Can you dual-boot XP and 7?

[Stg-Flame]

Probably a stupid question, but when I look online about dual-booting a laptop, everything that comes up is about Linux and Windows on the same laptop. I'm currently in the field so data is sketchy and my ability to do actual research is very limited at the moment.

 

[C1]

I actually set up an older Fujitsu Pentium M for this purpose.

(Did it quite a while back and use mostly XP, just needed Win 7 for TurboTax)

It's pretty easy as I recall.


Install the older OS 1st, (In your case WinXP.)

Assuming that for you XP is already installed and you wish to keeo it, then set up a separate partition for "7". Manipulate your HDD's partition structure to create a separate partition for "7". (You will probably have to do some partition shrinking & moving. if you are using other partitions, such as a "D:" for data. Use free partitioning utilities to accomplish this if you already dont have your own favorites, as there are many free ones available.) Then install 7" into the newly created blank partition.

(This setup of separate partitions, keeps your OSes separate from each other, which is considered the safest practice. )

As I recall, when the machine now boots, you will boot into 7.

You can proceed to set up the dual boot in "7" (priority and selection timeout) from "Advanced" in Control Panel "System" settings, or use the freeware "Easy BCD" to set the dual boot (priority and timeout)..

 

[Stg-Flame]

Maybe a little clarification. Can you dual-boot a brand new laptop? My girlfriend is giving her old laptop to her mom but she needs XP and something more modern on it, but if we can dual-boot a brand new laptop, then we are going to do that instead and give her mom the new one.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Can you dual-boot a brand new laptop?

Considering that XP won't even work on a new PC (heck, Windows 7 won't even officially work on any Intel CPUs past 6th-Gen Core), I'm pretty-sure that the answer would be "no".

But there's always Virtualization.

 

[JackMDS]

Considering that XP won't even work on a new PC (heck, Windows 7 won't even officially work on any Intel CPUs past 6th-Gen Core), I'm pretty-sure that the answer would be "no".

But there's always Virtualization.

+1

Any computer past the XP Era would do better if the XP is in VM.

If the Win version does not VM, best option would be https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

 

[Stg-Flame]

I guess this is the first time I'm hearing about this Virtualbox. From my understanding, her mom has some old programs that require XP to run and that's why she wants a laptop that has XP. My girlfriend's old laptop that barely works has XP, but if we can get a new one and just dual-boot it with XP to run the programs, that would be much easier.

To make a long story short, her mom's house was broken into last year and among the items stolen was her laptop. She's currently taking care of her grandkids (an even longer story) and from what I've gathered, the programs she wants to run are old learning programs that require XP. I've mentioned newer programs but she doesn't understand modern technology very well and does not trust the internet (she won't even look at her e-mail unless someone is there with her).

 

[crashtech]

Dealing with a VM might prove difficult for someone who isn't tech savvy. If I had to deal with this scenario, I'd find something like a refurb T520, it will run XP and is actually not slow.

 

[C1]

You are posing contradictory requirements.

If your mother is so concerned about security/privacy and even unfamiliarity with a more complex newness OS (eg, purchasing from an online store, etc.), then why mess with a new computer that most likely sports WINDOWS 10 ?

https://www.newsweek.com/windows-10-recording-users-every-move-358952

There are a various ways of accommodating your mother's needs & concerns and inexpensively too, but contradictory requirements could result in an expensive complicated mess that probably neither you nor especially your mother will be interested in dealing with. .

 

[crashtech]

I'd say that an XP machine should not be connected to the Internet at this point.

Anything with dual drive bays can be dual booted very easily, once set up all the user needs to do is hit the appropriate "F" key and select the desired boot device. That way the OSes are installed in the standard way with no out of the ordinary bootloader, and each can be repaired easier if needed.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd say that an XP machine should not be connected to the Internet at this point.

Anything with dual drive bays can be dual booted very easily, once set up all the user needs to do is hit the appropriate "F" key and select the desired boot device. That way the OSes are installed in the standard way with no out of the ordinary bootloader, and each can be repaired easier if needed.

I agree with not connecting XP to the internet any more. I disagree with your assessment that (a new) PC can be dual-booted in the context of installing XP. No way, no how. XP won't run on newer PCI-E 3.0 machines, AFAIK. Nor NVMe, nor support TRIM, nor have drivers for Intel iGPUs on modern CPUs (the REAL deal-killer), and NV has said that they will no longer support 32-bit OSes with their drivers.

