Windows XP and Win 7?

I am/was really curious to find out how this works. I've seen people with the ability to boot into Windows 7 and Windows XP SP2/3 but I've always wondered how. They told fancy jargon about "partitioning hard drives" and "dual-boot" but I have a few questions to ask.....

1. Will having "dual-boot" slow down my PC?
2. Could it have any negative affects on SSDs (specifically Intel G2 X25-M)?
3. NVM!
4. Would it void any warranty?
5. Could I delete the OS whenever I wanted?
6. I'm confused about "partitioning," if I created a 2 GB partition for XP OS, and wanted to install games, couldn't I install them on my main drive? Or would I have to create a bigger partition?

Anyhow, I get the basic gist of partitioning a hard drive on Windows 7...seems a lot easier than it would for XP (which is the only OS I've used). Dual booting just seems scary and risky.

 

1. No, only slowdown is in the startup "what OS you want" selection.
2. Probably not, usually they aren't partitioned due already small size.
3. Always. You never know what kind of malware and backdoors is inserted in those shiny Russian black market discs Besides buying pirated stuff directly funds the shady dealers.
4. Nope, software errors aren't covered by hardware warranty (messing an installation is not a manufacturing defect, depending what you messed your parent's may think different)
5. pretty much yes...
6. Yes, you can install programs in both partitions as you wish. Or you could especially block OS from seeing the other partition. 2GB isn't enough unless you are also willing to customize your own miniature XP with nLite. I chose 10GB as my XP partition.

7. remember backup all important files first because
8. when you have failed and lost both installations....
9. ...install XP first, then reinstall Win7. It's the correct way and everything works

 

It is actually possible that it may slow down an OS. My friend's dual boot with XP and Windows 7 dramatically slowed down his XP boot time somehow. However, my Vista/7 dual boot runs fine, and Vista is as fast it ever was (which, as it turns out, is pretty slow, lol).

Discussion of pirating is against the forum rules. (So you may want to edit your post).

If you do decide to dual boot, always remember to install XP first, if possible. Doing it the other way around causes problems, and you then have to repair your boot loader with the Windows 7 disc.

 

Thanks guys, edited out pirated question-my bro and I were having a debate on it yesterday....but I won hehe.

1. So from what I read by KLF, I should install XP first then Windows 7? What happens if I already have Windows 7 Home Edition (I bought a new laptop)? Is it still possible to get Windows 7 then Windows XP? This Guide claims that I can.

2. This question doesn't necessarily pertain to the topic, but should I do a clean install of Windows 7 when I get it? Is it possible to do a clean install w/o CD? Any risks??

 

1. You can actually install XP second, but it will cause your boot loader not to recognize that you have two OS's, so as a result, you will have the Windows 7 install later on with a Windows 7 boot disc.

2. I would do a clean install on just about any notebook I get from a main manufacturer, if I have a legal ISO and key. The vast majority of the time, these laptops are absolutely loaded with bloatware and useless tools and utilities that you will most likely never use.

 

I needed dualboot XP on my laptop and I had Win7 on it already. I actually used the same guide but the method #2 never worked correctly.

In the end clean installing first XP then 7 took less time than trying to make it work backwards first.

With clean hdd, I booted XP cd and created only 10GB partition for it. Rest I left unpartitioned so far. I did only basic install with network drivers.
Then I inserted Win7 disc and chose to install on the leftover space, installation automatically partitioned the drive and added dualboot in the bootmanager.

After that, it's just installing drivers and software as needed.

 

I have a lappy that had xp on it. I backed up all my stuff, then reformatted it, created 3 partitions (500gb hdd). I put xp at 80gb on 1 partition, win 7 32 bit on 2nd, and win 7 64 on third ( needed 32 bit for work programs, but wanted 64 for games and vid to see if I wanted to put it on my other lappy). Other than booting, because of having to choose the OS, all run well, no sign of slowdown or anything. Also, using a program to copy my keys to flashdrive, I was able to use same key for both win 7 installs (on same laptop, so hardware id doesn't force need for registration issues...ie. phone call to get new key nor the long process to enter the keys manually for each OS.). I use all 3 OS's for different things, all work well, all work as though they were the only OS on system while I am on them. As far as effect on your SSD, do you have just the SSD or a second drive also. If you partition your SSD, and it has trim, there can be a residual effect in that a SSD using trim uses something called I believe wear-leveling that uses the whole drive to balance the writes to give maximum life. By partitioning, if you use one partition (OS) more than the other, you can create wear on part of it more so than the other, thus canceling out the leveling and shorten the life of the drive. On my other lappy I have 2 drives, a SSD with my OS and certain apps, and all my docs, pix, downloads, temp folders, etc. go onto my hdd, keeping the ssd at it's peak performance. If I am incorrect, I apologize, but there is some good info in the SSD forum that could help you. Check out the SSD forum.

 

I think WIN7 is better than Windows xp.

 

Perhaps next time you should try reading the thread before blindly posting.

