How you can dual boot between Windows XP and Windows 7

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Now that you've downloaded the Windows 7 beta, let's talk about how you can configure your machine to dual boot between Windows Vista and Windows 7, or even Window XP and Windows 7. The key to multi-boot configurations that involve Windows Vista, Server 2008 or Windows 7 is Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store. The BCD will make or break your configurations, and in my screen cast below, I walk you through setting up your hard drive to support a multi-OS boot configuration. 

If the Video Playback window does not appear below, you will need to install Microsoft Silverlight.

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DCSIMG

Now that you've seen the power of the dual boot scenario, let me point you to a few articles that will provide some of the details. One of the assumptions I made was that an earlier version of Windows already exists and that you will be installing a newer version of Windows (like Windows 7). In the event that you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 already installed and then you install Windows XP, you'll need to check out this article. This article holds true for Windows 7 as well as Windows Vista.

Windows Vista no longer starts after you install an earlier version of the Windows operating system in a dual-boot configuration

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/933179

If you want to learn all of the details of the bcdedit tool, check out:

BCDEdit Command-Line Options

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709667.aspx

and then of course you'll want to check out the faq as well:

Boot Configuration Data Editor Frequently Asked Questions

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc721886.aspx

This was my first screen cast, so please let me know what you think.

Until next time!

Rob

 

Technorati Tags: Dual Boot,bdcedit,Boot Configuration Data Store,Windows 7,Windows XP