Have you considered Linux Mint? That CAN easily be dual-booted, and is more likely to be compatible with newer hardware.

 

[crashtech]

Yeah, sorry, I meant anything with dual bays old enough to run XP...

 

[FreshBross]

Everyone's advice here is on point. If you do use an XP machine, it should not be online, and email should preferably accessed on another device.

XP support and security will be non existent, you are essentially running a grandfathered computer at that point. And it should be used as such or completely avoided where possible. Linux Mint is a solution I was not familiar with but that sounds like an option to test on the newer old laptop that is being given to her mother. Or like everyone else is saying, VM is the way to go to try and run old software.

In a situation where the user is wanting this because they can't/won't learn new software, the next best thing is to keep it simple.

I would suggest to find a overstock warehouse that sells old computers, laptops tend to fail more, need more maintenance with batteries, chargers, and that's the downside with purchasing an old laptop. If a small desktop will do the trick with a monitor, that should last the test of time a little better. If not, find an XP compatible laptop and install it on that.

Older Dell latitude dual core laptops can often be found for $100 or less. Just keep it offline, run her favorite learning programs on that and make it dedicated to just that, turn off all internet ports, and a newer laptop would be preferable for browsing the internet if she ever decides to.

 

[Stg-Flame]

You are posing contradictory requirements.

If your mother is so concerned about security/privacy and even unfamiliarity with a more complex newness OS (eg, purchasing from an online store, etc.), then why mess with a new computer that most likely sports WINDOWS 10 ?

https://www.newsweek.com/windows-10-recording-users-every-move-358952

There are a various ways of accommodating your mother's needs & concerns and inexpensively too, but contradictory requirements could result in an expensive complicated mess that probably neither you nor especially your mother will be interested in dealing with. .

**Just for clarification, this laptop is for my girlfriend's mother - my mom has a gaming rig that puts mine to shame though my mom isn't very tech savvy herself as she still uses her original Nokia with the pull-out antennae**

The whole thing started because her laptop was stolen. It was ancient but she could navigate XP and it ran all the programs she had. She finally got her insurance check for a replacement and she wanted me to find her something suitable but in light of finding out that my girlfriend's laptop is also ancient, she decided to just buy a new one, give it to her, then take my girlfriend's old one which already has XP. My girlfriend doesn't want to give her mom an ancient POS so she was hoping we could dual-boot a new one with XP so she could still run the old programs/discs while still keeping up so she can send/receive e-mails from home. From experience, dual-booting PCs isn't a huge deal where you have to be really tech savvy to change operating systems but I've never dual-booted a laptop and my experience with Windows 10 is fairly limited to what I played around with when I built my mom a gaming rig early last year.

As for the internet, I informed her a long time ago about having an internet connection to her laptop. She didn't get internet at her home until maybe four or five years ago. Previously, she would use the internet at her church where she works to send/receive any e-mails or download pictures from her camera.

I do like the idea of getting an older refurbished model than buying a brand new one (though I'm unsure how insurance checks work when it comes to buying replacement - does the dividend end up in your pocket or a "use it or lose it" scenario?) so if someone could point me in the right direction to some options, that would be greatly appreciated.

Now, onto the last point that I thought of while in this thread. I pieced together a gaming rig for my girlfriend from older PCs I had lying around so we could play games together. There were some older games she played when she was younger and recently bought them online only to find out they required XP to run as well (no amount of tweaking will get these games to run on Vista/7). I have a spare XP key that another user here graciously donated to me a while back and I was planning on partitioning one of the drives and dual-booting it, but would it be easier to use the VirtualBox listed above or should I stop procrastinating and just partition the drive?

I really appreciate all the input thus far and I'm hoping to get all of this done before my days off are up.

 

[C1]

Confusing is "my girl friend's mother", "my mother/mom", "my girlfirends laptop" ...... then use of her or she & nobody knows who is being referenced.


I dont get it. You have three agencies being involved ambiguously based on the language. Who knows which person (also which defines their experience/requirements and hardware) is being addressed with use of "her and/or "she."

What's so hard about just saying "my mother" or " my girlfriend's mother?"

Is this a troll ?