How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots

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James Bannan19 December 2007, 4:00 PM

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UPDATED | Got a Vista PC and want to install XP so you can dual-boot between them? Here's how to do it, in an easy, step-by-step format.

Page 4 - Restore Vista Bootloader and Enable Dualbooting

We need to restore the Vista bootloader in order to restore Vista functionality and configure Vista/XP dualbooting. In the previous version of this tutorial, we used the Vista DVD to restore the bootloader, and EasyBCD to set up dualbooting.

Since that tutorial was written, EasyBCD has been updated and can now restore the Vista bootloader from within the application. Also, it can be installed on Windows XP, so this means that there's no need for any more reboots or playing with recovery DVDs.

Once the XP system is up and running, download and install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, and then download and install EasyBCD (version 1.7.2 at the time of writing).

Launch the application. EasyBCD isn't looking at the XP bootloader - it has found the bootloader on the Vista partition, so this is what you're directly editing.

Go to the "Add/Remove Entries" tab. You'll see that there's only one option available in the Vista bootloader at the moment. In the "Add an Entry" section, change the Drive in the dropdown menu from C:\ to E:\. Change Type to "Windows NT/2k/XP/2k3", and the Name to "Microsoft Windows XP". Then click "Add Entry" and "Save".

Then go to the "Manage Bootloader" tab. Make sure that "Reinstall the Vista Bootloader" is selected and then click "Write MBR" and restart the system.

On reboot, the Vista bootloader is now active and you'll see two boot options.

Continue to page 5: Removing Windows XP: Page 1 Intro; Page 2 Create Free Space for Windows XP; Page 3 Now Install Windows XP; Page 4 Restore Vista Bootloader and Enable Dualbooting; Page 5 Removing Windows XP; Page 6 Fixing the Corrupt Bootloader

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Paul:

this tutorial was great i now have my dual boot up and running but wondered could i do another shrink on the
original vista held drive it has too much space for what i need and i would like to partition again

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Randyharv:

I have a new dell notebook with vista preinstalled, I need to dual-boot xp so i can use Rockwell software. My disk 0 is as follows: -:Partition1 [fat] 47mb, d:partition2 (backup) [NTFS] 10gb, c:Patition3 [NTFS], unpartioned space (followed instructions from above), F:partition4 [unknown] 2gb. When i got to the part of the xp install that asked, "to setup winxp on the selected item, press ENTER" i chose the unpartitioned space and hit enter, then i get this message that reads, "Setup cannot create a new partions in the space you selected because the maximum number of partions already exists on the disk" I hit enter again and it takes me back to the previous page. I don't know what to do now.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

CJ:

Format your hard drive with two partition 3/5 and 2/5. Install XP first, on the slightly smaller partition. Then install Vista on the remaining partition. It's very simple. If you need extra storage space, install a second hard drive. You'll have a nice clean system, that should last you for years, without doing anything else to your O/S.
Doing it this way will add years to your life, and avoid premature graying. If your system didn't come with a O/S recovery DVD, you can obtain one from the manufacturer. I suggest that, for many reasons, but mostly the added years and premature graying.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

At first I want to thank you for this great tutorial. I was lucky to find it because it was exactly what i needed...
Now I have my 2 operating systems installed with the vista bootloader showing "windows vista" (1) and "windows XP" (2) Unfortunatly when choosing "Windows XP" I get an '/ntldr' error. Vista works fine.
Can somebody help me out? Thanks in advance

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

First, thanks a lot for the tutorial, it is exactly what I needed..
I installed both OS and the vista bootloader displays "windows vista" and "windows XP" but when choosing "windows XP" I get a '/ntldr' error
Vista works fine (luckily). Anybody can help me out? Thanks a lot in advance!

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

I'm sorry for the triple post (please remove the first 2)
I have found this tutorial above with the following steps but I wonder if this will affect my vista installation, which is the most important of course...
Or is there an other way to solve the ntldr error...? Advice appeciated.

