Dual booting Vista/Xp on your DELL

I know many ppl wanna have this setup on their laptops and this guide is also widely available over the net

Here I post a simple and brief guide to do the same for the latest Inspiron and XPS notebooks (1400, 1420, 1500, 1520, 1720, M1330)

First go into your BIOS and setup your hard disk to AHCI mode

Now Install Vista on your laptop

Then after Vista install is fully complete and all the drivers are loaded reboot your laptop, go into BIOS and set the hard disk mode to ATA

NOTE: After this do not boot into Vista or else you will end up in BSOD. This mode change is just to make sure XP detects your hard drive. Do not worry we will revert this back to AHCI after loading all the correct drivers

Boot your laptop using the XP install CD and install Xp on a different partition other than Vista

After install is complete it will boot directly into XP only - dont worry your Vista is still safe in there

Load all the XP drivers

Now we need to load the AHCI driver for Xp.

For that you need to first extract the drivers for AHCI from http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=205608 somewhere on yout hard drive

Then go to device manager and doubleclick Intel ICH8M 3-port SATA Controller - 2828

Click Update Driver and choose the Have Disk option there and point to the location where you have extracted the AHCI drivers you had downloaded

And in that list you need to choose Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller

Thanx to kent1146's post where I found the correct device to be selected

It will install the driver and you need to reboot.... Now you need to be careful

Go into your BIOS and change the mode of your hard disk to AHCI

Now if you had done all the steps correctly the XP should boot with the AHCI drivers itself

And now back to the dual boot thing - reboot your PC using the Vista DVD and choose the repair option

There will be an option to do Startup Repair which will fix the Vista Bootloader

Then your laptop will boot into Vista dont worry but you will be missing XP now

So to bring back XP you can install EasyBCD a tool to configure the Vista Boot Loader

In that you have an option to add XP - using that program is a piece of cake....

So after making the changes in EasyBCD you should have your laptop dual booting Vista/Xp

 

Thanks for the guide.

 

There are many good guides to installing dual boot Vista/XP systems. But there are some special considerations when you are dealing with Dell laptops with MediaDirect buttons.

I have shrunk my Vista partition, and enlarged the Restore partition. I also have unallocated space available on the drive.

The next step is to prep the drive with the MediaDirect 3.3 Reinstall CD. I assume MD installs it's own special mbr? Option 1 dedicates the entire drive to a single OS partition. "Option 2" ONLY gives you the choice of how large an OS partition to create.

From the instructions it seems the MD reinstall cd wipes the Restore partition from the mbr? Is this so?

Before I go any farther I'm going to look at the present mbr, and save a copy for future reference.

 

One thing Xonk that you need to keep in mind is booting using the MD CD and allowing it to create the MD partition will remove all the data and partitions on your hard drive and freshly create one partition for Vista (if you select Option 1) or two partitions - one for Vista and the other for Data (if you select Option 2).... Other than that it creates two more partitions - one 47 MB EISA FAT16 partition and another (from windows) 2 GB MD partition.... The contents of these two arent visible from Windows and can only be seen by using the bundled utilities in the Diagnostics and MD cds....

So for your Xp install - I need to ask one qn - have you removed either the utility or the MD partition from your hard drive ? If so MD is at risk and booting your PC using the MD button will make drastic changes to your partition table and cause havoc...

 

Do you have a solution for that (the MD button)?

The closest thing I have found is a utility on the Dell CD to configure the MBR used by MD but I have since overridden the MBR, so I'm worried I'll do something stupid by playing around with it. I'd be content if the MD button just went straight to GRUB as the power button does. For now, I'm banking on noone pressing that button. Stupid MediaDirect, what is the point of it? It loads slower than hibernated XP and Ubuntu anyway.

 

This topic should be of help to you :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=182495

 

I've made no significant changes to partition setup yet. As I read more I'm coming to the conclusion the easiest plan would be to repartition with MediaDirect, using option 2, creating a 20 gig partition for XP and leaving the rest of the drive unpartitioned. Then after XP and MediaDirect are installed I can can create and format a 40+ gig Data partition in the free space. After that I could then install Vista in the remaining unpartitioned space, in the normal way one installs dual boot Microsoft OS's. I believe that would make sure the data partition is drive "D" in either OS.

