storage capability and complete isolation between the two OSs.

===============================================================

hey everyone, i have a question, i have a HD with genuine XP SP 3 on it,
and i would like to install WIN 7 and maybe dual boot, i have read in
other places that if i am going to dual boot i should install WIN 7 first,
and others have said that, that installing WIN 7 after XP is installed is
not recomended, my question is does it matter which OS is installed first
?

It does matter to a point, both methods will work
but installing XP and then XP is the preferred sequence.

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

EasyBCD:
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

It does matter to a point, both methods will work
but installing XP and then XP is the preferred sequence.

So, do you think that's better than installing XP and then XP? <vbg>

 

[JS]

So, do you think that's better than installing XP and then XP? <vbg>

Correction:
"installing XP and then Windows 7 is the preferred sequence."

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Correction:
"installing XP and then Windows 7 is the preferred sequence."

Yes, I knew what you meant. Just a little joke.

 

[JS]

The sad part is that after going cross eyed with dual
and triple boot systems I think Windows XP is
going to be a required prerequisite as Windows 7 RTM
can't partition drives worth a dam.

Create 3 100GB boot partitions + the 100MB system partition
and then try partitioning the remaining space on a 500GB or 1TB
hard drive using Win 7 and you lose, all I could do was create a
dynamic volume. Had to revert to Win XP to create an extended
partition and then one or more logical drives in order to use the
remaining space.

 

[david]

ok here's what i am thinking of doing. I already have XP installed on a
150gig partition on a 1T HD, if i create another 150 gig partition for WIN 7
i should be ok or do i need to make that partition a little bigger for WIN 7
?

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:26:45 PM, and on a
whim, david pounded out on the keyboard:

ok here's what i am thinking of doing. I already have XP installed on a
150gig partition on a 1T HD, if i create another 150 gig partition for WIN 7
i should be ok or do i need to make that partition a little bigger for WIN 7
?

Hi David,

You have to do some tricks to configure Win7 if you DON'T want it to put
all the boot files on the XP partition. It took me 3 or 4 tries before
I was finally able to have XP completely clean of Win7.

Most of what you find online states that you only have to have the new
partition set as "active". I found that not to be the case. I also had
to hide my XP partition, and then I was able to get Win7 to install
completely free of the XP partition. If you don't care whether Win7
puts its boot loader on the XP partition, then don't follow my suggestions.

The size of the partition completely depends on what you plan on
installing. 150 gig should be more than sufficient for any OS and
programs. If you do a lot of video work, then you may want to set up
another partition for your data. I have a separate partition that I
install all my programs to for all of my OS's, and I have a separate
data partition also.



Terry R.

 

[david]

well i would like to keep both OS's seperate from each other the best i can
if that is possible, and why will i have to hide my XP partition ?. and if
its hidden will i still have the option to dual boot ? .
all suggestions are welcomed
thanks in advance

 

[naughtyhooh]

hey everyone, i have a question, i have a HD with genuine XP SP 3 on it, and
i would like to install WIN 7 and maybe dual boot, i have read in other
places that if i am going to dual boot i should install WIN 7 first, and
others have said that, that installing WIN 7 after XP is installed is not
recomended, my question is does it matter which OS is installed first ?

Hey buddy install windows 7 later! I think there is nothing to worry about
which OS you install first, Its up to you but the windows 7 loader looks
great, looks like it has got a graphical interface!

 

[peter]

You have received lots of answers and just to clarify a few of them.
You can do a dual boot using a separate partition on your present HD with XP
installed 1st.
When W7 installs into that separate partition it will overwrite the XP MBR
and create the dual boot menu.
W7 uses a completely different boot manager than XP and if you decide to go
back to just XP its harder to
change back. All of the programs that you have installed will need to be
reinstalled under W7 for them to work under W7.
OR
you can buy another HD and after disconnecting your XP HD install W7 onto
the new HD.Then reinstall your XP drive
In this manner there is no overwriting of the XP MBR .You pick which HD to
boot from by means of the BIOS boot order and this is fairly
easy on newer mobo due to the F12 key which when pressed during boot brings
up the HD selection window.
You would still need to install all of your programs under W7.
A separate HD is the easiest way to go and it works nicely. When you decide
you don't want XP anymore
you just format the XP partition from within W7...