Windows XP users

1.Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2.When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3.Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4.Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
5.Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

6.Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

James:

I have tried the steps outlined to dual boot Vista Ultimate and XP Professional. However, I soon get errors from Vista that the file system is corrupt and chkdsk should be run. When I run chkdsk for Vista, it eventually will not complete -- saying that there is not enough space to rewrite the MFT. Vista will still boot, but the file system appears to become more corrupt until eventually Vista will not boot at all and running the Vista repair utility reports that the problem cannot be repaired.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

update:
When trying the tutorial above, windows XP setup loads but then I got a
blue screen . "Windows setup closed..." Vista's still ok, XP, no clue. Who can help me out...? Thanks

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Primus:

I had also ntldr error. Then I copied ntldr and ntdetect.com on c:\ drive. Than I got hall.dll error, when tryed to access windows XP. Here is solution:
Put windows Xp CD in. Choose "r" for repair, choose number where you have windows XP and type admin password(when not, yust press enter). Now type
"attrib /scan"
You see now, where is your XP installed(on my computer was [3] d:\WINDOWS). Then type
"attrib /rebuild"
and for numbers, where are no XP installed choose
"no"
On number, where is windows XP choose "yes"
and that's it. Type
"exit"

That works for me:)))

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

Thanks a lot Primus...
I'll try that but I had a blue screen when xp setup was loading from cd... Is there a solution maybe via Vista

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

demarcheur:

I think the command you used was bootcfg /scan
and bootcfg /rebuild

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Beniled:

Yep it was bootcfg /scan and bootcfg /rebuild. And it worked like a charm. If you get an error about hal.dll this is the fix.

type bootcfg /scan
then
type bootcfg /rebuild
type y next to the correct installation
then hit enter twice when asked about loader options

voila XP installation should resume on next reboot.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

wittles371:

i have one of those acers that has disk to disk recovery and i cant go into repair for vista is there any other way i canr epair vista or is there any where i can get a illegal copy of vista that i wont fully install just use to repair the boot sector??? i dont want an illegal copy of vista i just need it to repair my boot.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

laurens:

You just have to download a copy of vista (torrents, newsgroups, limewire, whatever) or loan it from smb else, preferably in your only language. Write this as an image on a dvd and boot from that.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

StanyD:

Excellent guide to dual booting Vista and XP with Vista installed first.

However I too had the missing /ntldr error. To fix it firstly I copied ntdetect.com and ntdlr from the /i386 directory on my XP CD to the root of the drive where XP is installed.

This still gave the same error message. Then I checked the settings (Overview) in EasyBCD and noticed that it didn't specify the Drive. Therefore the XP bootloader didn't know where to look for ntldr!

I then clicked on Configure Boot and clicked on the dropdown for Entry Based Settings and selected "Microsoft Windows XP Professional". The Drive had the entry "Deleted partition" I changed this to my XP drive letter which is G:\ and saved settings.

This allowed XP to boot successfully.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

I installed Vista Build 6000 on first partition, XP on the second from a Ghost-image (had it on partition 2 on the drive I copied it from therefore no need to edit the boot.ini file), used this guide and the EasyBCD 1.52 and made my Windows XP entry, putting the drive letter to C: for both. Then the Ntldr error came, googleed and tried every trick on the net, changed the C: to D: etc but the solution for me was to copy the files ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com from the XP-partition to the Vista-partition. You will have make the system files visible to find them. Now the problem is no more. Now both Vista AND XP boots perfectly.

Hope this helps all you out there with the same problem.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

wie (New user):

Where did you put the ntldr boot.ini and ntdetect.com files on the Vista partition?

23 April 2008, 7:08 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

I cant get it to work, still gets the ntldr error. XP is working because when I go to the disc utility and set, in my case D:, as active partition (D:=XP) and then restart my XP loads without problem and when I want to return to Vista I do the same in XP´s disc utility, setting Vista as active partition. How to get the loader to find the ntldr... tried everything I have found on the internet...