Thanks for all the suggestions and links, I'll follow up on them for sure.

 

i deleted all the partitons but the FAT diagnosis, and created two, one for xp, and second one for vista


if i press MD button and i try the power button later, it gives errors when trying to boot windows, but if i press the MD button again, everything comes back to normal. So i have no problems

I installed the different way tough, slipstreamed with nlite the sata drivers

 

Yeah slipstreaming the sata drivers works too....

 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Office Depot and saw a close out sale on floppy disks. I picked up a couple of boxes for no special reason, ain't used one in a very long time... but now I realize - I must have been psychic. I've borrowed a friends USB floppy drive. I haven't extracted the SATA drivers yet, but when I boot with the floppy drive attached, it's presented as a boot option. So it should be available when XP insists drivers come from "A" drive.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188444

 

Yeah I think USB floppy drives are recogonized by Windows Xp setup but definitely USB sticks are not searched for drivers dunno why

 

My guide will help you with installing both without having to change any active partitions or anything....

If you follow my steps you can also safely remove either Xp or Vista whenever you dont need it....

If you need to remove Xp - remove the entry using easybcd and you can safely delete the Windows folder for Xp and other stuff....

If you need to remove Vista alone - then you can run recovery using Xp bootable CD and ask it to fix the boot record or something similar to that.... After doing that Xp will be the only booting OS and you can safely remove the Vista's Windows folder and other related files....

 

I guess because USB drives were not in common use when XP was released, XP will only accept disk controller drivers from the the install CD or from drive "A". There is no option to "browse" for a location.

 

No Offense! Just included another way of dual booting!

 

Am I the only one that can't get this part to work? The download is an executable pack, there are no available .inf files within. So when I point "update driver" to the extracted location "OK" is greyed out.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

 

Run the .exe, it will extract the .inf-files.

 

Open a command prompt, navigate to the folder containing the iata78_enu.exe file and there type this command :

iata78_enu.exe -a -pc:\sata

Now your driver inf files would be present at c:\sata

 

Then go to device manager and doubleclick Intel ICH8M 3-port SATA Controller - 2828

Click Update Driver and choose the Have Disk option there and point to the location where you have extracted the AHCI drivers you had downloaded

And in that list you need to choose Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only this part is not working.
1- Intel(R) Matrix Storage Manager cannot be installed on XP
2- Its drivers also not accepted- cannot be intalled (Then go to device manager and doubleclick Intel ICH8M 3-port SATA Controller - 2828

Click Update Driver and choose the Have Disk option there and point to the location where you have extracted the AHCI drivers you had downloaded

And in that list you need to choose Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller)
3- F6 Installation Method is not working becausr I dont have A: (floppy) in my Dell Inspiron 1520
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Now I can boot two OS but to switch between OS needs to switch BIOS between ATA for XP and AHCI for VISTA
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Please if any body can help

 

Re: M1330: Got AHCI working under WinXP... no slipstream CD, no floppy drive.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=164159&page=3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL....BY: kent1146

M1330: Got AHCI working under WinXP... no slipstream CD, no floppy drive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I got AHCI enabled under WinXP!!
Installed WinXP in ATA mode (not AHCI)
Did not want to slipstream a WinXP CD
Did not want to bother with F6 / floppy drive - I don't own an external floppy drive
Attempting to switch HDD from ATA mode to AHCI mode after WinXP install would result in BSOD




Here's how:
1) Download the Intel Matrix Storage Manager here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Prod...=2101&lang=eng

2) Once you download the file, run it with a -a switch:
iata76_enu.exe -a
This will NOT install the Matrix Storage Manager. What this will do is run the installer, and ONLY EXTRACT the files to C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Again, this does NOT install anything.

3) Your drivers are now located in C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager. They will be found in either \Driver, or \Driver64, depending on whether you're running a 32-bit or 64-bit OS.