peter
--
If you find a posting or message from me offensive,inappropriate
or disruptive,please ignore it.
If you dont know how to ignore a posting complain
to me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate

well i would like to keep both OS's seperate from each other the best i
can if that is possible, and why will i have to hide my XP partition ?.
and if its hidden will i still have the option to dual boot ? .
all suggestions are welcomed
thanks in advance

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Friday, September 18, 2009 7:58:56 AM, and on a
whim, peter pounded out on the keyboard:

You have received lots of answers and just to clarify a few of them.
You can do a dual boot using a separate partition on your present HD with XP
installed 1st.
When W7 installs into that separate partition it will overwrite the XP MBR
and create the dual boot menu.
W7 uses a completely different boot manager than XP and if you decide to go
back to just XP its harder to
change back. All of the programs that you have installed will need to be
reinstalled under W7 for them to work under W7.
OR
you can buy another HD and after disconnecting your XP HD install W7 onto
the new HD.Then reinstall your XP drive
In this manner there is no overwriting of the XP MBR .You pick which HD to
boot from by means of the BIOS boot order and this is fairly
easy on newer mobo due to the F12 key which when pressed during boot brings
up the HD selection window.
You would still need to install all of your programs under W7.
A separate HD is the easiest way to go and it works nicely. When you decide
you don't want XP anymore
you just format the XP partition from within W7...

peter

I installed Win7 on the same hard drive as XP without it overwriting the
XP MBR. I use GAG as my boot manager and XP is free of any Win7 boot
loaders.


Terry R.

 

[david]

Thank you all for your great input to my questions, ok i have decided to go
with the DUAL boot option for now, since i have a large HD. I made another
partition to install WIN 7 onto, since i have installed WIN 7 on a older
machine i dont think i will have an issue installing it on the new
partition. the only question i now have it the overwriting of the XP MBR, is
there anything i should look out for or worry about once i have WIN 7
installed ?.
thanks in advance

 

[smlunatick]

Thank you all for your great input to my questions, ok i have decided to go
with the DUAL boot option for now, since i have a large HD. I made another
partition to install WIN 7 onto, since i have installed WIN 7 on a older
machine i dont think i will have an issue installing it on the new
partition. the only question i now have it the overwriting of the XP MBR,is
there anything i should look out for or worry about once i have WIN 7
installed ?.

Since the Windows XP boot MBR has been taken over by the Windows 7
(was also in Vista) BDC, you should consult with NeoSmart and look at
their EasyBCD:

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

 

[david]

ok i have downloaded GAG and EasyBCD i am going to install WIN 7 on my new
partition and hopes everything works out ok. Thanks to everyone who helped.
will be back with results later.

Thank you all for your great input to my questions, ok i have decided to
go
with the DUAL boot option for now, since i have a large HD. I made another
partition to install WIN 7 onto, since i have installed WIN 7 on a older
machine i dont think i will have an issue installing it on the new
partition. the only question i now have it the overwriting of the XP MBR,
is
there anything i should look out for or worry about once i have WIN 7
installed ?.
thanks in advance"naughtyhooh" <[email protected]>
wrote in message

Since the Windows XP boot MBR has been taken over by the Windows 7
(was also in Vista) BDC, you should consult with NeoSmart and look at
their EasyBCD:

http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

 

[david]

well hello everyone, well i was able to install win 7 on a new partition and
after a few hours it started to crash on me randomly. polling, paging, blue
screen errors. Ram memtest and everything is ok. I ran the upgrade advisor
an it says that the hardware is compatable with WIN 7. i am back on XP for
the moment and watching for stability. i will reformatt the WIN 7 partition
and try to reinstall WIN 7 again. Any suggestions is recommended.