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

RayBlane:

I managed to successfully dual-boot Vista and XP. My Laptop was supplied with Vista pre-installed but I have 2 hard-drives and installed XP on the second. I used OSL2000 to manage booting.
This worked well for over a month and then for no apparent reason when I booted into Vista one day it ran the diskchecking utility (chkdsk). It found some errors on my D drive (XP drive) and proceeded to repair them. Some four and a half hours later (after replacing "invalid" security descriptors) Vista booted. But the D drive was inaccessible and was reprted as having 0 bytes free of 0 bytes. Sure enough when I tried to boot into XP it failed.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem?
Does anyone know why chkdsk should do this?

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Jacques:

Hi everyone. I tried to use this article to create a dual boot on my computer. The first part went good. The second partition has been created but when it came to restart the system afer installing XP, I got the message Erro to load operating system.

System in not loading vista either. I tried to repair the boot sector usig repair start up with Vista DVD but it reports no problem to repair.

No longer able to boot my system...still gettin error to load operating system and nothing happens.

SOmebody can help? Ill be very happy to get help. Thousands of thanks.

JC

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Sam:

I installed xp fine. When I put in the vista dvd to repair the bootloader for vista, after running startup repair, vista says it found nothing. Now I cant get into vista anymore. Is there another way to get into vista? from the command prompt maybe?

HELP!!!

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

fgfhgdfghdfbndfgbndfyfdgnb:

i haev the same problem, now it says, error laoding operating sustem, adn NEITHER work, please help

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Jeremy:

Very good tutorial, except I might suggest that the author go back and add the bit about the ntldr. Kind of a critical step for most users. Especially seeing how the replies to this article keep asking about how to solve the issues.

To do the job manually (entering XP into your Vista boot record), Microsoft has a page on it's support site: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919529

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

seawyfe:

I followed your instr. but XP only shows one part. Drive 0 If I select it it wants to format it. I don't want to format it if Vista is on that partition and I can't find out. It indicates all of lthe bites are free.
Please advise.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Jacques:

Hi everyone. I just want to say that the solution to the problem when we get the error message
ERROR LOADING OPERATING SYSTEM is to remove Vista from drive, reinstall XP and than follow the procedure for Dual boot when XP is installed first. To remove VISTA boot from DVD, go to install proceedure and when you see the partitions use disk options and delete all partitions shut down and reinstall XP. Make sure to do a back up before. Good luck.

JC

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

gfdghdytfhbdfghdxfythd:

i fixed it. if u had the problem, 'error loading operating system'. i fixed it by installing vista on the other partition, OVER the XP one. it told me xp will go in a folder called windows.old and that i cant sue it, go ok, now in the load screen it says would u like to load vista or vista? try one and if it asks about making log in names, reset ur computer, and go to the other one. it should log in fine and everything should be as it was before. from there since ur in there now, u should back up ur files before u try formatting that partition with the new vista and old xp 'what i am currently doing right now' im only doing the format thing right now so dunno if itll not making everything die again, but do what i said up top to get back INTO vista so u can backup everything

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

up the creek w/o OS:

I am getting "error loading operating system" when trying to boot Vista and the startup repair isn't finding an error.

I canceled the install of XP because I couldn't see the 50gig partition I shrunk for it.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

I installed Vista Build 6000 on first partition, XP on the second from a Ghost-image (had it on partition 2 on the drive I copied it from therefore no need to edit the boot.ini file), used this guide and the EasyBCD 1.52 and made my Windows XP entry, putting the drive letter to C: for both. Then the Ntldr error came, googleed and tried every trick on the net, changed the C: to D: etc but the solution for me was to copy the files ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com from the XP-partition to the Vista-partition. You will have make the system files visible to find them. Now the problem is no more. Now both Vista AND XP boots perfectly from the Vista boot loader.