4) Go to Device Manager --> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Double-click on the Intel ICH8M 3-port SATA Controller - 2828... remember, *ONLY* click on the device that ends with 2828.

5) Go to Driver tab, and choose to Update Driver.

6) Tell the Wizard prompts:
- No, not this time
- Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)
- Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install.
- Click the "Have Disk" button. Point it to C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\Driver (or Driver64).
- The driver you want to install for WinXP 32-bit for the Dell XPS M1330 is Intel 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller
- After you install the driver and click OK out of every menu, reboot the laptop.

7) During reboot, go into BIOS and turn on AHCI mode and Flash Module

8) Voila! WinXP will boot up with no BSOD!
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MY COMMENTS

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have INSPIRON 1520 Processor T7500
When I try to install (iata76_enu.exe) it fails and tell me:
This computer dose not meet the minimum requirement for installing this software.
I did all the steps in correct way but still AHCI Drivers problem ,as I cant use F6 intallaion because have no floppy (A

Any body can tell me how to install it.

 

Some great tips here as I'm considering doing a clean install and dual booting with Vista/XP Pro

I notice you were booting XP first as the main drive? Wouldn't that cause problems installing drivers and new programs? Because most new programs are geared toward Vista nowdays. Also how about this question that my friend emailed me this morning:

The only issue I have is some programs assume “C-Drive” is the boot drive. I usually boot with my E-Drive. This will give you problems if you are not careful.
Make sure your preferred drive is “C-Drive”. Otherwise you will have to be very diligent with the install of new software. Not bad. Just a pain sometimes.

 

I cannot give up the MediaDirect as I am using it to play Divx. In addition, my 120GB HD may be too small to have both Vista Ultimate and XP Pro running. I ended up getting a second 120GB HD ($54 shipped AR) and installed XP Pro and MD on it. I swap HD (just 4 screws and less than 5 minutes) every time I need a different OS. I have a lot less headache this way and much more HD capacity. The only problem is I need an external HD to keep media files that may be played in either OS. Anyway, my Divx collection is getting to big to fit inside the internal HD anyway.

 

Any way to multiple boot vista/xp/MD???

 

This would be of great interest for me,too.
here my quote of the dell-forum, but no answers yet:
Hi @ all,



first, I apologise me for my poor english, i am german.



I got a new xps 1530 and established a dual boot system with Vista an Xp home. To achieve this i did so:



1. Deleted Recovery Partion

2. shrinked on Vista the Vista c - Partition

3. created new Partition "D" for XP

4. Installed XP SP 3 with all drivers + AHCI - driver in Part. D. Everything works fine so far. This means: I can start MD in Vista and can start MD with the MD- Button when the machine is turned off.
Then i
5. Installed MD 3,5 in XP.

The installation seemed to work fine. After rebooting i tried to start MD with the MD - Button. The cursor changed for 2 seconds to the sandwatch (is this the right word?) and thats it. No mistake message, no problems but also no MD working.

Ok i decided to attempt another Install of MD in XP then i got an error: Installationerror.

Ok i shut down the machine an tried to start MD. Bluescreen. I started the Computer with the reinstalldisk of MD, aborted the Installation with Q an started the repairprogramm on the cd (think it was named MD3Fix.exe or simmiliar) OK, now MD boots, Vista and Xp also. But no MD under XP.

In a german XPS- Forum someone supposed that it is not possible to use MD in Dualboot in 2 OS. He thougt that this is because MD writes on its own Partition when installed in an OS an that it is not possible for MD to write 2 different data for 2 OS in its own partition.



Any suggestions for solving the Problem are welcome. Thanks in advance


Pluspetit

 

any suggestion???

 

Well, actually you CAN run Vista/XP/Mediadirect on XPS M1330 (and other dell laptops as well).

The problem is, that the guide here is in spanish:

http://jauma.freehostia.com/XP.htm

But it's quite detailed and you just need some time to achieve the "triple boot"

 

Geez, this is pretty easy to do! I did it without any trouble first time:

My post here shows how!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=249613

 

Is it latest version :
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=41&fileid=205608

 

i'm also having this problem but din see any suggestion/solution here. can anyone help?