 

It's not really jargon. The words says exactly what it does.
Partition hard drives, means the same as you partition a pie in segment to share.. for instance cut the pie (partition the pie) in 4 for you and 3 of your friends.
In your case you'll need to partition (cut) your hard drive in 2 partition minimum, where each segment of your partition will have a version of Windows.

Please note that you'll need to install the program twice per Windows if you want to run them on each Windows. What I recommend (for a normal HDD), is to cut it into 3 parts.
- Part 1 of let's say 30GB for XP C:\
- Part 2 50GB for Win7 64-bit D:\ (WIndows 7 will show and consider it as C:\, so the XP drive will be D:\)
- Part 3: the rest of your harddrive, called Share (E:\)- where you install your programs and put files that you want both OS to easy access, and avoid programs installed twice. So what you do, is you install your program in E:\<Name of Program>, instead of C:\Program Files\<Name of Program> on XP (or WIn7), and do the same (override where the program is installed) for the other Windows.

It's' a bit tricky to understand... but if you take a peace of paper, and read and follow carefully on what I said, it's actually piece of cake even for an 8 year old kid. The way you can see it, is:
- You have 1 black car. And 2 people (OS) drive it, where you never have a situation where the second person needs the car at the time as the first.
You can easily use the same car (program), you don't need to get another car.


"Boot", is the technical term for a computer to "turn on".
The way it works is that when you press the power button, the computer turns ON, and then it goes "What do I do?!.. I have power on everything... do I dance?!", Then you have the BIOS that comes it. The BIOS is a system that provides the information for all the components so that they are ready to start Windows (or any other Operating system).
Once the operating system is loaded (example: Windows or Linux), the BIOS doesn't do anything anymore. The Operating system (OS) takes over.
At this point your system Boots.

The Operating System does exactly what it's name does.. it operates your system. It ensures that when you hit print in Word it comes out of your printer and not your speakers. It manages EVERY hardware in your computer and software that you run on your system, and those you don't run (part of the operating system itself). That is right, Windows (MacOS, Linux, and Unix) is actually an extremely complicated and sophisticated piece of software that runs on your computer. Hense why it's CRITICAL to not get cracks or pirated versions. You know see how important the role of Windows is, and how it can cause system malfunction.
If you wonder, Windows (or any other operating system) CANNOT damage your computer. The reason for this is that every hardware component provide to the OS (with the help of drivers), standard codes for it to use. For example, you Solid State Drive (SSD) or Hardware have commands like write();, read();, access(); moveTo(); and few others, to properly access the files you request. And explains why XP can use a SSD drive without actually knowing what it is (the codes are the same as for an HDD).

When we say that: "My computer doesn't POST?"
That means that the BIOS got interrupted during it's process for some reason (hardware problem), or is not found. Therefor the computer component does nothing, and just stands there consuming power for nothing.

When we say "dual-boot", it means that your BIOS has 2 boot path to choose from. In your case, that would be Windows XP or Windows 7. As the BIOS doesn't know which one to give control it asks you (well in reality, the OS always picks the first one installed on your system, but Windows modify it's boot system to show a DOS-like menu for you to choose which OS to load, and from there, this menu will pass control to the OS of your selection).

Not supposed to. XP will run slower than Win7, as XP doesn't even know what half the technology is inside your modern computer, so it unable to take complete advantage of your system.

No, but XP will. XP memory management is deisgend for low-memory system <512MB of RAM.. your system with 2-4-6 or even 16, 24GB is way too much for XP to comprehend, and still treat your system as "low-memory", as it does if you have 512MB (0.5GB) or less. So it move everything it can to the pagefile which is on your SSD. So it will execute a lot of read and writes on it, wearing the SSD a bit faster than if you run Win7 instead. Also XP doesn't support the additional technologies from your SSD, and modern controller (aka: SATA controller - where SATA is just the interface (connection it sues) name), so you won't take advantage of it, therefor reduce performance. Installing the motherboard drivers will help, but it's not full performance.

They are chances that XP may not recognize your SSD if you plan to install it there. If that is the case, tell us, and we will help you. Windows 7 is new, and knows all the technology you have in your system, so it will present no problem or possible complications.

Does you car warrant voids if you put a Kleenex box in the car? There is your answer.

Yes, but it's a bit more complicated compared to removing a software form your computer.

2GB is not enough space for XP.
When considering space for Windows, you need to see Microsoft system requirements:
XP: 1.5GB, but you need space for temporary files from programs, web browser cache, program library files (dll's), your documents, extra free space for proper drive operation (and not have Windows annoy you about low disk space), and room for updates, and service packs. This can easily go up to 15-20GB, based on the number of programs you install (considering that they are installed outside of Windows).

Windows 7 64-bit: 20 GB (16GB + Windows On Windows), plus you need to consider the same as above. This could easily be 35-40GB.

Be sure to backup ALL your data outside of your computer, in the case it fails, you don't loose your data. It's not really risky. It's risky in the term of human error, or power surge during the process.