Hope this helps all you out there with the same problem.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lp:

I can't find the files; ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com on the XP partition but I do see them on my Vista drive. Because those files are always installed on your primary drive, and this is vista for me. So did you meant copy it from the vista drive(C:) to the XP drive (D:)?! If not what can I do then?
Thanks

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

Well, since I had a ghost image and did not install XP the normal way (I installed the Vista normaly) The NTLDR ended up in the XP-partition as it should. If the ntldr and the other files are found on the vista partition copy those to the xp as well.(Read my post for what three files) Think this should work. I have the three files on both partitions. A warning though, when I today updated my XP with IE7 the installation connected the Vista-partition with the XP and I ended up with a mix and the next time I opened Vista there was trouble. Suddenly the C-drive in Vista was the XP-partition...well my computer got fucked up...To the question if I put C: on both Vista and XP, Yes I did. Why this happened I dont know, my skills end right there...for now.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lp:

Ok, thanks a lot Tjompen, but as you say your computer got f*cked up i'd be better not try the 'copy-the-3-files-trick'? Or wasn't that the reason, was it because you have pointed for both OS to C:\? I just really don't wont my vista installation to get messed up!
Torenada, how have you done it? Or didn't you had the ntldr error?

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

The reason for the f*** up was the installation of IE7 when I was in XP-mode. But since I had backed up my partitions with the Vista backup found on Ultimate I could save most of my work...

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lp:

I have copied the files (ntdetect and ntldr to the XP partition) but now I get the hal.dll error! I'm almost there... Who can help me out? Thanks in advance

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

You need to copy the boot.ini-file as well AND make sure that it is pointing to the position of the XP-partition. I have read that a faulty boot.ini gives the Hal.dll error

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lp:

Thanks. I thought it had to be because it didn't copied/find the boot.ini file. Anyway, I don't find this file on my Vista nor XP partition.
After all I read/heard/experienced I start to doubt the use of this dual boot. As you said some installations copy their files to the vista partition program files folder, often over vista files. Also there is more chance of screwing up your OS/software/hardware or eventually loose your files. For me personally, i don't like messing up my brand new (pretty expensive) system...
Would you rather recommend the dual boot experience or advice me to delete the XP partition and forget about it now no harm has been done yet...?
Cheers

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tjompen:

Well, I find it impossible to have only Vista due to lack of drivers for my tv-card, graphic-card etc. I have now run my dualboot for a few days without the problems I had earlier so I am happy to be able to have them both. The importent thing is to make a backup of the XP with Ghost or Acronis or whatever program you prefer for imaging you drive and then use the backup in Vista to make a image for Vista. If something goes wrong it does not take that long time to restore. For me it took less than 40 minutes to restore the computer. Now that I know how it shouldnt take more than 25 minutes but I do not expect more hassle...

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lp:

I thought I was saved (maybe I am) but I can't find the files anywhere! Where did you find them? (the system files are set visible) And you just copied them from your D: XP to your C: Vista drive?
For the bootloader you have also vista pointing to your C: and XP to your D: (or also to C:?) Thanks in advance!

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Oppy:

Just got my new Gateway NX570X Laptop in the mail yesterday and have spent atleast 12 hours trying to get this thing to dual boot, the problem is it doesn't reconize any harddrives when getting to the screen of which harddrive to install it on. Iread about changing the settings BIOS setup and disable the SATA Native support and I can't seam to find it, I would assume you were talking about the Bios settings when you hit F2 on start up but not seeing where you can disable it if anyone could please help it would be appreciative, I did partition the hard drive and I want to load xp pro with my vista.

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Torenada:

After many many days of working on this, I finally got my dual boot of Vista and XP to work. However, now when I am logged into XP, it does not see a network connection, so I have no internet. I have tried to ping the router and do ipconfig but it does nothing. Any ideas on how I can get internet back on xp?

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Brad99:

I am having the same problem... Have you found anything

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

lucas2007:

I haven't found any solutions on the internet to solve this?

29 February 2008, 8:40 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

trouble getter:

i get same problem!!!help!!!!

29 February 2008, 8:41 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

sjd:

I had the same problem. I put XP Pro on a SONY VAIO with Vista Business pre- installed. In XP everything looked fine except I had no Network Adaptors showing in the Device Manager. Therefore I couldn’t get onto the internet or connect to any networks using XP.

Through the Device Manager on Vista I found that I had the following Network Adaptors:

Intel® PRO/Wireless 394ABG Network Connection and Marvell Yukon 88E8036 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller.

I just did a web search on both of them. The Marvell Yukon search gave me a link to a site where I could download their setup software. I installed the software on XP and it created an entry in Network Adaptors in the Device Manager. I plugged in my network cable and it worked.

The Intel search took me straight to a download page on the Intel site. I loaded the software on XP and it also created an entry in the Network Adaptors in the Device Manager. Through Network Connections I created my wireless connection and it worked as well.

29 February 2008, 8:42 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

gmwheeler (New user):

I have the same problem with a Toshiba, and your advice fixed it! FAN-BLUDY-TASTIC! Thanks, and thanks to all those other helpers who fixed the problems with installing XP and then getting the dual boot menu to work correctly.

09 December 2008, 9:55 PM (4 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Myth:

Hello, I currently am on the windows xp portion of my pc. What i did wrong was not search for info on dual-booting before i fell into my problem. What i did wrong was not partition my drive before i installed windows xp professions sp2 over my windows vista ultimate. I just left filesystem intact and created a new windows folder for example my windows vista is under C:/Windows and xp is under C:/Windows2 . Ok and now the problem. When i boot up the computer, both of the OS boot's say windows xp. I choose the first one it takes me to the windows xp just installed. And when i choose the second one it just leaves me at either a black screen or an error saying file is missing or corrupt. File is hal.dll. How can i fix this problem. I read all the sites on that boot up for vista is different than boot.ini. and i dont know how to work vista's boot up. Currently I am on xp, and dont know what to do. Please help. Thanks.

P.S. I download windows vista from microsoft's live marketplace so it wont load up my DVD when i burn the install files to it during boot. What should I do. I can easily reformat and end all the problems, but i have too much important files and information on my vista part that i need. thanks again.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Chuppy:

These instructions worked perfectly for me, thanks! After I made the dual boot and logged into Windows XP, I found that I needed drivers for this brand new HP Pavillion. They were not readily available on the HP website. I had to log into their live chat and wait while the person doled them out to me one at a time (via FTP link) over the course of about an hour. Seems like they would have a better solution, but I have my drivers and all seems to be well.

29 February 2008, 8:30 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

George:

Hey Chuppy,
I was wondering what type of HP Pavilion you had purchased. I myself have the HP Pavilion a1740n...
I've successfully dual opp'd my rig except I don't have the drivers for XP. I have no sound, no internet connection,...etc on XP..I was wondering if you could possibly help me out.

msn: nightfallfx@hotmail.com
Cheers buddy!

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Infopumper:

DV 9000 Laptop DV9208NR Preinstalled with Vista Home Premium..
Went through other older models within the DV9000 series.. Located all drivers I needed for XP from there..
Make sure the Model you select is within the same series, and have the same Hardware (all the way down to the Processor).. Should be fine from there to aquire the drivers..

BTW.. I want to thank the makers of this page..

29 February 2008, 8:40 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Elvi:

Hi Chuppy
I bought a HP Pavilion dv6560us notebook and i cant install Xp becouse i havent the HDD drivers.
Please can you send them to my email: elvikeco2006@yahoo.com?
Thanks, Elvi

29 February 2008, 8:39 PM (5 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend